THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Friday, December 8, 1995 TAG: 9512080647
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: C3 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY PAUL WHITE, STAFF WRITER
LENGTH: Medium: 80 lines
At a time of year when most of the area's high school cross country runners are still winding down, Kempsville's Adrienne Parker seems to be just getting warmed up.
The Kempsville junior, who shaved 18 seconds off her personal best time two weeks ago, will compete in the 17th annual Footlocker Cross Country Championships on Saturday in San Diego, a national showcase for 32 of the top high school distance runners in the country.
Parker, who left for San Diego Thursday with all expenses paid by the meet promoters, is the only South Hampton Roads runner to qualify, and is believed to be the first area girl to advance to the national championships in the meet's 17-year history.
``There will be a lot of talented girls out there, so I'm really excited,'' said Parker, a two-time Beach District champion and the 1994 Eastern Region titlist. ``I just want to run my best race of the year.''
The top eight finishers in each of four regional meets earned berths in Saturday's nationals.
Parker qualified by placing eighth in the South Regional in Charlotte on Nov. 25. Her time, 18:18, was well under her previous fastest (18:36).
Parker, who finished an area-best sixth at the Group AAA state meet Nov. 12, also outran two of the girls at regionals who had placed ahead of her at the state meet.
Parker credited the presence of other fast runners at the regional meet for her personal-best time, but Kempsville coach Kendall Tata, who will accompany Parker to San Diego, believes there's more to the junior's success than that.
``I've never had anyone work as hard as Adrienne,'' Tata said.
``Everything she's done is a result of dedication and a lot of hard work.''
WRESTLING TOURNAMENT: Second-ranked Western Branch will be out to regain supremacy of its own tournament today when the eighth annual Western Branch Invitational gets under way.
The Bruins finished second a year ago, 8 1/2 points behind Cox. It marked the first time in four years Western Branch failed to capture the crown.
The fifth-ranked Falcons, No. 6 Granby and No. 8 Deep Creek and No. 10 First Colonial are also in the 10-team field, along with Princess Anne, Salem, Maury, Gloucester, and Indian River. The tournament also includes 16 wrestlers ranked in The Virginian-Pilot poll.
Action begins today at 5 p.m. with first-round pigtails, followed by the first round at 6:30 p.m. and a consolation round at 9 p.m.
Saturday's schedule begins at noon with the semifinals. Wrestling continues throughout the day, with the third-place matches set for 6 p.m. and the finals at 7:30 p.m.
BASKETBALL: Former Norview boys basketball coach Ed Young returns to familiar ground tonight when he brings his Altoona (Pa.) team to the Norview Classic, where he will play the host Pilots at 7:30. Nandua and Portsmouth Christian meet in the other semi at 6 p.m.
Elsewhere in boys basketball, No. 7 Bayside hosts No. 10 Cox in a Beach District game and No. 4 Green Run travels to No. 6 Booker T. Washington in a non-district meeting of ranked teams.
In girls basketball, No. 9 Western Branch is at No. 5 Churchland and No. 10 Lake Taylor is at No. 3 Princess Anne. ILLUSTRATION: Photo
The Virginian-Pilot file
Adrienne Parker's 18:18 performance in last month's South Regional
qualified her for Saturday's Footlocker Cross Country
Championships.
by CNB