THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Sunday, November 6, 1994 TAG: 9411050095
SECTION: SUFFOLK SUN PAGE: 29 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY DAN COOLEY, CORRESPONDENT
LENGTH: Medium: 84 lines
The season is not yet over, but the 1994 version of Lakeland's cross country teams are already the most successful in the school's history.
The boys clinched their first ever winning season and in doing so, they also completed their highest finish ever in the Bay Rivers District with a second place and a 5-1 record in district dual meets.
On the girls side, the Cavaliers also had their highest finish ever in the district, placing second in the district meet at William and Mary last week.
According to third-year coach David Wessel, he expected the boys to do well this year, but the girls' success was totally unexpected.
``With what we had coming back, I thought the boys could finish second,'' said Wessel. ``There were no expectations with the girls.
``I didn't know we would even have a team because we never had enough girls to have one before.''
Throughout most of the season, Wessel did not have a full girls team and had to forfeit almost all of the dual meets. However, some unexpected help came along.
One was Vera Perez, an exchange student from Ecuador. Two other additional runners were Jennifer Jones and Sheila Byrum who also are on Lakeland's field hockey team.
Because field hockey matches are during the week, both Jones, a sophomore, and Byrum, a junior, were able to run cross country only during weekend meets. But they became the team's fifth and sixth runners.
Perez missed several meets while adjusting to the American lifestyle.
``She didn't understand the importance of being at the meets,'' the coach said. ``With the district meet and regionals coming up, I finally had to tell her that she couldn't miss any more meets.''
Perez made the commitment just in time to make first team All District, finishing sixth.
Other top runners who have been with the team all year include senior Christina DuBois, freshman Janet Chapman, sophomore Derrie Friebel and junior Jennifer LeMasters.
DuBois was Wessel's only female runner his first two years as Lakeland coach. With her experience, DuBois is not only the top runner on the girls' squad, but took third in the district meet and is considered one of the area's best Group AA runners.
Although the boys squad had its most successful season, there were some unexpected setbacks. One was the loss of senior Joey Branton who was unable to run because of a back injury that has required surgery.
In addition, senior Scott Doty, consistently the team's No. 2 runner, has recently been suffering from shin splints. The injury was costly at the district meet wehre Doty dropped down to seventh on the team.
Thus, the team's overall performance fell to a fourth place finish. Lakeland was still able to qualify for the Region I meet because the top four teams advance and Wessel planned to rest Doty for a few days.
On the positive side, the biggest surprise has been freshman Andy Franklin. Although he was the team's worst runner at the season's first meet, he improved his time by more than six minutes and had a personal best of 16:58. Franklin also came in fourth in the district to make first-team All-Bay Rivers.
Other runners include senior Barry Richards, sophomore Leonard Wiggins, junior Aaron Dowalibi, sophomore Shonte Lassiter and senior Eli Dowalibi. Richards was named to the second team all district.
Despite all the successes the teams have had, Wessel is not quite satisfied with the season. Therefore, the next goal is for both teams to finish in the top four at the regional meet, thus qualifying for the state meet.
The coach says this goal is easily attainable if all runners compete as they should. And he sees qualifying for state as a stepping stone for more success in the future.
``In the Bay Rivers, if you get out of district, you'll go to state,'' said Wessel. ``It's rare when you don't.
``I want the runners to see what it takes to compete at state. Those teams, especially from the western part of the state, are at another level, particularly with the boys.
``Last year, I thought York had a great team and they didn't even place in the top five at state. In the west, they have guys who consistently run in the 16's on the hills and our guys can't even do that on the flat courses right now.''
Going to state is part of a winning tradition Wessel hopes to build at Lakeland. Both the boys and girls teams have a strong nucleus returning next year. by CNB