Middle school sports important to competing

By CODY DALTON
cody@southwesttimes.com



As of late, you will notice that I have not only been covering sports for the Southwest Times as I usually do, but now I have been doing regular news stories as well. After doing so, I never realized just how close the two sides could come until I went to cover a School Board meeting last week.

Proposed in the many budget cuts needed to close the large deficit is the $40,000 that is being spent every year on the many sports – including volleyball, basketball, football, track, and wrestling – being offered at the middle school level.

While it is necessary to make the cuts to get under the deficit, I think that $40,000 is hardly a scratch on the surface of the money that will be needed to get us out of the shortfall.

A while back, the issue was brought up about why are high school sports teams aren’t winning. Many school systems start from the bottom at the recreation leagues, develop to middle school and AAU, and by the time these kids reach high school, they are ready to compete at a high level.

Without these middle school programs, the competitiveness of our sports in the county will suffer tremendously, as many athletes will not be prepared for what they face at the high school level after coming straight from middle school.
If these cuts do indeed happen, we need to rely on our recreation league sports and AAU teams more than ever to keep our kids in great physical shape as well and have experience with athletic competition.

I think one thing that does sadden me is that if the two schools merge, the death of a Pulaski-Dublin Middle rivalry will also occur. It will no longer be the Orioles against the Dukes. Instead, we will be one unit together now.

However, that can be a benefit. If we were to keep middle school sports and merge the schools, there would be several extremely competitive unified middle school programs. After covering both middle school basketball programs, I cannot imagine taking some of the kids from both of the squads and putting them on the same team. That certainly will help their chemistry as they develop as a team to the next level.
I really think it is a shame that we have to look at this issue and many other issues as either a keep or discard issue. Hopefully, our town can get through this tough time and move on to much better times in the not to distant future.

– Cody Dalton is a writer for The Southwest Times in Pulaski. He can be reached at (540) 980-5220 or at cody@southwesttimes.com.

McDaniel running for record, past hurdles

By CODY DALTON
cody@southwesttimes.com



It's been a long and winding road for a former Pulaski County High School track star, which will culminate next Friday and Saturday at Duke University.
Lance McDaniel, who now competes in track and field for Concord University, will look to set the school's new record in the steeplechase.

The steeplechase is an interesting event, in which competitors run 3,000 meters (close to two miles). They will encounter hurdles throughout each lap of the event, which are compiled of barriers three lanes wide. After runners get through with the hurdles, they will encounter a water pit on the other side of the barrier.

The current Concord record was set by Ryan Kent in 2008 with a time of 9:46.60. McDaniel recently set a new personal best of 9:50.18 – just under four seconds of the record – when he finished ninth at the Wake Forest Open on March 19-20.

"I would love to break this record," McDaniel said. "I came so close last year. I was around 3 seconds off, so I hope I can do it this year."

While at Pulaski County High School Lance was a four-time district champion and a three-time AA All-State performer. Not only was he outstanding on the track, but in the classroom as well, making the All-River Ridge District Academic Team.
In 2007, Lance was All-Conference and Academic All-American in Cross-Country at Concord.

Lance's story is more than just the accomplishments in running though. At just the tender age of 3, doctors discovered that Lance had a heart issue and had to undergo open heart surgery.

"I had a hole in my heart about the size of a quarter when I was born and when I went in for my three year checkup my doctor at the time found it," McDaniel said. "My parents tell me that later doctors told them it was a miracle he found it because it was very hard to hear due to it's large size."

He had the surgery and worked over time to overcome the heart condition. By the time Lance was age 14, he was one of the top 50 runners in the country at his age.
However, Lance's health issues resurfaced in high school, but it was a different ailment that slowed down his pursuit of running. He began to develop a colles fracture, which is the sheering off of both bones in the lower arm.

"That put me out of running for a while in high school," McDaniel said. "I hated that because I love running so much, but that was just one of those things that showed me that God is in control of my life. I had to have a cast on it for a few months."

Lance's high school coach, Jamie McCarty, reflected on his time with McDaniel and the short time they spent together because of the injury.

"The only thing that I can look back and be disappointed about is that I didn't have him in my program longer," McCarty said. "I only really had him for a few weeks of his junior and all of his senior year. He is the kind of kid that is a 'lunch pale' kind of kid. He came here every day ready to go and you know you would get maximum effort, whether it was just practice or a race.

