THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Wednesday, October 5, 1994 TAG: 9410050659
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: C3 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY DENISE MICHAUX, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: NORFOLK LENGTH: Medium: 52 lines
Competitive running hasn't always been Darryl Wood's top priority.
For Wood, an 18-year-old senior at Maury, it was usually more of a mode of transportation for him and his twin brother Francis.
``They run everywhere,'' Maury cross country coach Walt Green said. ``They run to and from school, the store, everywhere.
``You can see them out there running around and warming up like crazy men. They do a whole lot of running. The hardest thing for me is to get them to back off a little bit and to know when to run hard and when to back off.''
There was no backing off last Saturday.
Darryl Wood went up against 221 runners from 31 schools in the C division at the William and Mary Invitational and finished second. For that effort, he is The Virginian-Pilot and The Ledger-Star boys athlete of the week.
Among the runners Wood beat at William and Mary was Norfolk Academy's then top-ranked Biron Roy.
The second-place finish vaulted Wood to sixth in the area cross country rankings, while Roy dropped to seventh.
Wood's second in the William and Mary race was his best in an invitational this year and a confidence-builder heading into the major postseason meets.
``I'm sure I'll make it to state,'' Wood said, ``if I just keep on working hard.''
Green can only wonder how good both Woods would be if they had come out for cross country before this season.
Darryl ran the mile and two-mile in track last spring, but former cross-country coach Wil Shearin wasn't able to persuade him to add the extra mile and start running cross country. When Green took over this year he made getting the Wood brothers to join the team his first goal.
``I said I've got to get these guys,'' Green said. ``I made them my number one priority and it's paying off.''
Darryl Wood had his doubts.
When their mother moved to Virginia Beach, Darryl and Francis opted to get their own apartment and stay in Norfolk to finish out their senior year at Maury. But that meant taking on jobs to pay the bills and with ROTC commitments, that left little time for anything else.
``I wasn't sure I was going to be able to do it because I had a paper route and everything,'' Darryl said. ``Then I got a job at a restaurant and its worked out.
``It's been really fun so far because I've been doing pretty good.'' by CNB