THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Wednesday, June 5, 1996 TAG: 9606050548
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: C4 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY PAUL WHITE, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: EASTVILLE LENGTH: 65 lines
Northampton's sports season to remember may have caught fans, opponents and even some of the school's own players off guard, but Jimmy Conrow said he saw it all coming.
``I used to coach the junior varsity baseball team,'' said Conrow, currently the Yellow Jackets' varsity football coach. ``About four years ago, I remember looking out at the kids we had and thinking, one of these days, this group is going to be something special,'' Conrow said.
But even Conrow didn't figure on the kind of across-the-board success the Yellow Jackets produced in 1995-96. Consider:
The football team, which had improved its record in each of Conrow's previous five years, won 12 of 13 games and became the first Northampton squad to play for a state title.
The basketball team, coming off a 13-10 campaign and supposedly in a rebuilding mode, ripped off 19 wins in 21 games and became the first team in school history to reach the state quarterfinals.
The wrestling team, Group A state champions in 1995, shrugged off the loss of six starters and repeated as Region A champions before posting a top-eight finish in the 1996 state tournament.
The baseball team responded to the loss of three all-state players by winning 20 of its first 22 games and are still angling for more.
The boys soccer, softball and boys track teams all won Eastern Shore District titles, and the boys soccer and cross country teams were Region A runners-up.
``I've been a player, then coach, then athletic director here since 1954 (the year the school opened),'' Ken Webb said. ``And I've never seen anything compared to this.''
The only thing missing is a state title, and the Yellow Jackets will begin their assault on one of those today, when the baseball team hosts Randolph-Henry in a Group A state baseball quarterfinal game at 4 p.m. The game was scheduled to be played Tuesday but was postponed due to a wet field.
Webb conceded that some of the success was an outgrowth of Northampton's move four years ago from the Group AA Bay Rivers District to the Group A Eastern Shore. But the athletic director reserves most of the credit for the players themselves, particularly a talented pack of seniors who have excelled on multiple teams this year.
The appropriately named Nick Bravo, for example, was an all-state linebacker, a Region A wrestling champion and an all-region designated hitter. David Stiles (football, basketball and baseball) and Andre Elliott (football, wrestling and baseball) were other outstanding three-sport seniors.
Familiarity with each other has also played into the success of the group, Bravo said.
``I've been playing with most of these guys since Little League,'' Bravo said. ``Seems like we've always been together.''
Webb said he expects next year's senior class, led by 1,700-yard rusher and All-Region third baseman Sam Ames, to help maintain Northampton present athletic stature. But Northampton will be shifting back to Group AA next year. And Webb said that, after three outstanding athletic classes in a row, a fourth isn't necessarily a given.
``It concerns me a little,'' Webb said. ``These things tend to go in cycles, and we seemed to have peaked in our cycle. After next year, you may see a downward trend.''
Still, Bravo said nothing will diminish the impact his class has had on Northampton sports history.
``Ever since we were freshmen, I had the feeling like we were turning the whole program around,'' Bravo said. ``It's something that really feels good to be a part of.'' by CNB