THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Sunday, October 23, 1994 TAG: 9410210353
SECTION: VIRGINIA BEACH BEACON PAGE: 28 EDITION: FINAL
TYPE: Sports
SOURCE: BY GARY EDWARDS, CORRESPONDENT
LENGTH: Medium: 88 lines
HER STRIDES ARE LONG, smooth and effortless. She leaves the starting line, takes over first place and never relinquishes her lead. The economy of motion is deceptive.
The tiny girl in the Brandon Middle School blue and yellow No. 20 track jersey doesn't look like she should be running away from the field. Yet, her lead increases with each fluid stride.
Her brown ponytail bobs rhythmically, keeping time with her pumping arms. She never looks back and she probably couldn't see the second-place runner if she did.
Running 1600 meters shouldn't look this easy, even for someone only 13.
Truth be told, Pam Edwards does look red-faced and winded at the end of her 5:49 1600-meter run. In the final meet of the middle school season, she won by 75 yards. Later, she adds an equally lop-sided victory in the 800 meters to her unbeaten streak this year.
But now, she wears chagrin and perspiration on her face as she walks from the track.
``Shoot. I'm disappointed. The time's not very good,'' said the Brandon Middle School eighth-grader.
Her 800-meter time of 2:36 in the Kempsville meet was one second off her personal best for the season. That's nine seconds better than her closest female competitor and good enough for third-best among the boys' times in 1994.
Edward's seasonal personal-best in the 1600 is 5:32, but she clocked a sizzling 5:20 in the Hershey Nationals in Pennsylvania last summer. That's an average of 1:20 per lap for four laps around the oval.
``I had someone pushing me in Pennsylvania,'' said the 5-foot-2, 96-pound speedster.
Did the rainy, windy weather Wednesday afternoon affect her times?
``No, I like bad weather, and I like hot weather, too,'' she said. ``The wind didn't bother me.''
Her two victories against Kempsville Middle School on Wednesday pushed her record to 10-0 in dual meets. She will run the same two races in the citywide middle school meet Wednesday at Tallwood High School. She will be running for her second straight city championships in the 800- and 1600-meters.
There will be runners from other schools on the track with her, but Edward's only serious opponent will be the stop watch.
As good as she is at running, Edwards is far from one-dimensional.
She makes A's in the classroom and is a member of the National Junior Honor Society. She plays first-chair cello in the Brandon orchestra. She runs cross country for the Junior Olympics. But aside from that, Edwards is just an ordinary middle school student. It's hard to tell from her behavior how much she has accomplished.
Edwards is quiet and shy. She prefers warming up and stretching to talking about her running. She looks relieved when it is time to run.
``She hardly looks like she's touching the ground when she runs,'' said Sharon Bolger, assistant track coach at Brandon and Edwards's long-distance mentor. ``She's so focused, able to block out distractions and concentrate on what she is doing, in the classroom, with her music, as well as out here.''
For all her success, she has her brother, Billy, to thank.
``I sort of follow my brother,'' she said between races. ``He played soccer. He quit soccer. I played soccer. I quit soccer. He started to run and I started to run.''
Billy Edwards, 16, is a junior cross country runner at Tallwood High School and ranked third in the area.
She said her father, Daniel, also runs, while mother, Susan, walks.
``I started running in the second grade and I want to continue, at least through high school,'' Edwards said.
And with her talent, she's likely to run right past it. ILLUSTRATION: Staff photos by CHARLIE MEADS
``She hardly looks like she's touching the ground when she runs,''
Sharon Bolger, assistant track coach at Brandon, says of Pam
Edwards.
CITY MEET
WHAT: Middle school citywide track meet featuring seven events
each for boys andgirls. All 12 middle schools will compete.
WHERE: Tallwood High
WHEN: Wednesday, Oct. 26, beginning at 4 p.m.
TICKETS: $2.50 for adults and $1.50 for students
by CNB