"He pushed the other kids the same way. He didn't let them slack or do the wrong things. He was always in the right place doing the right things, whether that was in school, out of school, or in cross country. He is one of those kids who you didn't have to worry about. You could tell them to do something and he would not only do what you asked, but do more."

Lance would once again overcome that ailment and return to what he loved most. He now stands a towering six foot, two inches tall after an incredible growth spurt and sits on the cusp of making history at Concord. After all he has been through though, Lance has grown past all of these challenges in his life and still remains humble about the potential accomplishment.

"There are also two freshman on the team that have the ability to break it as well," McDaniel said. "So I just hope one of us gets it. Whether I do it or not, that's up to God. I'll be just as happy if I get it as I will if they do."

Boy's tennis team rebuilding

By CODY DALTON
cody@southwesttimes.com



The Pulaski County High School boy's tennis team will look to rebuild this year, despite the fact the group is led by four seniors in the top six.

The team only returns three players from last season's team - seniors Nathan Miller and Justin Smith, as well as junior Ryan Blose. Miller was the team's number six player, but now assumes the number one role, while Smith and Blose are second and third respectively.

"Any of my top three will face one and two in the district," said fourth-year coach Jerry Danner. "They are going to have some tough matches on their hands. They are good and have developed their ball striking, which should get them some points."
New additions to the team include seniors Roland Tucker and Travis Cox, who will play in the fourth and fifth spot. Sophomore Trevor Hess completes the lineup in the six spot. From what he has seen so far, Danner expects one of these new additions to step up and play extremely well.

"I think Travis Cox, my number four player, is showing a consistent game," Danner said. "His points are very long and he is able to stay in rallies."
The Cougars are already off to a good start, winning two of their first three matches of the season. Danner feels that his team's non-district schedule will help play a big part into their success early on.

"Usually in our out-of-district matches with GIles, Galax, and Radford, we have matched up well," Danner said. "We hope to do the same again this year. We are basically lacking a bit of experience and aren't as deep as we have been in the past few years."

The difficulty in the schedule starts with the district schedule, where the Cougars will face both Hidden Valley and Salem. Hidden Valley is the state runner-up in AA boy's tennis to Salem, who swept both the singles and doubles titles last season.

"Our district is probably the toughest in the state," Danner said. "Over the last eight years, one of the three top teams in it has been to the state championship matches. With this kind of being a rebuilding year for us, I expect the team to get better by the end of the year. By the last match, they will have improved a lot."

Just like the girl's team, the boy's tennis team reaped from the benefits of the $1,500 donation made to the tennis program, which is helping them team with new uniforms and equipment.

"That was awesome," Danner said. "I knew the guy that donated the money and his son played here. That was some pretty good support to have."
However, the biggest need for the team could not be taken care of with the money received. Many of the courts that are used at PCHS by both the boys and girls teams are in poor conditions with a few cracks in them. Danner is hopeful that they will be fixed in the near future.

"I know if it is from the years of use from the public, high school, and P.E. classes, but the courts has really deteriorated," Danner said. "We have a crack that starts at court one and ends in court four. After this hard winter, I've noticed two cracks on this court too that I haven't seen before. They are really needing to be resurfaced."

Lady Cougars commemorate basketball season with banquet

By CODY DALTON
cody@southwesttimes.com



The Lady Cougar basketball teams celebrated the 2009-10 season with their annual basketball banquet on Sunday night in the PCHS Commons.

Raiven Patterson, Daisy Ball, Sydney Anderson, and Kasey Holcomb were honored for their seasons worth of accolades, which included All-River Ridge District teams. Hannah Chaffin was also awarded for her tremendous eight steal effort against Christiansburg twice.

The coaches from both teams also awarded honors based on their improvement in the program. For the junior varsity team, Morgan Cox picked up the Most Improved award and Sara Wright was given the Coaches' Award.

Shaniqua Banks was Most Improved and Elizabeth Thacker was given the Coaches Award for the varsity squad. Also honored at the event was the team's lone senior, Brittany Lawson. She was presented with a poster size framed picture and a gift.
Both a highlight DVD of the season and powerpoint presentation were shown to the players and parents in attendance.

The Lady Cougars varsity team finished the season with a 11-15 record under second-year coach Jason Grubb. They were also 4-6 in the River Ridge District, good enough for fourth place. For the second straight year, the Lady Cougars earned a Region IV playoff berth.

