ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1997, Roanoke Times
DATE: Thursday, March 6, 1997 TAG: 9703060066
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: B-6 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: BOB TEITLEBAUM THE ROANOKE TIMES
Christiansburg's Laura Dangerfield and Cave Spring's Ben Dowdy are Runners of the Year.
There are two things Christiansburg junior Laura Dangerfield likes - running and playing the flute.
What do the two have in common? Nothing except that the Blue Demon is very good at both ventures. Dangerfield plays the flute in the Roanoke Youth Symphony and for the last couple of years has made sweet music while running up a storm at cross country meets.
Dangerfield and Cave Spring's Ben Dowdy, who didn't finish as well as he would have liked following illness during the middle of the cross country season, are Timesland's Runners of the Year.
As for the top coaches, it's an all-Blue Ridge District affair with Christiansburg's Steve Shelton taking honors for the girls and Blacksburg's Jack Hencke doing the same for the boys. This is the fifth such honor for Shelton, who has won for either boys or girls in the five years he's coached both Blue Demon teams. Hencke is a first-time winner.
With Christiansburg and Blacksburg - the Blue Ridge's two newest members - winning 75 percent of the top honors, those schools also had the most All-Timesland runners. Joining Dangerfield on the girls' team are teammates Christina Wolfe and Laura Evans, and Blacksburg's Lacey Brown. Christiansburg's Matt Nolan and Blacksburg's Clay Schwabe are first-team selections on the boys' side.
The other All-Timesland girls' runners are Rockbridge County's Kelly Repair, Roanoke Catholic's Maeve O'Meara and Floyd County's Johanna Neumann. The boys' squad also includes Galax's Jamar Bryson, Covington's Brent Young, Rockbridge County's Jason Hannah and Staunton River's Brian Harlor.
Dangerfield was outstanding, starting with her victory in the Metro as she beat Evans. Dangerfield also won the Region III title and finished fifth in the state.
``I never thought I'd do this much in one year,'' Dangerfield said. ``It changed my outlook. It gives me positive [thinking] for next year in college. I'm not sure I'll continue [running] because I want to go into music.''
The Christiansburg star admits that if she continues to build on her success in running, she won't drop the sport.
``Music is my main interest,'' she said. ``I've played the flute for about six years. I manage my time around both [music and cross country]. I would like for running to take me further, like into college. It's something I'll have to wait and see what happens. I'd rather not lose any time on the flute since I've put a lot [of effort] into it.''
``Laura had a great year,'' Shelton said. ``She came on when we want kids to come on - the big three like the district, region and state. She finished second in the district, but behind a teammate. In the state, she was 10th or 11th at the mile, seventh coming down the straightaway and on sheer guts got two more.''
Dowdy smoked the field early, beating Christiansburg junior Matt Nolan twice. When it came to the Metro, the Cave Spring star was felled by bronchitis and he never got to run against Nolan and Rockbridge County's Jason Hannah, who finished 1-2 in that meet.
At the end of the year, Hannah and Nolan were locked in a tense struggle. Hannah won the Region III and Blue Ridge District titles over Nolan. Then the Blue Demon runner was second in the state ahead of Hannah, who fell during the run and rallied to finish third.
Dowdy got the top honor because he had beaten Nolan and still became one of the few Roanoke Valley District runners to make the Group AAA state meet, where he finished 23rd.
``When I got sick, it hurt me the rest of the year,'' Dowdy said. ``Early in the year, I was where I wanted to be, but I had to back down on my training. I cut my mileage in half.''
Dowdy will take his running to Virginia Tech on a partial scholarship. He hopes to take his career to the next level beyond where it was shortly before the Metro meet.
Shelton keeps having good teams as his Group AA girls' squad finished third in the state. With Dangerfield and Evans heading up a strong returning contingent, Shelton's team should fight for the state title next year.
``The girls were unbeaten through the region. They got beat by two teams that were better,'' Shelton said. ``If you've got a good team, you're kind of shooting to catch everyone in front of you.''
Hencke's boys were fourth in the state. The Indians' coach started working with Cecille Newcomb when she headed the program.
Hencke beat out veteran Galax coach Ken Ross, whose team finished fourth in the state after winning Region C and Mountain Empire District titles.
``It's debatable whether this was my best team,'' said Hencke of a squad that had to overcome injuries that might have cost him a better finish. However, he said the injuries ``didn't cost us the state championship.''
After leaving Tech, Hencke started coaching at Auburn. There, he coached a young runner named Steve Shelton.
LENGTH: Long : 105 lines ILLUSTRATION: PHOTO: DON PETERSEN THE ROANOKE TIMES. 1. All-Timesland boys'by CNBcross country runners are (left to right): Matt Nolan
(Christiansburg), Runner of the Year Ben Dowdy (Cave Spring), Coach
of the Year Jack Hencke (Blacksburg), Jamar Bryson (Galax), Jason
Hannah (Rockbridge County), Clay Schwabe (Blacksburg), Brian Harlor
(Staunton River) and Brent Young (Covington). 2. All-Timesland
girls' runners are (left to right): Laura Evans (Christiansburg),
Christina Wolfe (Christiansburg), Runner of the Year Laura
Dangerfield (Christiansburg), Kelly Repair (Rochbridge County),
Maeve O'Meara (Roanoke Catholic), Lacey Brown (Blacksburg) and Coach
of the Year Steve Shelton (Christiansburg). Not pictured is Floyd
County's Johanna Neumann. Graphics: Charts. 1. All-Timesland 1996
Boys' cross country. 2. All-Timesland 1996 Girls' cross country.