THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Thursday, July 18, 1996 TAG: 9607170134
SECTION: SUFFOLK SUN PAGE: 18 EDITION: FINAL
TYPE: Sports
SOURCE: BY PAUL WHITE, STAFF WRITER
LENGTH: 60 lines
Nansemond River assistant principal Kevin Alston has retained the law firm of Rutter and Montagna in his attempt to persuade the Virginia High School League to have girls sports in the state's three classifications played at the same time.
Alston has contended that several girls at Nansemond River will have to give up one or two sports on the high school level when the Warriors move from Group AA to Group AAA this fall because the two classifications play three girls sports in different seasons. All boys sports are played in the same season, regardless of classification.
``The policy is clearly discriminatory on its face, based on Title IX,'' said Debbie Waters, the lawyer assigned to the case.
Although Waters is still researching the case and was uncertain of the firm's next step at press time, the two most likely courses are an injunction stopping the VHSL from moving the Warriors to Group AA, or a Title IX lawsuit on behalf of Alston's daughter, Ashley, a rising sophomore who would have to choose between tennis and field hockey when Nansemond River goes Group AAA.
Of the two, the injunction is less desirable as it could allow the VHSL to avoid changing its policy by simply letting Nansemond River continue as a Group AA school.
A class action suit is unlikely, Waters said, as they typically take years to resolve.
BOWLING NEWS: Officials at the Franklin Bowling Center, still giddy with excitement over landing the $65,000 Franklin Virginia Open tournament, have announced the schedule of events for the city's first professional sporting event.
July 28: After the Ladies Professional Bowlers Tour's official practice session from 8:30 to 10:30 a.m., a Pro-Am event kicks off at 11 a.m. Cost is $50 for adults, $25 for juniors and comes with a VIP pass for the week's event and admission to a bowling clinic with the pros the next day.
July 29: Qualifying begins at 11 a.m. and 7 p.m. Cost is $5. The pro clinic is scheduled for 6 p.m.
July 30: Practice for the top 32 bowlers from 9:30 to 10:30 a.m., followed by match play at 11 a.m. and 7 p.m. Admission: $5.
July 31: More match play for the top 32 at 11 a.m. and 7 p.m. Five-dollar admission fee again.
Aug. 1: Stepladder finals for the top five at 7 p.m. Cost is $10.
A special weekly pass is available for $20. For more information, call Deborah Elliott at 562-0221.
TENNIS REPORT: A pair of local juniors rolled to easy victories in the Owls Creek Fourth of July Tennis Championships in Virginia Beach. Kristen Warren lost only two games in dispatching Kristen Nable in the semifinals, then dropped just one game to Ashley James in the final.
Meanwhile, Windsor's Melissa Holland, the state 12s champion, needed three sets to beat West Virginia's Jennifer Teagarden in the semifinals but cranked out a 6-3, 6-1 decision over Newport News' Jill Baulemer in the championship match.
CORRECTION: Rad Davenport is the top seed and Nate Grover is seeded second in the boys 14s at the Suffolk Invitational Tennis Tournament. An item in Sunday's Sun contained an error. by CNB