THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Sunday, February 12, 1995 TAG: 9502120234
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: C12 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY LEE TOLLIVER, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: VIRGINIA BEACH LENGTH: Medium: 58 lines
While many might have seen them as shallow victories, Cox and Kempsville sure didn't.
The Falcons and Chiefs felt they could have beaten anybody on Saturday, and their 1-2 scores in the Beach District gymnastics meet prove their point.
With defending Group AAA champion Kellam missing its top performer, the Knights failed in the first round of their bid to repeat as state champs.
But even if Kellam had had Brooke Sawyer in the lineup, the Knights' scores probably wouldn't have beaten those of Cox and Kempsville. Sawyer - the Beach's top gymnast this season - was out with a compression fracture in her right tibia.
The Falcons repeated as Beach District tournament winner with a season-high 144.16 points, while Kempsville also registered a season-best of 143.1. Kellam was a distant third at 139.33.
The top two teams, top four all-arounds and top eight finishers in each individual event advance to Saturday's Eastern Region competition at Warwick High. In addition, any all-around amassing more than 35 points also advances, as does any gymnast scoring 9.0 or better in an individual event.
``I really feel like my girls could have beaten anybody today,'' Cox coach Melody Hartranft said. ``But I feel bad for Kellam's girls. We always talk about wanting to compete against the best and still win, and Kellam didn't have their best today.
``But you can't take anything away from us and Kempsville. We both had very good meets.''
While Cox has had the luck of remaining injury-free all season, Kempsville has not.
``Mel's been very lucky this year,'' Kempsville coach Dottie Labahn said. ``But we haven't been at full strength all season.
``But it's like I've always said, you work towards peaking at the right time, and the girls did the things they needed to do to get there today.''
With Sawyer out, Kellam teammate Michelle Alexander seized the moment and took all-around honors with a score of 37.46. The sophomore also took firsts on uneven parallel bars and floor exercise, and was second on balance beam. The Knights' lineup consists only of freshman and sophomores.
But, unlike the team winners, the victory was hollow for Alexander.
``Yes, this was a tough meet for us,'' she said.
``I'd trade winning all-around for the team and us having a chance to win state again.
``Brooke's upset because she feels like she let the team down, and there's nothing further from the truth. She didn't let us down at all. And besides, we've got two more years to try to win state again.'' ILLUSTRATION: Photo
L. TODD SPENCER
Michelle Alexander of Kellam performs on the balance beam Saturday.
She scored a 9.5.
by CNB