DATE: Thursday, June 19, 1997               TAG: 9706190637

SECTION: SPORTS                  PAGE: C1   EDITION: FINAL 

SOURCE: TOM ROBINSON

                                            LENGTH:   60 lines

LOCAL HEROES PUT US ALL ON THE FAST TRACK, IF VICARIOUSLY

From the notebook ...

Glad to see Lawrence Johnson, a special homegrown talent, and South Carolinian Tim Montgomery, the pride of Norfolk State, bring such honor to the area at the U.S. track championships. I don't care that the sport barely registers on America's radar in non-Olympic years. It's a proud moment when Johnson defends his national pole vault title and Montgomery is runner-up in the 100-meters in a photo finish. Next up, potentially, at the world championships in Greece in August: Montgomery vs. Donovan Bailey; Johnson vs. Sergei Bubka. Great stuff.

Speaking of track, sad to see Virginia Beach's Andre Cason fail to make the 100-meter final at the nationals and Portsmouth's LaTasha Colander fare poorly in the hurdles at the NCAAs. Chalk up Colander's disappointment to a bad day. Cason, the world indoor record holder in the 60-meters, has simply faded to age and injury. No shame in that.

Glad to see ODU's Wayne Gomes get the call to the big leagues - and get to pitch in glorious Fenway Park this week, to boot.

Sad to see Gomes with the Philadelphia Phillies, a train wreck of an organization. The suspicion here is that Gomes is still not polished enough for his trial by fire. Just hope he doesn't wind up irreparably shell-shocked.

Glad to see the Tides continue to turn in an incredible year despite a fluid roster that's seen them use 37 players already this season. Their all-time high is 56 players used in 1995, ironically, the season in which they won 86 games, equaling the franchise record. Obviously, the more, the merrier at Harbor Park.

Sad to see Steve Jolley's first pro soccer season painfully cut short by a torn anterior cruciate ligament. It had been a wonderful ride for the No. 1 draft choice out of Kempsville and William and Mary, who led all Los Angeles Galaxy rookies in minutes played.

Glad to see Alonzo Mourning give $50,000 of his millions to Indian River High School. Finally.

Sad to see the Admirals lose another fan favorite to a league in Great Britain because of the East Coast Hockey League's restrictive salary cap, which is supposedly widely flouted anyway. You can't fault leading scorer and sparkplug Dominic Maltais for chasing the cash, though, as Mark Bernard did last year. Neither were NHL-bound. They've got to get it while they can.

Glad to see Ron Walker sign with the Chicago Cubs and get on with his career. Walker clearly had run out of challenges at ODU. (He was 0 for 4 in his debut Tuesday in Williamsport, Pa., by the way.)

Sad to see Virginia Beach's Cadillac Harris chest-deep in the recent player uprising involving his Elizabeth City State football team. Harris is finding that respect from the modern athlete is a hard-earned thing.

Glad to see Larry Bowman load up with his third coaching job, Catholic's girls basketball team in the fall, to go with his winter girls basketball and spring softball chores at Salem. The business could use more people with Bowman's concern and enthusiasm.

Sad to see Sweetpea Whitaker have to accept a nothing bout against a nobody in August just to avoid rusting over until De La Hoya or somebody deigns to risk another go with him. It's the kind of glorified sparring session that does Whitaker absolutely no good.

Sad to see the Peninsula blow its chance to bring back Class A baseball. Such a great opportunity lost for such a small commitment.

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