THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Wednesday, November 9, 1994 TAG: 9411090488
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: C5 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY RICH RADFORD, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: VIRGINIA BEACH LENGTH: Medium: 54 lines
When Adrienne Parker returned home after taking her younger brother trick-or-treating, mom took one look at her bag of treats and said, ``Not till after regionals.''
And after Parker dusted the field at last Thursday's Eastern Region cross country meet, the candy will remain on the shelf another week as Parker heads for the state meet.
The Kempsville High sophomore, in only her fifth cross country race, ran a personal-best 19:10 to beat runner-up Meredith Turnage of Western Branch by 17 seconds in the race at Newport News Park.
The victory earned Parker The Virginian-Pilot and The Ledger-Star female athlete of the week honor.
It also made Parker's juggling of two fall sports worthwhile. Not wanting to give up playing field hockey, Parker reworked her schedule to continue sticking while also running cross country.
It involved the occasional 6 a.m. workout with cross country coach Kendall Tata.
While Parker's region championship is somewhat of a surprise, it is no more surprising than her victory in last spring's 1,600-meter run at the Eastern Region track meet.
Parker never ran track until Tata noticed she was always first to finish the field hockey team's conditioning runs.
Parker ran just two regular-season cross country meets, posting times of 19:57 and 19:53 at Mount Trashmore. She ran in the William and Mary Invitational, finishing in 19:11 to win her ``C'' Division race.
At the Beach District championships, she won with a time of 19:55.
Parker entered the region meet as the area's second-ranked girls runner behind Turnage, a senior. Turnage set the early pace, but a mile into the race Parker took over and started setting the pace.
``We knew Turnage would go out fast,'' Tata said. ``We wanted Adrienne to work the middle of the race.''
At the state meet Saturday in Warrenton, there will be a slew of Northern Virginia runners with more impressive credentials than Parker.
The 5-foot-5, 118-pounder has seen it before: After winning the 1,600 at the Eastern Region meet last spring, she finished seventh at the state meet.
But she may be even better at cross country than she is in the 1,600.
And if she doesn't pull off an improbable victory Saturday, there's a consolation prize waiting at home - the Halloween candy. ILLUSTRATION: Photo
Adrienne Parker
by CNB