THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Wednesday, November 15, 1995 TAG: 9511150352
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: C1 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY VICKI L. FRIEDMAN, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: VIRGINIA BEACH LENGTH: Long : 104 lines
As Cox High senior Lauren Crenshaw watches her field hockey teammates endure a familiar practice regimen that varies from ball-handling drills to drop-dead sprints, she doesn't see history being made.
She doesn't see a Falcons team that outscored its opponents 129-2 this season en route to an 18-0 record. Nor does she marvel at Kim Miller's 60 goals, the third-highest total in national history, or Catherine McCallum's 33 assists, which ties a national record. Neither does she recognize Cox as going for its seventh consecutive state championship, 10th overall, another milestone, beginning Thursday at Oakton High.
All Crenshaw sees is 10 of her best friends.
``Sometimes I think it's only us, me and my friends playing,'' she says. ``How can we win? How could we be so great? But we are.''
Great enough to be ranked among the most dominant teams - any sport, any level - ever assembled in Hampton Roads. More than half of its players are candidates for Division I scholarships.
``This team has the best personnel I've ever put on the field,'' says Nancy Fowlkes, in her 22nd year as coach at Cox. ``Other years I wondered at times if we were going to win. This year I wondered by how much.''
The Cox stronghold on the state crown is nearly unprecedented in Hampton Roads high school history, matched only by a Granby wrestling program that collected 21 state championships between 1949 and 1970. And although the Beach District offers the most formidable field hockey competition in the state - in four of the last five years, Beach teams have faced each other in the state final - Cox stands unmatched at the high school level, without a regular-season loss this decade.
``There's no doubt in my mind that there are college teams in the state they could beat,'' said Tabb coach Paul Kirby, whose team fell to the Falcons 5-0 in the second round of regionals. ``I think they could play an average Division I team and not embarrass themselves.''
What makes this Cox team so good, arguably better than the previous six that brought home state crowns? Start with the seven seniors, says Fowlkes, who are looking at colleges that include Old Dominion, North Carolina, James Madison, Virginia and Wake Forest, all high-caliber programs. ``So many Division I players,'' Fowlkes muses. ``You will not see that again.''
That kind of talent allows Fowlkes to experiment with a lineup she's never used before to give the Falcons an extra offensive punch. Most high school field hockey teams play with five forwards, three midfielders and two fullbacks. This year Fowlkes switched to three forwards, three midfielders, three halfbacks and a sweeper.
By spreading her personnel, Fowlkes created more open space to take advantage of the Falcons' speed and skill. No one benefited more than Miller, who averages 3.33 goals per game.
``It's harder to do more in the circle with a crowd,'' says Miller, who banged in 10 goals alone Sept. 13 against Trinity Episcopal. ``You can't do a dance recital in an elevator.''
But mainly, Cox's success can be traced to how cohesive the team is as a unit. Skill-wise, there are no weaknesses. Referee Judy George, who officiated three Falcons games this year and who coached Kempsville to state championships in 1978, 1984 and 1987, says, ``Their worst player is above average; their best player is excellent.''
But more than skill, the cohesiveness stems from Crenshaw's earlier summation: They are all indeed best friends. Yes, there are team dinners, says senior and right fullback Meredith Benson. But this is a team that has hung out together since junior high and before. They've attended camps together, watched ``The Mighty Ducks'' together and planned regular sleep-overs; it's a group that spends more time bonding off the field than on.
``I know a lot of teams have a lot of good players,'' Benson says, ``but their team doesn't quite mesh. If you can't get along off the field, there's no way it's going to happen on.''
``A lot of teams may have team unity,'' adds sophomore right halfback Katie Kubic. ``But we're a team all year long.''
Debbie Lowrance, a former Kempsville coach who conducts field hockey camps at Virginia Wesleyan, says the sheer number of dedicated players on this Cox team is remarkable. ``You see that individually,'' she says. ``But there are not a lot of total teams who eat, sleep, breathe field hockey like this one. . so well.''
And there are no cliques, assures sophomore Taylor Rountree. ``It's hard to explain the sisterhood we've created.''
On the field, that sisterhood leads to goals and shutouts - goalie Kim Iman has 51 in her career - and wins. The Falcons are better passers than their opponents. Better at the penalty corners. Better at keeping the ball - almost the entire length of the game - in their end of the field. Better at wearing other teams down.
Overall the best of the best.
``I really admired the Cox players - Heather Hale, all of them,'' of the past, Crenshaw said, ``and even now I think, `Gee, am I as good as them?' It's hard for me to to think that we are the best team, because there's always been someone for me to look up to. But player-for-player, everyone is really, really good, really talented.'' ILLUSTRATION: [Color Photo]
MOTOYA NAKAMURA
The Viginian-Pilot
Members of the Cox field hockey team celebrate their Eastern Region
championship.
COX FIELD HOCKEY IN THE RECORD BOOKS
[For a copy of the graphic, see microfilm for this date.]
by CNB