THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Wednesday, April 3, 1996 TAG: 9604030621
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: C4 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY KEITH POMPEY, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: VIRGINIA BEACH LENGTH: Medium: 56 lines
Maybe it was the stitches.
Lorna Tweed required five stitches in her right foot after stepping on a piece of glass on March 15. Doctors advised the Catholic senior to take it easy in her busy athletic schedule.
Instead of being her normal hard-working self at practice, Tweed took a back seat and watched her teammates.
The injury couldn't have come at a worse time. On March 25, she was scheduled to begin her first full track season in a meet with St. Gertrude's. The next day she was due to play in Catholic's season opener in lacrosse against St. Margaret's.
``I was afraid that I would pull my stitches out,'' said Tweed. ``I thought they would come out while I was running.
``But after the long jump, I knew I would be OK.''
She was a lot more than OK on Monday. Tweed won the long jump with a leap of 15-feet, 2 inches, then went on to take the 100, 200 and the 300 hurdles and anchored the winning 4x100 relay to power the Crusaders to a 74-46 victory over St. Gertrude's.
On Tuesday, Tweed scored a goal as Catholic whipped St. Margaret's 8-3 for the Crusaders' first lacrosse win in the two-year history of the program. Catholic had an 0-6 record in its inaugural season last year.
For her effort, Tweed was named The Virginian-Pilot's female Athlete of the Week.
``I think the stitches gave me a little time to rest up,'' she said.
Crusader co-track coach Ed McClendon said this gutty performance shows what type of athlete she really is.
``She is a tough girl,'' he said. ``If there is one girl that could do it all she is the one.''
``She is the most hard-working, skilled, unselfish athlete I have seen in a long time,'' added Catholic girls lacrosse coach Moira Leavitt. ``Her level of lacrosse is heads and shoulders above what I have around here.''
Believe it or not, neither track or lacrosse is her best sport.
In field hockey, the 17-year-old was a second-team All-TCIS defender and team MVP last fall.
``She should have been on the TCIS's first team,'' said Leavitt, also the field hockey coach. ``But she is such a team playmaker that other coaches overlooked her.''
But after last week's performance, it will be hard for anyone to overlook Tweed. ILLUSTRATION: Photo
Lorna Tweed
by CNB