THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Tuesday, July 25, 1995 TAG: 9507250409
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: C4 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY TOM ROBINSON, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: BOULDER, COLO. LENGTH: Medium: 68 lines
If they hadn't been reminded of it afterward, Virginia Beach field hockey stars Kim Miller and Quan Nim might have opposed each other at the U.S. Olympic Festival on Monday with barely a passing thought of their friendship.
Miller's Under-18 national team, the South, went at it with Nim's East squad in a game played at a significantly higher level than the four contests in which Miller and Cox High School beat Nim and Bayside last season.
But Miller and Nim, who last met in the Group AAA state final, said they took no special pleasure in the match on the fake turf of the University of Colorado football stadium, and, as forwards, who never clash, hardly noticed each other.
Except, that is, when Miller was foiled on a breakaway in the first half, and when Nim recorded an assist on the only goal of the game, a 1-0 upset by the East.
``When you play, you don't look at who you're playing,'' Miller said. ``You don't look at the face. All you see is the color of the shirt and their stick. You don't know if it's your aunt or uncle or who it is. If you do know, it can take a little bit of concentration off of what you're doing.''
Postgame, Miller's mind was on her throbbing nose from a wayward elbow, her bloody shin from intercepting a shot, her blown breakaway and her team's 0-2 record.
``I'm tired of sticking cotton up my nose,'' Miller said with a laugh, blood still trickling down her shin. ``Blood, sweat and tears, that's what it's all about, especially at this level. Not tears so much, but sometimes they come out, like whenever you get hit in the nose.''
Miller's pride took a hit when she failed to score her second goal of the Festival after racing in alone on the goalie. Two defenders were a step behind her when Miller had the ball kicked away by the goalie 15 feet from the goal without getting off a shot.
``That's one of my weakest points, going one-on-one with goalie, because I go so fast. I really didn't have control of the ball,'' said Miller, a rising senior at Cox. ``I was going to do a pull but I did it too late and she just laid out and got me.''
Nim, though, got better results from her missed shot from close range. A teammate drilled home the rebound, which gave Nim her second assist of the tournament.
``I should have lifted it because the goalie was on the ground,'' said Nim, who will attend the University of Iowa on a scholarship this fall. ``I just reacted. At the high school level you can just keep pounding it at the goalie even if she's on the ground.''
But it's not Cox-Bayside anymore. Ask Miller. In the last three days, she's lost more - twice - than she did in her entire high school career - once.
LOCAL NOTABLES: Lefthanded pitcher Chris Elmore from Virginia Beach's Green Run High School has yet to play for the East baseball team because of a sore shoulder. Elmore has only one more chance to play, in Wednesday's medal round. sailing (Laser) after two races. . . . Suffolk team handball player Mike Thornberry will play for the gold medal tonight for the South. . . . Rich Fulford, a former Great Bridge pole vaulter and ex-Southeastern Conference champion, is a late entry in track and field, which begins Friday. Virginia Beach's Andre Cason will run the 100 meters Saturday. ILLUSTRATION: Bayside's Quan Nim, left, and Cox's Kim Miller renewed
acquaintances after Monday's game, in which Nim assisted on the lone
goal.
by CNB