THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Friday, September 23, 1994 TAG: 9409210134
SECTION: PORTSMOUTH CURRENTS PAGE: 14 EDITION: FINAL
TYPE: Southeastern District Cross Country Preview
SOURCE: BY BILL LEFFLER, CURRENTS SPORTS EDITOR
LENGTH: Long : 156 lines
A year ago, the Great Bridge boys and the Western Branch girls won the Southeastern District cross-country championships and went on to capture Eastern Region titles.
It very likely will happen again.
The Southeastern season starts Wednesday, Sept. 28, culminating with the district meet on Thursday, Oct. 27.
But a sneak preview shows the defending champions are the teams to beat again. The Wildcats won the boys title and the Bruins claimed the girls crown in the Southeastern Invitational at Great Bridge.
Great Bridge also won the Newport News Invitational. Western Branch finshed fourth there but led all Eastern Region entries.
Churchland and Western Branch appear to be the most likely threats to Great Bridge in the boys competition. The Great Bridge girls could push Western Branch.
There's no question about the standout runner among the girls. Western Branch's Meredith Turnage, a senior, is in a class by herself.
The boys standouts are both from Great Bridge - juniors Eric Adams and Mike Donnelly.
This year, there will be no city meets in Portsmouth or Chesapeake. However, the final meets of the year will be intracity competition.
Following are capsule previews of the district's eight teams:
GREAT BRIDGE: Steve Sawyer, starting his eighth year as coach of the Wildcats, has 13 lettermen back on the boys team and seven returning on the girls squad.
``Everybody will be gunning for our boys team since we won the district and region last year,'' said Sawyer. ``But we feel we have a strong squad. Churchland and Western Branch both may have state qualifying teams, too.
``On the girls side, Western Branch is loaded and should repeat. But we hope to give them a few good races this year.''
Adams and Donnelly head a boys squad that includes all-district performers Jason Wagner and David Bristow. Ricky O'Neal, Drew Cadoutte, Cameron Tabor and Eric Cooper also are back. Standout newcomers are Brenden Vesey and Carlos Cooper.
A new addition, freshman Tracey O'Neal, could be the finest on the girls team. She placed fifth in the invitational, leading the Wildcats to a second-place finish behind Western Branch.
Jessica Scott, also a freshman, is another promising prospect.
Holdovers include Dawn Trueblood, Jenny Huston, Carrie Smith, Melba Brown and Michelle Daly.
WESTERN BRANCH: The Bruins are fielding an 18-member boys squad as they try to rekindle championship hopes. Great Bridge ended Western Branch's four-year hold on the district title last year.
Billy McGlaughon, a sophomore, won the Chesapeake city meet last year and placed 11th in the district meet. Allan Sivils was ninth in the district. Other holdovers include senior Paul O'Brien and sophomore Richard Wells.
Western Branch coach Thomas Anderson feels freshman Ryan Thomas will be among the district's top 15 this year.
The Bruins have eight seniors, three juniors, four sophomores and three freshmen.
The girls team, piloted by first-year coach Bill Volkman, won the Southeastern Invitational and has the area's finest female runner in Meredith Turnage. Volkman believes she will be among the state's top five this year. Turnage had her best time ever in winning the district invitational and was second at Newport News. She is the Southeastern District and Eastern Regional defending champion.
Teammate Heather Allen may be the best runner in the district behind Turnage. Dionne Dunston and Rebecca Dixon are other mainstays.
Best of the newcomers are Emily Thomas and Dara Fox, both freshmen.
OSCAR SMITH: Stepping up a few notches in the district standings is the goal of coach Ed Lowrey, who directs both the boys and girls teams.
``We have our top five back on the boys team and that excites me,'' said Lowrey. ``The word was `patience' with the girls last year. This year, I would say it's `improvement and progress.' ''
The top returning boys are sophomore Guy Workman, who was in the district's top 10 as a freshman, senior Wes Goodwin, junior Daniel Thornton and sophomore Gary Lewis. Newcomer Randy Steffey, a junior, is a good prospect.
Mainstays on the girls squad are Torae Artis and Dianna Gott, both junior letter-winners, and sophomores Laura Denyes and Tabby Nothnagel.
