ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1997, Roanoke Times
DATE: Saturday, April 26, 1997 TAG: 9704280007
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: B-3 EDITION: METRO
COLUMN: HIGH SCHOOLS
SOURCE: BOB TEITLEBAUM
Salem will be the site for the Virginia High School League's first Spring Jubilee for Group AA and A schools in 1998, pending approval at Executive Council meetings May 7-8.
Salem's bid is patterned after the Spring Fling held in Chattanooga, Tenn., to decide state champions. It would be the most dramatic change in years for championship events.
The Spring Jubilee would be held the Friday and Saturday after Memorial Day. Group AAA schools will hold their Spring Jubilee the same weekend in Norfolk.
The state championships will be for baseball, softball and boys' and girls' soccer, tennis and track. In soccer, baseball and softball, semifinals will be held at Salem and Norfolk following quarterfinal games at home sites earlier that week.
It's likely the proposal will pass. The main grumbling of member schools is that more teams will be on the road incurring higher expenses. Salem has made a lucrative offer to the VHSL that should sway enough votes to assure passage.
``We have received a bid proposal from Salem,'' said Ken Tilley, executive director of the VHSL. ``We had a good visit with them and felt very optimistic after meeting with them that it's a package worth considering,''
The Group AA and A track meets would be at Salem High; soccer would be at River's Edge, Cave Spring Junior and Salem High; tennis would be at different sites throughout the Roanoke Valley; softball would be at the Moyer Sports Complex in Salem, and baseball would be at Kiwanis Field and Memorial Stadium if the Avalanche are on the road.
Salem is out of the running to play host to the winter state basketball tournaments. Next year's tournaments will either return to Liberty University or go to the Scope in Norfolk, which is still working on a bid.
``They're working very hard to make it attractive. It's already good. They're working to make it better,'' said Tilley of Norfolk's offer.
STAYING, FOR NOW: When Mike Scharnus stunned most of Timesland and left his job as Liberty football coach to coach at Rustburg, the phone started ringing at the household of basketball coach Mark Hanks, whose Minutemen have won back-to-back state championships.
``I got three calls to make sure I wasn't going anywhere,'' Hanks said. ``I'm going to miss him [Scharnus]. It's no secret I helped recruit him [to Liberty from Carroll County]. I told people it was 99.9 percent sure I wasn't going anywhere.''
Hanks is not going to apply for the opening at Pulaski County, where he's from and where he coached as an assistant before taking the job at Liberty. He doesn't give the same assurance about the opening at Franklin County, where he would be the instant favorite should he apply.
One Eagle supporter told Hanks during the season, before it was known there would be an opening in Rocky Mount, that the school would probably want him to rebuild its program. In this case, stay tuned.
CLARIFICATION: Brad Lopez, an assistant football coach at Bassett, was one of three names Laurel Park submitted as a finalist for head football coach, according to Henry County schools' superintendent David Martin, who then conducted further interviews.
Martin and Laurel Park principal Charles Preston acted in concert in naming Lopez the football coach. Much the same process will occur when Fieldale-Collinsville principal Brent Vann and Martin work to name the Cavaliers' football coach.
After interviews by Vann, a list of finalists will be given to Martin for further interviews. He will then consult with Vann in the picking of a new coach.
HOT RACE: The Roanoke Valley District boys' soccer race is one of the most fiercely contested in years. Going into Friday's play, Franklin County, under coach Jason Guilliams, was unbeaten in RVD play. The Eagles beat defending champion Cave Spring and Patrick Henry the first time around. Even Pulaski County has been playing close games against the three leaders.
Franklin County was 6-1 before playing Cave Spring on Friday. The Eagles are following the same script as they did in 1992 when they were regular season and tournament champions for the RVD while posting an 11-4-2 record. That team lost to Woodbridge in the Northwest Region.
Next week, Cave Spring battles Patrick Henry Tuesday at River's Edge, and Franklin County meets the Patriots at the same site Thursday, May 8.
MOVING ON: Cecil Phillips, a former Ferrum and Radford High School lineman, has joined the staff of former Jefferson Forest football coach Bob Christmas in Bainbridge, Ga. Phillips was coaching at William Campbell where he worked under two former Timesland athletes, Kevin Saunders of Radford and H.S. Ingo of George Wythe.
LENGTH: Medium: 86 linesby CNB