Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: THURSDAY, March 11, 1993 TAG: 9303110480
SECTION: NEIGHBORS PAGE: S-14 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: By BOB TEITLEBAUM STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: LENGTH: Long
NORTH CROSS' AMAZING SKILL IN SOCCER
It's amazing how North Cross is able to compete with the bigger public schools in soccer."It's a very strong sport in South Roanoke. People want a good education and good soccer program, so they come here," said veteran North Cross coach Richard Cook.
"We've had it [soccer] longer than anyone else. We've had good tradition. A lot of the areas, Blacksburg being the exception, don't have soccer coaches. They have a person who is a football coach do soccer.
"A lot of schools don't put that emphasis on it as far as being important and we do that here. If you emphasize it, you have a tendency to draw people."
For people doubting that Cook knows what he's talking about, take a trip across town to Northside High School. The new coach there is Fred Wagner, who wants to be a football coach and who is a very successful wrestling coach. He's never coached soccer and is ignorant of most of the terms for the sport.
That is not to say that given time, Wagner won't do well. He took over Northside's wrestling program several years ago in much the same manner, and the Vikings finished second in the Group AA tournament this winter.
"My blood pressure is down. I'm relaxed. Compared to wrestling, I'm low key [in soccer] because I don't know what I'm arguing about," Wagner said.
Wagner never played soccer. Northside put him in charge of the sport because the Vikings wanted a full-time teacher to coach the sport.
"I also have Archie Ballentyne helping me. He's 78-years-old, loves the sport and knows about it," Wagner said.
"I kind of enjoy it. But it's a spring sport. It's laid back. It's not one-on-one [like wrestling]."
Back at North Cross, the Raiders return 10 of 11 starters off a team that went 13-3-3 playing Timesland's strongest schedule of Group AAA powers Patrick Henry and Cave Spring, and Group AA toughies William Byrd and Blacksburg.
The Raiders will be headed by returning All-Timesland midfielder Ryan Cook, the coach's son. Two other top players are sweeper John Logan, who was on the all-state select team, and striker Mark Robertson.
"Last year was a great team," Cook said. "We outplayed everyone we played. We just didn't score. I think with the year of experience, we'll be able to score.
"For the last few years, we've had a good team lacking in that one respect [scoring]. So we'll try to emphasize that."
A look at the other teams:
\ WILLIAM BYRD: Yes, Jeff Highfill, the school's head football coach is also heading up the soccer team. And no, he doesn't fit Cook's description of a school giving a soccer job to the football coach.
Under Highfill, Byrd arguably has been Timesland's most successful team in terms of championships. The Terriers have won seven consecutive Blue Ridge District titles and six of seven Region III crowns.
"We should be solid, but how far we go in the tournament I don't know," Highfill said.
Four of his top returnees are juniors who have started since they were freshmen. They are goalie Jason Criss, fullback Chris Almond, forward Andy McCaskill and halfback Caleb Taylor.
Add senior forward Kevin Niday and sophomore Matt Bryant, who started at center-fullback last year, and the Terriers have a loaded team again.
"We should be fairly strong defensively with a goalie and our second- and third-leading scorers back. It's the midfielders we'll have to rebuild," Highfill said. "Taylor is one guy back there, but we usually play five or six back there with all the running we do."
\ CAVE SPRING: The Knights went 9-8-1 a year ago, but coach Dan McKinney expects better things this year with four returnees: forward Martin Syumanski, halfback David Penn, striker Bobby Warnick and fullback Scott Mangus.
The Knights also have foreign exchange student, Colombian striker Jimmy Garerant. "We have no one back in goal, but if we get that straightened out, this team could be very tough," said McKinney, whose team finished second in the Roanoke Valley District last year.
\ JAMES RIVER: Sweeper John Miller, a three-year lettermen and Lee Johnson, a wing, are the top veterans for a James River team that will be rebuilding. Sophomores Isaac Minnis, a striker, and Jason Hayslett, a forward, played last year as freshmen.
\ LORD BOTETOURT: The Cavaliers of coach Jerry Wertz stunned Salem in the district tournament and Martinsville in the Region III meet before losing to Radford in a first-round Group AA state tournament game last season.
The Cavaliers return six starters, headed by goalie John Critzer. "Last year he really anchored our defense," Wertz said. "We'll call on him to do even more than he did last year."
Wertz said if the team gets its offense going, "there's no telling what we can do."
Under Wertz, the Cavaliers have beaten Byrd once. They'll have fullback J.J. Durham, midfielders Chris Perrin and Ben Rossi, and fullback Dan Sell.
\ NORTHSIDE: Wagner inherits a team with several returnees, including halfback Ryan Wickstrom, halfback Aaron Curfiss, goalie Jason Roberts, and forwards Chuck Jordan and Jason Belcher.
\ ROANOKE CATHOLIC: The Celtics are rebuilding after last year's 9-4 season. Center-halfback Justin Thompson and goalie Mike Kolnok are the top returnees. Charles Cunningham, a center-forward, could join that duo if he recovers from an ankle he injured in basketball season.
\ SALEM: The Spartans return five lettermen from last year's second-place team in the Blue Ridge District: forward Aaron Gresham; midfielders Griffin Cross, Owen Woodward and Sterling Turner; and fullback Tim Moser.
"We have only four seniors and six juniors on the team," coach Walt Braine said. "Two kids expected to start moved and another one has a knee injury. We have 19 freshmen and sophomores, so we're real young."
\ WILLIAM FLEMING: The Colonels under coach Earl Henritze return stopper Marco Bell, halfback Mustafa Kahn, center-half Joey Patterson and center-forward Brian Melton, who also might play some goalie. The Colonels will be looking to improve on last year's 3-11 record.
Dung Van Cao, a ninth-grader, might be one of the area's best young players at wing or striker. He comes from the select team.
Information was unavailable on PATRICK HENRY and GLENVAR.