THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Sunday, October 15, 1995 TAG: 9510150211
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: C10 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: By KEVIN DOEPP, STAFF WRITER
LENGTH: Medium: 75 lines
Throughout the sports world, you hear a lot of talk about mental toughness.
Two Christopher Newport cross country standouts, junior James Ratcliff and senior Nicole Horn, believe that mental toughness is more than half the battle.
``Being mentally tough is 99 percent of the race,'' said Ratcliff, a Western Branch High School alumnus. ``Running is something you have to work at all year long.''
Said Horn, a Great Bridge graduate, ``I plan on winning when I race. You go into the race knowing that you can do it. It is all about mental attitude.''
Ratcliff has enjoyed great success this season. Two weeks ago he was named Dixie Conference athlete of the week in men's cross country. On Sept. 9 he finished second in the UNC-Wilmington Invitational with a time of 17:49 in the 8K. On Sept. 23 he won the CNU Invitational with a time of 25:34, and on Sept. 30 he finished second in the Greensboro Invitational with a time of 25:47.
``I love to win; that is my ultimate goal,'' Ratcliff said. ``When I come into a race, I run my race. How I run depends upon my competition.''
Horn finished 19th at the UNC-Wilmington Invitational with a time of 19:58. The women run a 5K, rather than the 8K run by the men. She finished second at the CNU Invitational with a time of 19:28:04 and 32nd in the Greensboro Invitational. Times were unavailable for the last race.
The week Ratcliff was Dixie athlete of the week, Horn was, too for the women.
``Well, I don't really think about the honors, '' Horn said. ``It is flattering and it feels great.''
Both Ratcliff and Horn have the Dixie Conference meet, the Mason-Dixon meet, the regionals and possibly the nationals left this season.
``This year I want to be the conference champion again,'' Horn said. ``I really want to go to nationals, too. I just feel like I can do it this year.''
MONARCHS REPORT: Senior heavyweight wrestler Nick Hall is ranked fifth in the nation by Wrestling USA magazine. Last season Hall became the Monarchs' 20th All-American, finishing the year with a record of 32-5. He was 7-0 in the CAA and 12-1 in duals. . . . Field hockey standout Danielle Chellew is 18th in the nation in scoring with 26 points and ninth in goals scored with 13. Five of those goals came against Radford, tying an ODU record. Kelly Driscoll is 18th in the nation in goals scored with nine, while Samantha Salvia is fourth in assists with 13. . . . Portfolio magazine's favorite women, listed in its current edition, include Lady Monarchs head basketball coach Wendy Larry, her entire team, and former assistant Anne Donovan, now the head coach at East Carolina.
MARLINS REPORT: The latest ISAA South Regional NCAA Division III men's soccer poll has the Marlins (11-0-1) second, behind Methodist. The Marlins also are ranked ninth in the country. Heading into the weekend, the Marlins had outscored their opponents 49-2. . . . The Lady Marlins women's soccer team had outscored their opponents 40-13 heading into the weekend. Mandy Nixon (Princess Anne) was tied for the team lead in scoring with nine goals and two assists for 20 points. . . . Over its first nine games, the Lady Marlins field hockey team (5-4) had outscored its opponents 15-13. Junior Monica Saltarelli led the team with 23 points. Goalkeeper Bobbi Losee had 93 saves.
ALUMNI REPORT: Junior forward Kelly McDonald, a Cox graduate, was third in scoring for James Madison's fourth-ranked field hockey team with five goals (10 points) as of last week. Another former Cox standout, senior back Heather Hoehlein, was fourth on the team with one goal and seven assists for nine points. . . . Lindsay Huffman (Maury) netted the game-winning goal for the second-ranked Randolph-Macon women's soccer team in a 2-1 come-from-behind win over Salisbury State. The Lady Jackets own the nation's longest small-college regular-season winning streak for women's soccer at 46 games. ILLUSTRATION: Photos
Nicole Horn, left, and James Ratcliff are standouts on Christopher
Newport's cross country teams.
by CNB