THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SUNDAY, June 5, 1994 TAG: 9406030273
SECTION: PORTSMOUTH CURRENTS PAGE: 23 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: Bill Leffler
DATELINE: 940605 LENGTH: Medium
Long recognized as the fourth-strongest of the four area districts, a polite way to say the weakest, the Southeastern District is rapidly making strides to be acknowledged as the very best in athletics.
{REST} Witness:
Football - Norcom won the Group AAA Division 5 state championship in football and Wilson was the state titlist in two of the previous three years. Indian River was the Eastern Region's Division 6 champ the past year.
Softball - For the first time ever, two Southeastern teams - Western Branch and Great Bridge - will be the Eastern Region entries in the state tournament next week. The Beach District has monopolized these berths in past years.
Baseball - The down-the-line strength of the Southeastern was evident this year with Western Branch and Great Bridge gaining region semifinal positions and the Bruins qualifying for the state tournament.
Wrestling - Great Bridge is king of the hill in this category and Western Branch also stands tall. No other district has two stronger teams.
Basketball - Churchland has vaulted to the top in the area in boys basketball. The Truckers will be a state title contender next year.
Track - there's no question that the premier performer in Hampton Roads is Wilson hurdler/sprinter LaTasha Colander. Norcom's Larry Staton is the area's best all-around jumper and a state title threat. Churchland's Lakil Mayes is just a stride away from matching any sprinter in the state.
Area coaches feel the Southeastern could move to the front in soccer if it had a feeder program as in the other cities. Junior high and junior varsity soccer could provide this. It's not a major expense and should be considered by Portsmouth school officials.
CUFF STUFF - Perhaps the most amazing statistic in Jimmy Anderson's 9-0 pitching record at Western Branch prior to Thursday's region championship baseball game at Old Dominion was his strikeout ratio. In 78 innings he struck out 181 batters. That's better than two per inning. . . . When the Western Branch girls softball team fell behind Bayside, 4-3, in the top of the ninth inning and was three outs from being eliminated from state tournament play, what was Bruins' coach Chris Ake thinking? ``I was thinking the whole game wasn't over yet. We still had our turn at bat,'' she said. The Bruins scored twice to claim the victory. . . . Not a single batter was walked in the Great Bridge-Salem softball game in the region semifinal, possibly an area first. But the no-walk pitching wasn't anything unusual for Great Bridge's Stacey Adamson. It was the fifth time this year she did not issue a free pass. ``I never plan on walking anybody,'' said Adamson, a senior lefthander. . . . The biggest injustice of the year was the omission of Oscar Smith's Angela Carter from the East squad in the high school all-star basketball game upcoming in July. She was nominated by coach Patty Walsh, who also was upset at the snubbing of Carter. Carter was Player of the Year in South Hampton Roads. . . . The U.S. Basketball League is planning a June 18 game between the Connecticut Skyhawks and the Atlanta Trojans at the ODU fieldhouse. Admission will be $5.50 with group tickets available for $5. Eighty-five former players in this league are now in the NBA. . . . Kelly Cross, a June graduate of Churchland, was selected as a cheerleader at Averett College in its recent spring tryouts. She will enter Averett in August. Older sister Amy Cross is a former multi-sport star at Churchland and a standout on the Averett basketball team. . . . Two Portsmouth youth duckpin teams, winners of state titles, will vie in the Coca-Cola National Duckpin Youth Championships at Newington, Conn. on June 25. The Victory Juniors are Jeremy McCready, April Simpson, Kelly Frederick, Billy Ragland and Billy Jordan and the Victory Majors are Jennifer Cullings, Mike Barnes, Beau Hoggard, Mike Caraway and Kendra Allen.
by CNB