Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: MONDAY, June 25, 1990 TAG: 9006250042
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: B1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: JACK BOGACZYK SPORTSWRITER
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
The athletics competition - that's Olympic-ese for track and field - at the Virginia CorEast State Games needs bodies.
"We're very concerned about the lack of entries," said Northside High assistant principal Richard Pitts, the athletics coordinator for the State Games. "We don't have any of the local big-name kids, either. I don't know what they're doing."
Virginia Amateur Sports had received only about 50 entries as of the weekend for the track and field competition, usually one of the glamour events in Olympic-style festivals. The lack of response, in part because of the conflicting AAU regional qualifying meet in Reston over the same weekend, has trimmed the schedule from a three-day meet to a one-day event.
It will be run Saturday, July 7, at Salem High.
The state AAU meet was held in Salem earlier this month. The winners from that meet have to go to Reston if they want to continue toward the AAU nationals. Pitts said the local State Games hoped to get its track and field competition certified by the AAU as an advancing meet, but that didn't happen because of the conflict with the meet in Reston.
Pitts said the State Games staff was aware of the conflict early in its plans, but hoped to get an AAU sanction because in other states that level of competition is used as an advancing meet. But the state meet was already held here. Also, many other track and field athletes will compete in The Athletics Congress meet this weekend in Richmond, which is tied into the Virginia State Games there.
The entry deadline for track and field has been extended from today until July 3. And, in hopes of satisfying the AAU, the CorEast State Games staff is following AAU guidelines in creating its event schedule. That means competitors over age 18 will be lumped into age classes according to the AAU book.
For Masters (40 and over) competition, there are three events - the 100-meter dash, the mile run and the shotput. The 19-39 age bracket includes seven events - the 100, 400, 1,500, 110 hurdles, shot put, long jump and high jump.
The State Games road race, scheduled Saturday, July 7, will be run over a 5-mile Roanoke City course beginning on the Jefferson Street bridge between Victory Stadium and Roanoke Memorial Hospital, and finishing in the stadium. The men's race begins at 8 a.m., the women's run 20 minutes later.
The event will eclipse its goal of 250 competitors, sport coordinator Finn Pincus said. One reason is the event has been declared the official state championship of the Road Running Club of America (RRCA).
There will be awards to the first five open finishers, and there will be 13 age groups, ranging from 13-and-under to 70-and-over.
Among the entrants is Fincastle's Steve Taylor, who won the Dominion Bank 10K race in Roanoke earlier this month, and Richard Ferguson of Charlottesville, a Virginia graduate student and part-time coach who in the past two years has been among the top five Americans in both the New York City and Boston marathons.
The entry fee for the road race is $15, and can be made by calling the Virginia Amateur Sports office.
\ The Ironkids Triathlon isn't part of the State Games, but the VAS staff is coordinating the event, one of 15 races in a national series in its sixth year. Rainbo Bread is the primary sponsor of the event, open to children age 7-14.
"The idea is good exercise and good nutrition makes good kids," said former pro triathlete Pat Bateman, who is helping promote the event that has a stop in Roanoke for the first time.
Competitors will come from as far away as New York for the event, scheduled in Fallon Park. Those entered will have an orientation session on Saturday, July 7, at Fallon Park Elementary School, with the competition scheduled the next day. The winner in each of two age groups will receive an all-expenses paid trip to the finals, scheduled later this summer in Dallas. Although the competition is open, VAS is offering the trips only to those within a 200-mile radius, basically covering the state.
The juniors competition (age 7-10) includes a 100-meter swim, a 3.1-mile bicycle ride and a .6-mile run. The seniors (11-14) will double those distances. The entry fee is $10 and two proofs of purchase from Rainbo bread. Competitors can enter up to the orientation day of the event by calling the Roanoke YMCA.
Bateman said about 150 entrants are expected.
"One interesting thing in this event that I've found is that a lot of girls are faster than the boys," he said.
by CNB