Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: SATURDAY, November 20, 1993                   TAG: 9311200122
SECTION: SPORTS                    PAGE: B-5   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: By BRIAN DeVIDO STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: LEXINGTON                                LENGTH: Medium

W&L'S SCHAEFFER SETS HERSELF APART AS RUNNER

The 5-foot-4, 105-pound Washington and Lee sophomore has won all nine meets she has run this year at five kilometers (3.1 miles).

Her closest competition? Earlier this year at a meet in Gettysburg, Pa., Bonnie Evans of Rio Grande finished 25 seconds behind Schaeffer.

At last week's NCAA Division III South/Southeast Regional meet in Fayetteville, N.C., Schaeffer beat her closest competitor by 1 minute, 35 seconds, finishing in a time of 16:46. That bettered her personal best by 39 seconds.

"It's phenomenal," said Jim Phemister, who is in his ninth year as head coach of the Generals. "It's comparable to what Division I runners are running."

At the IC4A meet, a Division I national qualifier last week in Fairfax, Carole Zajac of Villanova won in a time of 16:41 - only five seconds better than Schaeffer's best.

So why is Schaeffer at Washington and Lee, a Division III school that doesn't award athletic scholarships?

"She was an easy recruit," Phemister said. "Her dad had gone here."

Vanderbilt offered Schaeffer an athletic grant, and Georgia Tech, Auburn, Mississippi and Princeton also talked with her.

"I was interested in a small school," said the native of Memphis, Tenn. "I didn't want the pressure of running for a Division I school. I didn't want running to consume everything I did. I didn't want to end up hating running."

Schaeffer finished 12th last year at the NCAA Division III national meet in Saratoga Springs, N.Y., and in May she placed second in the 10,000 meters at the NCAA Division III track and field championships in Berea, Ohio. She is the only woman in school history to earn All-America honors in either sport.

Today, Schaeffer tries to top last year's finish when she runs in the NCAA Division III cross country meet in Grinnell, Iowa. Also competing are teammate Amy Mears, who finished fourth in the regional meet, and Roanoke College's Cathie Showalter, who finished fifth.

And if her performance so far this year is any indication, Schaeffer will finish higher than 12th in this meet. Phemister said the best time he's heard of this year in Division III, outside of Schaeffer, is 17:25.

"She's so damn good," Phemister said. "She's run against Division I and Division II runners, but we still can't find anybody to beat her. Running is such a mental sport. To do what she's doing at such a high level takes a high level of tolerance for pain - both mental and physical."

Schaeffer's preparation goes beyond training runs.

"I think the mental aspect of racing is the most important," she said. "I think about my races before I run. I think about how I, personally, want to perform."

Added Phemister: "She never says, `Coach, I didn't have it today.' She always has it. That's unusual."