THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Friday, May 12, 1995 TAG: 9505120616
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: C4 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY BILL LEFFLER, STAFF WRITER
LENGTH: Medium: 78 lines
Portsmouth school superintendent Richard D. Trumble met with high school athletic directors and coaches at Wilson High School on Monday to discuss their concern over the city's extracurricular activity grade-point average rule.
For 1994-95, the school board raised the GPA requirements to 1.30. It will be elevated to 1.70 in September and to 2.0 in September 1996.
Coaches have indicated a large number of students will not be eligible this September. Some have questioned if athletes are being held to higher standards than other students.
He also was asked about Portsmouth's grading scale, which considers an A student from 95 to 100 while it is 92 to 100 in some area cities and 90 to 100 in some states.
Trumble said he would study the grading scale but acknowledged he was in agreement with the school board's action.
TOP SECRET: First Colonial boys soccer coach Joe Tucei is being very secretive about his team's new game plan this season, but the results are far from a secret.
The Patriots sit poised to capture the Beach District championship for the first time since 1988, when First Colonial finished in a tie with Cox and lost the region berth in a playoff shootout.
All the Patriots need now to secure the '95 title is a victory or tie against Kempsville tonight, or a Cox victory over Salem.
``We've got a new system this year,'' Tucei said after Tuesday's 2-1 overtime victory over Cox, the first time First Colonial had beaten the Falcons since a 3-2 overtime decision four years ago.
``No one's figured it out just yet and I'm not going to talk about it until we're done. But it seems to be working pretty well.''
Many felt First Colonial should have been at the top all along, having had players like National Pool member Wade Barrett, now at William and Mary.
``We're playing 80 minutes and the entire team is mentally focused,'' Tucei said. ``That's the biggest difference.''
And there's the secret game plan.
THREE-PEAT: Granby clinched its third straight Eastern District boys soccer title this week.
``Everybody rose to the occasion,'' first-year Granby coach Mike Kennedy said. ``We have a young team and everybody did his job.''
Sophomore Joe Tumminelli (13 goals) and senior Jeremy Churchill (11 goals) are the Comets' leading scorers. Keeper Phillip Shea, who had never played the position before this season, allowed only nine goals in district play. Granby has just four senior players.
TENNIS NOTES: The Bay Rivers District boys and girls tennis tournaments get underway today at Lake Meade Landing Tennis Center in Suffolk. Top seeds are Franklin's Winston Forbes for the girls and York's Carl Maymi for the boys.
Forbes went undefeated during the regular season. Her stiffest challenge is expected to come from Poquoson's Laura Schempf, the second seed. Mary Donnan Debranski of district regular-season champ Lakeland is seeded third.
Both tournaments run today and Saturday, with the finals set for Monday at 3:30 p.m.
The TCIS girls tournament, today and Saturday at Huntington Park in Newport News, will be the league's final one played in the spring. Coaches have voted to move girls tennis to the fall, a move which will allow TCIS teams to compete against the rest of the League of Independent Schools teams.
SOFTBALL NOTES: Fans won't have to wait long to see some top matchups in the Eastern Region softball tournament. The Southeastern and Beach districts, with the top five teams in the latest area poll, are matched up in the first round. . . . Others may strike out more batters, but no one has better control than Salem ace Bronwyn Blair, who allowed only three walks in her first 84 innings.
MILLER OUT: Princess Anne will be taking applications through the end of May for a girls basketball coach. Brian Miller, who led the Cavaliers this season to their first region appearance since 1981, resigned this week to spend more time with his family. MEMO: Staff writers Lee Tolliver, Paul White and Patti Walsh contributed to
this report. by CNB