ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Friday, November 22, 1996 TAG: 9611220058
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: B-8 EDITION: METRO
TYPE: IN THE REGION
SOURCE: FROM STAFF REPORTS
Billy King has played thousands of rounds of golf in his life.
Suffice it to say, the Roanoker probably won't ever play a more important 18 holes than today.
Heading into today's final round of Senior PGA Tour National Qualifying in Ponte Vedra, Fla., King is tied for 15th with a 54-hole total of 4-under 212.
King, who has posted scores of 71, 71 and 70 on the par-72 TPC at Sawgrass course, is one good round away from earning a playing ticket on the 1997 Senior PGA Tour.
Today's top eight finishers will win playing cards for the '97 tour. Players finishing ninth through 16th will earn partial exemptions, allowing them to play in selected '97 events.
Former PGA Tour player Bob Dickson leads qualifying at 11-under 205.
Former Roanoker Gary Strickfaden, who opened with a 69 on Tuesday, slipped to a second-round 77 and a third-round 75 and is well back in the field at 221.
In other sports news in the region:
* Thomas ``Hit Man'' Hearns and Aaron Pryor will deliver a special 1-2 punch to Roanoke Valley Sports Club members and their guests Monday at the Salem Civic Center.
A cash bar social begins at 5:45 p.m. with the dinner meeting beginning at 6:15. The fee is $10 for members and $20 for each guest. Reservations must be made by today. Call 540-366-3946 for more information.
* Three-time New River Valley Speedway Late Model champion Jeff Agnew has announced that he will be driving for car owner Clarence Pickurel in 1997. Agnew piloted Pickurel's No.26 Chevrolet in six postseason races in 1996, highlighted by a start from the pole and a third-place finish in the Oct.13 Taco Bell 300 at Martinsville Speedway.
Pickurel's cars have enjoyed success at NRVS over the years. Paul Radford drove a Pickurel car to the track title in 1993, Michael Ritch won two televised races and former Mid-Atlantic Region champion Johnny Rumley claimed two victories at the Radford track this season. Agnew will retain his primary sponsors with the new ride.
COLLEGES Players make the grade
Virginia football players Tiki Barber and Jeremy Raley and Virginia Tech's Brandon Semones have been named to the 24-member College Football Association Scholar-Athlete team.
All are seniors. Barber, a running back from Roanoke, has a 3.361 grade-point average in commerce. Semones, a linebacker from Salem, has a 3.5 GPA in marketing. Raley, an offensive guard from Cumberland, Md., has a 3.451 GPA in science and education.
Virginia joins Florida, Kansas State and Nebraska with two players on the team.
* A halftime ceremony at Saturday's Virginia Tech-West Virginia contest will be dedicated to the memory of Marine Corps Lt. Freddie Cobb. Cobb, a quarterback on Tech football teams in the mid-1960s and teammate of coach Frank Beamer, was awarded the Navy Cross posthumously for heroism in the Vietnam War. In Cobb's honor, a display is being unveiled Saturday in the lobby of Cassell Coliseum and a scholarship is being endowed in his name.
* Bridgewater senior Sydney Fultz was selected ODAC volleyball player of the year by a vote of conference coaches Thursday. Bridgewater's Shannon Harrison, a former Salem High School standout, was selected to the first team. Mary Frances Heishman, also of Bridgewater, was named conference Coach of the Year. (Complete team in Scoreboard. B9.)
LENGTH: Medium: 68 linesby CNB