THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Friday, May 24, 1996 TAG: 9605240722
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: C1 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY KEITH POMPEY, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: PORTSMOUTH LENGTH: 181 lines
Missy Banks quietly sits in Norcom's gymnasium waiting for the bus. Suddenly, a door swings open, crashing against the wall.
``Missy, Missy can you help me? He just punched me in the face,'' screams a friend, sprinting through the door.
The room goes quiet. Dead quiet. All eyes turn to Missy Banks. All 5-foot-5, 204 pounds of her.
``I don't have time for that stuff anymore,'' says Banks. ``I have better things to do.''
If this had been two years ago, Missy would have thrown the guy up against the nearest wall and pounded some respect into him.
At Hunt-Mapp Middle School, Banks was suspended six times. Drop a hat, drop an insult, drop a look and Missy was ready to fight.
These days, Banks throws other things around. She's one of the best shot putters and discus throwers in the state.
Missy's 43-foot, 10-inch effort in the shot is the state's best this year. Her 145-5 toss in the discus is the state's second best. Last spring, she won the National Scholastic outdoor track shot-put title.
Banks' goal is to win more than just state championships next month with her ability. The Greyhound junior hopes it will land her a college scholarship.
If it does, she'll be the first person in her family - brothers, sisters, cousins, aunts, uncles - to go to college. Only one other family member graduated from high school.
``Track gives me the confidence to know that I can do something instead of what I was doing before,'' Banks says. ``When I first came to (Norcom), I didn't care about getting suspended. I didn't care about my teachers. I just didn't care about anything.
``But I realized that I could get something out of track. Knowing that my mom doesn't have the money to send me to college, I put my mind totally into track so I can earn a scholarship.''
That shouldn't be a problem. More than 20 colleges have already expressed interest.
``If you would have told me five years ago that I would have a chance to go to college, I wouldn't have believed you,'' she says.
That's because Banks was more of a trouble maker than an athlete.
When she was a sixth-grader, she pounded another student in the head with a can of food.
``The girl was acting dumb,'' says Banks, looking back on her former self. ``I had to beat her down that day.''
Suspension.
In the seventh grade, Banks, who often acted as her sister Shanterri's bodyguard, tried to choke a guy who took offense at a prank her sister played on him.
``The boy punched her in the face. I couldn't let that happen,'' Banks says. ``So I stood up on the table and tried to kill him.''
Suspension. Again.
``By looking at Missy now, you wouldn't have known that was the same person,'' Norcom girls track coach Vincent Pugh says. ``Now she has goals and she has values.''
Winning a national title in the shot put was not one of her goals when she first came out for track as a freshman.
Weighing only 185 pounds, Banks fancied herself as a sprinter.
``When I first came out, I could beat just about everybody on the team,'' Banks says. ``I used to win all the time.''
``She's telling the truth,'' says Maury coach Walt Green, who helps coach Banks during the summer. ``Missy Banks can run.''
But she hardly ever went to practice. She was still more interested in fighting.
The conversion from fighter to flinger came last year. Banks gained the extra weight. And Pugh kept urging her to try the field events.
``He told her it was her ticket to a free education,'' Green says. ``He looked at her size and of course he started her in the throwing events.''
Banks didn't like it at first. And she had hardly any technique.
``But I kept beating all the girls on the team so I said I'd stay with it,'' Banks says.
Her size wasn't the only key.
``She became a hard worker and she developed technique,'' Pugh says.''
Since then, Banks hasn't lost to a Eastern Region opponent in the shot. And she's ranked in the top 10 in the nation.
She owes much of it to Pugh.
``Coach Pugh has helped me out a lot,'' Banks says. ``He has made me believe in myself.''
The numbers 43-10 and 145-5, however, aren't as important as some other numbers. Like the 93 she recently received on an English term paper. And the 2.5 grade-point average she carries. She brought it up from a 1.8.
``I've got to keep studying,'' Banks says. ``I want to be independent. I want to be able to pull my own weight.''
And not throw it around like she used to.
PORTSMOUTH - Missy Banks quietly sits in Norcom's gymnasium waiting for the bus. Suddenly, a door swings open, crashing against the wall.