DEEP CREEK: Second-year coach Scott Hughes is at the helm of both the boys and girls teams. Randy Snodgrass is the only holdover on the boys team. Five letter winners returned on the girls squad.
Backing up Snodgrass are several promising sophomores, including David Elliott, Connell Williams, Antonio Arnold and Gary Cox.
Other newcomers include senior Frank Ifko, juniors Tony Sorrell, Wes Barnett and Greg Bluford and freshman Rudolph Hardison.
Monica Harvey, the most valuable player on last year's team, heads a girls squad that includes only one senior - Latarisha Ward. Sophomore Quana Bluford is rated as the team's most improved runner by Hughes.
The top newcomers are junior Ashley Marshall and sophomores Crystal Cooper and Holly Slepin.
WILSON: Perez Bottoms, who placed fifth in the Southeastern District meet last year, heads a squad consisting of juniors and seniors. Bottoms is a junior and will battle Churchland's Ryan Smith for top honors in Portsmouth.
Coach Roger Smith has four lettermen back and has been pleased with the addition of junior Kenya Edwards, senior William Edwards and junior Steve Rahimpour.
Other mainstays include seniors Bryan Bonner, Edward Shannon and Mustafa Muhammad and junior Carl Rhodes.
Girls coach John Crute has a new squad since he had a senior team last year.
Christine Farrell and Heather Huddle, both juniors, will lead the Presidents. Freshman Yael Lewis is a promising candidate.
``The rest of the team will be sprinter/hurdlers, a couple of majorettes and Jackie Woods, a basketball player who will see part-time duty,'' said Crute.
The majorettes are seniors Natosia McNair and Shanell Jenkins.
The outdoor sprinter/hurdlers include Jonelle Whitley, Jenita Harris, Devona Chambers and Erica Hines. Hines is the younger sister of former Wilson star Angie Hines.
CHURCHLAND: Portsmouth city champion Smith heads a Churchland squad that should be one of the school's best ever. Josh Hester and outdoor track standout Jarmon Mayes are solid performers. Newcomers Robbie Williams, Gary Denette and Danny Edwards add strength.
The squad is composed of seniors except for Williams and Edwards.
Clarence Brown and his son, Winston, coach both the boys and girls. The girls team is just being organized and will be led by Lila Pope, a 500-meter runner.
In the recent Southeastern Invitational, Churchland placed third in the boys division. The winner, Great Bridge, was the only local team ahead of the Truckers.
NORCOM: The boys team is under new head coach Anthony Armistead, who has two holdover runners and some promising freshmen. Danny Hill returns as the girls coach.
The returnees on the boys squad are juniors Marquis Perkins and Gerod Ruffin. Armistead is looking for good things from freshman Rico White, who ran AAU summer track. ``He's a real promising runner,'' said Armistead.
Other newcomers are Calvin Bell, another freshman, and first-year runner Perneal Allen, a senior transfer from Wilson.
Hill has 11 on the girls team and is building around a young group of runners. He will have primarily a junior squad.
Top runners include Lakeisha Graves, who was 10th in the city meet last year, Jennifer Gainey, Kim Epps, Danyel Bennett, Jennifer Cook and Brandi Smith.
INDIAN RIVER: Calvin Freeman, in his 12th year as coach, is building his boys team around three holdover runners and some promising freshmen.
The returnees are sophomore Adam Vaugh, who is the team's top runner; Dallas King, a senior; and Panagiotis `Taki' Kalentzis, a junior.
Another senior is Jamon Tolbert.
The freshmen prospects are Jason Putroski and Mike Hayes.
Freeman has all five girls back from last year's team. The coach feels junior Cathy McNeeley, who was the MVP on the squad last season, will be among the district's top five. McNeeley was 12th in the district and the lone girl qualifier from Indian River for the regional.
The other holdovers are junior Kenisha Hodges, junior Sameia Freeman (no relation to the coach) and sophomores Neshia Ali and Shauna Hewit.
Kara Moore, a sophomore, is new. ILLUSTRATION: Photo by GARY C. KNAPP
Perez Bottoms, a junior, runs past coach Roger Smith during a
practice at Wilson High School.
by CNB