Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: WEDNESDAY, February 17, 1993 TAG: 9302170027
SECTION: CURRENT PAGE: NRV-11 EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY
SOURCE: SCOTT BLANCHARD
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
NO WAY AROUND IT: TECH'S GOT ONE FAST HURDLER IN ERIN GRAHAM
Erin Graham does not come swaddled anonymously in a brown paper bag.Her talent - like her potential - is worn more like glittery wrapping paper. No one's trying to hide anything here.
"She'll be the best intermediate hurdler this school has ever seen," said Virginia Tech track coach Russ Whitenack.
"She's the strongest woman in the [400 meters] we've ever had at this school. I knew when I first met her she was going to be great."
Ahem. Well. Will Graham back that up?
"Sort of, yeah," the freshman said. "I've seen the school records here, and I feel as if I can, right now, be the best."
She's out of the blocks already. During this year's indoor season, the Ellicott City, Md., native has run the 500 meters to build endurance for her specialty, the 400-meter outdoor intermediate hurdles.
On Jan. 16, she ran 500 meters in 1 minute, 17.8 seconds, breaking Deborah Keaton's 1989 record of 1:20.5.
A week later, Graham broke her own mark, lowering the record to 1:17.1.
Last weekend, Graham tried the 55-meter high hurdles and ran it in 8.98 seconds - four one-hundredths of a second slower than last year's school record by Dorothea Ku. Ku, a senior, this year has trimmed that record to 8.48.
This weekend during the Metro Conference indoor championships at Tech, Graham will run the 400 meters, among other events, Whitenack said.
The Tech record for 400 meters is 57.5 seconds by Cindy Ross in 1985; Whitenack said he expects Graham to run faster.
Graham doesn't fret over Whitenack's prediction. After all, she said, she's run 56-second splits in the 4-by-400 relay.
All this before Graham has even started to compete for Tech's outdoor team - and she might not this year.
Tech won't have an outdoor track until next year, meaning if Graham redshirts for the outdoor season, she would have four years to train and run on it.
Then, again, Tech's coaches can't resist thinking how much Graham could help them by competing in the outdoor season as a freshman.
Whitenack said the decision is up to Graham and women's coach Lori Taylor. Graham said Taylor wants her to run, but Graham said she might redshirt as long as her father can take her to meets as an unattached runner.
"I just want to run," Graham said.
Especially the 400-meter intermediate hurdles.
"I think I have the endurance to finish it," she said. "I'm not afraid of it [like some people]. I could never figure it out; I love it. If you can get over the hurdles and have something for in between, you can be good at it."
So good she might not stop at being Tech's best, or an All-American. Whitenack said the '96 Olympics aren't out of the question.
Graham said such targets don't burden her.
"It doesn't really put pressure on me," she said. "It gives me something to basically look forward to."
\ METRO INDOOR: Tech coach Russ Whitenack on the Hokies' chances in this weekend's Metro Conference Indoor Championships:
"[Senior] Cedrick Patrick is going to have to have a big, big day. There's a lot of pressure, but if he can score in the 55, 200 and 400 [meters] - and I believe he can win all three - the men have a chance. South Florida, on paper, looks so dominant it's incredible, but they have to come here and run. I don't think our ladies have enough depth yet [to contend for the title]."
\ TENNIS RESULT: Virginia Tech's men's tennis team beat Richmond 6-3 Saturday, winning four of six singles matches. Tech's top seed, Ognjen Pavlovic, lost 6-2, 6-3 to Thomas Clarke. Last weekend, Tech's women's team finished fourth in the Wildcats Women's Doubles Tournament at Davidson College. Tech's Shannon Cubitt and Julie Jackson were named one of eight all-tournament doubles teams.
\ UPCOMING IN BLACKSBURG: Women's basketball - South Florida, 7 p.m. Feb. 20; Louisville, 7 p.m. Feb. 22. Track - Metro Conference Indoor Championships, Feb. 19-20; Open invitational, Feb. 27. Wrestling - Liberty, Feb. 20 (time to be announced); Ohio University, Feb. 27 (time to be announced).
Scott Blanchard is a Roanoke Times & World-News sportswriter.