THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Thursday, July 25, 1996 TAG: 9607230123
SECTION: NORFOLK COMPASS PAGE: 19 EDITION: FINAL
TYPE: Sports
SOURCE: BY VICKI L. FRIEDMAN, COMPASS SPORTS EDITOR
DATELINE: NORFOLK LENGTH: 80 lines
MAURY TRACK COACH Walt Green is talking about the Olympics, but he's not watching NBC.
He's watching rising sophomore Rachelle Boone. Green is in awe of the kind of results Boone, a baby to the sport, has produced since she started training at the beginning of the year. So much so that when he points to the taped photos of Norview grad and world class runner Tonya Williams on his wall, he pictures Boone.
``I'm not saying she's the next Tonya because I'd never compare anybody to Tonya,'' he says. ``But Rachelle is the most genetically gifted person I've coached since Tonya.''
Williams, who competed in the Olympic Trials, runs for the University of Illinois now, and Boone competes on Green's Atlantic Coast Track Club. The winner of three titles this summer, she qualified two weeks ago in the 100 meters for the Junior Olympics in New Orleans. Her time of 12.2 seconds was the fastest in the region, making her a legitimate contender for the national AAU title in August.
``She doesn't realize what she's doing right now, which I think is great,'' Green says. ``She'll be a state champion in the next two years, and I don't say that too often.''
He might not be saying it now had he put his stopwatch in his pocket during track tryouts last winter at Maury. Just as tryouts were set to begin, Green realized he forgot his watch in his office. That's where he bumped into Boone.
``He asked me what I was looking for,'' Boone said. ``I said I was supposed to be staying back for track practice, but I didn't have my stuff and I couldn't find the coach.''
Green introduced himself and urged her to try out anyway.
``I don't have my stuff,'' said Boone, dressed in jeans and a T-shirt.
Green told her it didn't matter - and it didn't. Boone went out in her jeans and ran the fastest time in the 50 and finished second in the 180. Having never run track before, she wasn't sure what to expect.
``I played soccer for five years and everybody always said, `Why don't you run track? Why don't you run track?' '' she says. ``But (Lafayette-Winona Middle School) didn't have a track team, so I never did.''
In her first high school meet on the soft track at Hampton, she ran on two winning relay teams. The next meet was on the harder surface at Booker T. Washington High, and although she won the 100, she injured her shins. Out for three weeks, she returned in the Norfolk Relays, running the second-fastest 100 in the area (12.1), but she pulled a hamstring. Green decided she needed to take it slower.
``She wasn't able to get a full base under her because of her injuries,'' he said. ``I told her then, `You're going to run your best in July.' ''
Boone went on to place eighth at the state meet, making all-state as a freshman. She will receive the city's most outstanding runner award from the Norfolk Sports Club next month.
The success has continued this summer as Boone, the youngest of 10 children in her family, balances daily practices with summer school. Grades have been a problem, she admits, even physical education, which she failed her first semester. ``I didn't dress out,'' she says a bit embarrassed.
But she passed this summer and is now repeating algebra while training.
The attitude change is evident to Green. ``She's matured a lot since track season,'' he said. ``Two weekends ago with that hurricane, she was out there warming up in the rain, no problem. I mean, it was pouring down rain and she was there.''
Boone frequently tires of the practice regimen and says she's been tempted to quit a number of times, but endures because she loves track. She's eager to improve her technique and lower her time to an 11.8 by the end of the summer. She's run an 11.9 in the 100 twice.
``That's her race right now,'' Green says. ``But once she learns how to run the curve, she'll be a good 200 runner and maybe a good 400 runner because of her strength.''
Green is something of a dad to Boone, pushing her in the classroom and inspiring her outside of it. She's shy, but he's not - especially when he's talking about her potential.
``Yep,'' he says, ``she's on her way.'' ILLUSTRATION: HIGH SCHOOL TRACK
Staff photo by VICKI CRONIS
Rachelle Boone, 15, competes in the 200 during a recent meet at
Norfolk Academy. by CNB