THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Saturday, September 7, 1996 TAG: 9609070443
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: C1 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: FROM STAFF REPORTS
DATELINE: BLACKSBURG LENGTH: 89 lines
The already-bruised image of the Virginia Tech football program has taken another hit.
A member of the Virginia Tech men's track team says he was beaten by 15 to 20 of the school's football players last weekend. No charges have been filed, but Blacksburg police are investigating the incident, the latest in a series involving Tech football players.
Since last November, at least seven Virginia Tech football players have been arrested in Blacksburg.
``I'm embarrassed,'' Virginia Tech president Paul Torgersen said Friday. ``Speaking on behalf of the university, I think the university is embarrassed.''
Torgersen said he plans to meet next week with athletic director Dave Braine and head coach Frank Beamer, who are with the football team in Ohio for tonight's season opener against Akron.
``I'm simply going to tell them, `These things have got to stop,' '' Torgersen said. ``That's all there is to it.''
Hilliard Sumner III of Bronx, N.Y., who suffered a broken collarbone in the brawl, also said the Virginia Tech track coach discouraged him from pressing charges. Sumner said that coach Russ Whitenack wanted him to pursue his complaint through the athletic department instead of the police.
``I really don't believe he is on my side,'' Sumner said.
The brawl began at 2 a.m. last Saturday in front of the student center. Sumner said it was a verbal altercation that turned physical.
Sumner claimed he was hit, kicked and beaten with a cane, but that the commonwealth's attorney advised him not to give details of the case at this time. Sumner credited five football players with helping break up the fight.
``They're not all bad,'' he said.
Sumner said he and a friend, Jonathan Nelson, were injured in the fight, but that Sumner was hurt worse. Besides the broken collarbone, Sumner said his jaw was swollen and that one leg was injured.
Sumner said Whitenack told him at one point that Sumner couldn't afford the legal battle, despite the fact that the case would be prosecuted at state expense.
Whitenack admitted he did tell Sumner to go through the athletic department first, and if he wasn't satisfied, any number of options would be open to him. Whitenack said he was a little disappointed in Sumner for being out that late and the fight ``could have been a lot worse.''
Sumner, who holds the school record in the 200-meter run, said he expected more support from Whitenack.
``It hurts me because he's my coach,'' Sumner said. ``I've given him everything I had.''
Beamer, reached Friday in Akron, declined comment. Braine, also in Akron, said he and Beamer have begun investigating the incident themselves.
``We're not going to cover anything up,'' Braine said. ``There will be what I would term a thorough investigation.
``I've talked to quite a few people involved in the situation. There's only one side being reported right now. I've talked to Hilliard, I know where he's coming from. We're dealing with Tech athletes from two different sports.''
Braine said there were about 250 people present when the incident took place.
``Obviously they were not all football players,'' Braine said.
Blacksburg Police Chief Bill Brown would not comment on whether Virginia Tech athletes were involved in the incident.
``We're hoping in the next five to six days to have everything taken care of,'' Brown said. ``Most likely some charges will emanate out of this incident.''
Brown has been the chief of Blacksburg police since April 1994, and has been on the force for 26 years. Asked if during that time he's ever seen so many incidents involving football players in one year, Brown said: ``The frequency of the last few months, no, I can't recall when there've been that many.
``Sometimes you have good years where there's one or two incidents, and then you have years where it's not so good. This seems to be one of the not-so-good years.''
However, Brown said, he didn't think the football players were especially troublesome.
``In comparison to what we deal with in the basic student population per capita,'' he added, ``we have
less problems with the football players than with regular students. Athletes are in a fish bowl. They're like public officials: Society holds them to a higher standard than the general students.
``I hope society and the media doesn't paint the entire team with the same paintbrush. If I go and do something wrong, I would hope society wouldn't paint the entire police department with the same paintbrush.'' MEMO: Staff writer Steve Carlson and Landmark News Service writers Lisa
Garcia and Doug Doughty contributed to this report.
KEYWORDS: VIRGINIA TECH ASSAULT by CNB