THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Saturday, November 12, 1994 TAG: 9411120365
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: C7 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: By KEVIN DOEPP, STAFF WRITER
LENGTH: Medium: 77 lines
With only eight girls at the start of the field hockey season, it didn't look like their would even be a season for coach Terri Sawyer and the Virginia Wesleyan field hockey team.
But after her players went through the dorms and the classes to recruit six girls, the Lady Marlins went on to post the best record (7-5) in school history, earning Sawyer Old Dominion Athletic Conference coach of the year honors.
``A lot of of ODAC coaches are people I have played with or played for,'' said Sawyer. ``They recognized the work and all of the adversity I had to overcome.''
Aside from not having enough girls Sawyer had to deal with the new 16-day practice rule, which only allows that many days of practice before the season.
``That was a big setback,'' said Sawyer. ``We weren't able to have much of a preseason.''
``Coming into the season I was really excited, we had a good core of returning players with great attitudes,'' said Sawyer. ``When we needed more players, I had a heart to heart talk with the eight girls and we pulled together.''
Led by sophomore sensation Monica Saltarelli, who scored 12 of the team's 16 goals, the Lady Marlins were able to host the first round of the ODAC tournament for the first time in school history. They were ousted by Roanoke, ending the roller-coaster season.
OLD DOMINION REPORT: Freshman swimmer John Wenham set a new school record in the 1,000 freestyle with a time of 9:32.65, breaking Dave Brown's mark of 9:34.97 from 1986 . . . . Senior diver Heather Drallos, 1994 Colonial Athletic Association diver of the year, posted a 1-meter diving total of 253.8, qualifying her for the NCAA Zone B championships at the end of the season in March. Drallos also owns the American and state record in powerlifting, squatting 380 pounds, bench pressing 170 and a dead lift of 341 pounds. . . . Old Dominion placed second in the MAISA Freshman Champions out of 12 teams. Newcomers Ward Cromwell, Jennifer Reyes, Mike Buckowski and Pam Leland led the way.
NORFOLK STATE CROSS COUNTRY: Norfolk State's Calvin Graham finished 46th with a time of 33:24.8 in the NCAA regionals held in Kutztown, PA. Other Spartan finishers: Robert Gerrard, 66th, 33:50.9, Omar Yousif (95th, 34:31.6), Richard Mike (Indian River), 108th, 34:48), Trrone Melvin (162nd, 37:13.9 and Byron Robinson (166th, 37:30.8). The team finished 20th overall with a score of 477.
VIRGINIA WESLEYAN UPDATE: The Lady Marlin soccer team had six members named to the All-ODAC squad. First team members were: Marcie Blackburn, forward, Bridgette Bradley (Salem), midfielder, Kristin de Stronie, back and keeper Sonya Huss. Second team members were: Mandy Nixon (Princess Anne), forward, and Tatia Boskovich, midfielder. ...All-ODAC field hockey members: first-team, forward Monica Saltarelli and second team was Bobbi Losee (First Colonial).
ALUMNI UPDATE: Mike Brown (Salem) a freshman at William and Mary finished fifth in the CAA cross country meet. . . . Baseball standout Damon Pitler (Norfolk Academy) was named defensive player of the year as a freshman at Emory University for the 1994 season. Pitler, a sophomore, carries a 3.2 grade-point average. . . . Eileen Arnaldo (Kempsville), a senior forward for James Madison field hockey, was named first-team All-CAA. Arnaldo had six goals and four assists. . . . Ann Mace (Bayside) was named second-team All-CAA in field hockey. Mace is a sweeper at VCU. . ..Katie Happel, a 1992 graduate of Nansemond-Suffolk Academy, has been selected to the first team All-ODAC in field hockey as a goalie for Lynchburg. Happel posted 137 saves. ILLUSTRATION: Photo
Starting with eight girls, Terri Sawyer led Wesleyan to a 7-5 field
hockey year.
by CNB