Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: FRIDAY, November 17, 1995 TAG: 9511170034
SECTION: CURRENT PAGE: NRV8 EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY
SOURCE: RAY COX
DATELINE: LENGTH: Long
So nobody should be startled that Cooke had pretty much figured out the Group A state championship race before he ever set foot on the course at The Plains in the horse country of Northern Virginia last weekend.
``I knew I was the top returning runner from last year's race because I had been the runner-up and the winner had graduated,'' said the senior, who routinely gets to look at as much scenery as most park rangers. ``So ...''
Cooke probably didn't want to appear too arrogant by stating the obvious. His coach, Lee Wells showed no such hesitation.
``I think everybody considered Ben the favorite,'' Wells said. ``If he hadn't won, then he would have been very disappointed.''
Cooke did win and was most convincing in doing so. But he also was disappointed.
``I wanted to win and I'm glad I did, but the time was slow,'' he said.
If nothing else, he wanted to improve on his time from last year. Instead, Cooke was almost three seconds slower than he was last year as a runner-up.
There were mitigating circumstances, although Cooke hesitated to mention them. So here goes. It rained off and on, the wind blew in big gusts, and the course was essentially a mess. Cooke didn't even wear spikes to keep from slipping.
``But I did have on a new pair of flats,'' he said. ``There was plenty of tread on them.''
Cooke peeled rubber for the first two miles until he was surprised and overtaken by a runner from Central of Woodstock.
``But then the guy acted like, `Hey, this is the state, I better slow down,''' Cooke said. ``Then I passed him again and that was it.''
Cooke, who has long relied on his closing kick, held something back for another one in anticipation of a late race challenge, but none developed.
Although it was the last Virginia High School League cross country race of the year, Cooke will still have another race when he travels to the Foot Locker nationals the Saturday after Thanksgiving in Charlotte, N.C.
Winning last week's race gives Cooke state championships in consecutive seasons counting his triumph in the outdoor 1,600 meters last spring. A repeat won't be good enough this year.
``I want to win the 3,200 too,'' he said. ``And I want to set meet records in both races.''
OFF THE BENCH: They always knew reserve halfback Ty Brown had it in him to be a good player for Pulaski County's football team.
Brown showed why last week when he came into the Cave Spring game in relief of injured Derrick Hunter. Brown, a 5-foot-11, 170-pound senior special teams specialist, responded to his emergency insertion in the lineup by carrying nine times for 111 yards and a touchdown. He also snagged a Ron Branch pass for a 55-yard touchdown as the Cougars pounded the Knights 49-7 to claim a share of the Roanoke Valley District championship.
It was the first two touchdown game of his career and his first score since his sophomore year.
``Great story, outstanding kid,'' Pulaski County coach Joel Hicks said. ``This is going to give him some confidence and we're going to play him more in the playoffs.''
Brown will be ready.
``When they told me I was playing last week, I wasn't nervous,'' he said. ``But I was excited.''
Probably a little more so after he caught that Branch bomb.
``We were in a double wing and I was one of the wings,'' he said. ``I was supposed to run a streak and go as far as I could.''
As far as he could was as far as the field allowed. Ditto for the 55-yard score on a trap play up the middle.
It hasn't always been so much fun, especially sitting on the bench watching the Cougars offense operate without him.
``That bothered me a little bit, but it was OK as long as we won,'' he said.
NOTABLE: The news that one ineligible player at E.C. Glass was going to scramble the Group AAA Division 5 playoff picture came as cruel news to North Stafford, which was knocked out of its first postseason in three years when Heritage backed its way into the tournament. ``At this late date, I feel very badly for our coaches and fans and especially our kids,'' North Stafford principal Robert White said. ... Like Pulaski County, which faces a rematch with Heritage, Christiansburg has a return engagement with Graham, which it lost to 27-17. A scouting report shouldn't be a problem. ``We are not going to do one thing different,'' said G-Men coach Glynn Carlock. Christiansburg coach Mike Cole knew just what that meant: ``They'll run it off tackle, they'll sweep it sometimes, and they will bring eight guys on defense nearly every play. They are just going to line up and pound you.'' ... The key to Graham winning its last six games was its defense, Carlock said. ``After we gave up touchdowns on the very first play of the first three games we played, I wondered if we'd ever play any defense.''
Nobody at Giles thinks the Spartans are in for the same type of cakewalk they had in the 37-0 rout of Radford in October. For one thing, Larnell Lewis is back for the Bobcats. Radford coach Norman Lineburg didn't make much of the fact that Lewis was suspended for the first Giles game, but the Spartans coaches think he would have made a big difference. Many observers believe that the running back and linebacker is the best two-way player the Bobcats have. ... Lee High football coach Allen Kinser knows well the football history of Blacksburg, his team's Saturday opponent. ``It seems like every year they're a whole lot different team in the playoffs than they were during the regular season.''
Ray Cox is a sportswriter for The Roanoke Times.
by CNB