``Missy, Missy can you help me? He just punched me in the face,'' screams a friend, sprinting through the door.
The room goes quiet. Dead quiet. All eyes turn to Missy Banks. All 5-foot-5, 204 pounds of her.
``I don't have time for that stuff anymore,'' says Banks. ``I have better things to do.''
If this had been two years ago, Missy would have thrown the guy up against the nearest wall and pounded some respect into him.
At Hunt-Mapp Middle School, Banks was suspended six times. Drop a hat, drop an insult, drop a look and Missy was ready to fight.
These days, Banks throws other things around. She's one of the best shot putters and discus throwers in the state.
Missy's 43-foot, 10-inch effort in the shot is the state's best this year. Her 145-5 toss in the discus is the state's second best. Last spring, she won the National Scholastic outdoor track shot-put title.
Banks' goal is to win more than just state championships next month with her ability. The Greyhound junior hopes it will land her a college scholarship.
If it does, she'll be the first person in her family - brothers, sisters, cousins, aunts, uncles - to go to college. Only one other family member graduated from high school.
``Track gives me the confidence to know that I can do something instead of what I was doing before,'' Banks says. ``When I first came to (Norcom), I didn't care about getting suspended. I didn't care about my teachers. I just didn't care about anything.
``But I realized that I could get something out of track. Knowing that my mom doesn't have the money to send me to college, I put my mind totally into track so I can earn a scholarship.''
That shouldn't be a problem. More than 20 colleges have already expressed interest.
``If you would have told me five years
ago that I would have a chance to go to college, I wouldn't have believed you,'' she says.
That's because Banks was more of a trouble maker than an athlete.
When she was a sixth-grader, she pounded another student in the head with a can of food.
``The girl was acting dumb,'' says Banks, looking back on her former self. ``I had to beat her down that day.''
Suspension.
In the seventh grade, Banks, who often acted as her sister Shanterri's bodyguard, tried to choke a guy who took offense at a prank her sister played on him.
``The boy punched her in the face. I couldn't let that happen,'' Banks says. ``So I stood up on the table and tried to kill him.''
Suspension. Again.
``By looking at Missy now, you wouldn't have known that was the same person,'' Norcom girls track coach Vincent Pugh says. ``Now she has goals and she has values.''
Winning a national title in the shot put was not one of her goals when she first came out for track as a freshman.
Weighing only 185 pounds, Banks fancied herself as a sprinter.
``When I first came out, I could beat just about everybody on the team,'' Banks says. ``I used to win all the time.''
``She's telling the truth,'' says Maury coach Walt Green, who helps coach Banks during the summer. ``Missy Banks can run.''
But she hardly ever went to practice. She was still more interested in fighting.
The conversion from fighter to flinger came last year. Banks gained the extra weight. And Pugh kept urging her to try the field events.
``He told her it was her ticket to a free education,'' Green says. ``He looked at her size and of course he started her in the throwing events.''
Banks didn't like it at first. And she had hardly any technique.
``But I kept beating all the girls on the team so I said I'd stay with it,'' Banks says.
Her size wasn't the only key.
``She became a hard worker and she developed technique,'' Pugh says.''
Since then, Banks hasn't lost to a Eastern Region opponent in the shot. And she's ranked in the top 10 in the nation.
She owes much of it to Pugh.
``Coach Pugh has helped me out a lot,'' Banks says. ``He has made me believe in myself.''
The numbers 43-10 and 145-5, however, aren't as important as some other numbers. Like the 93 she recently received on an English term paper. And the 2.5 grade-point average she carries. She brought it up from a 1.8.
``I've got to keep studying,'' Banks says. ``I want to be independent. I want to be able to pull my own weight.''
And not throw it around like she used to. ILLUSTRATION: Color photos
CANDICE C. CUSIC/The Virginian-Pilot
Banks shares a laugh with Joyce Lassiter, left. Banks is much
happier now than when she first came to Norcom and ``just didn't
care about anything.''
Missy Banks' 43-foot, 10-inch effort in the shot put is the state's
best this year. Her 145-5 toss in the discus is the state's second
best. She hopes to get a college scholarship. She would be the first
person in her family to attend college.
KEYWORDS: PROFILE BIOGRAPHY DISCUS-THROWING by CNB