The junior varsity team was also impressive under second-year coach Tiffany Payne, winning 15 of their final 18 games after starting the season 0-2. They finished with a 15-5 record.

Lady Cougars’ tennis looking to rely on veterans this season

By CODY DALTON
cody@southwesttimes.com



The Pulaski County High School girl's tennis teams is looking to lean on the leadership of their veteran players this season.

The team features eight returning players from last year's team, including five of their top six players in senior Mindy Pierett, and juniors Amanda Salinas, Maddy Chitwood, Katelyn Armbrister, Magen Stacy.

"On this team, I have a lot of great returning players," said second-year girl's head coach Sarah Vaught. "I've got some strong leadership on the team. I have some strong leadership with my juniors too. So with that mixture, it should be another good season. I expect them to do really well this year. There is a lot of dedication on this team. Tennis is an individual sport, but we do win as a team and lose as a team along with winning and losing individually."

The team will look to improve this season upon their district record, but look to keep up to constant success they have had in their non-district schedule.

"Last year, in the district we didn't do as well," Vaught said. "We took Mindy, our number one, ended up seventh. We did really well out of district. We beat William Fleming and Giles. Graham is the only one we couldn't beat. They did really well last year. Last year, being my first year of coaching and not knowing much, they did really well."

Vaught has seen one particular group step up in just her second season under the helm as girl's head coach, which will help to be a part of the success the team experiences.

"This year, my juniors are the one who are here everyday," Vaught said. "Amanda Salinas, Maddy Chitwood, and Magen Stacy - they really have helped all the girls. Mindy Pierett practices with a private instructor sometimes. When she is here, she practices with our new senior, Mindy Hall, and she works with the other girls on the tricks she knows. They are all willing to go out there and hit and teach each other constructive criticism."

Just like every other spring sport, the tennis team's progress has been slowed by the large amount of snow received this winter. However, Vaught felt that it didn't affect her team in a large capacity.

"The first two weeks of practice, we were either in the gym or in the weight room and not really being able to play on a court," Vaught said. "With half the team returning, they all knew how to hit. The other players we have been able to work with them the few days we have been out on the court. Since we are on the asphalt, it is a lot easier to have practices because we don't have to wait on it to dry. It has been really nice with that. We had to set up a old net with volleyball poles in the gym and wooden boards in the middle of it. We practiced with the boys too, which is good."

Helping both tennis teams this year was a generous donation by Randy Eley, a lawyer from Pulaski. Before he passed away, Eley headed the organization "Friends of Pulaski Co. Tennis." His wife Donia sent a check to the team's in the amount of $1,500.

"Both teams were able to buy new score cards for the courts," Vaught said. "It has helped a lot because of the budget cuts. We don't have as much money as we normally do. our score cards were duct taped and falling apart. Our score cards help our courts look better. We are hoping donations can help keep our courts in good condition until we can resurface."

Three Point Stance: Spare high school sports, great and small

By CODY DALTON
cody@southwesttimes.com



Last week, I talked to our readers about why middle school sports should saved, even with the combined middle schools. Now I turn my attention away from the middle schools to the high school level.

Threatened among the many things in the budget are high school sports, more importantly the smaller sports like tennis, golf, and volleyball. I think it is a shame to have to make a decision on which sports are and are not worth saving. It shouldn't be looked at like that.
Every day, students at PCHS take their time and effort to compete in the sports they love, while also learning many trades along the way. They learn the qualities of a leader and how to direct people in a positive way. That will come in handy when they grow older and reach the workforce.
They are taught to work hard. That effort will help them to go far in this world, especially when it comes to college and at their job. Sports also teach discipline, which helps lead to balance and focus in all aspects of their life.
The most obvious of these traits as well is keeping in physical shape. We talk about a generation where we are starting to suffer from severe health problems and excessive obesity. Then we talk about eliminating one of the few things that causes enjoyment for those trying to battle it.
It doesn't matter if you are on the volleyball team, football team, soccer team, or tennis team; you are still trying your best to learn these qualities and to keep yourself in shape. It doesn't matter what sport you play, every one of them teaches these important life qualities more than any leadership class ever will.

– Cody Dalton is a writer for The Southwest Times in Pulaski. He can be reached at (540) 980-5220 or at cody@southwesttimes.com.

Lebanon stuns Radford

Pioneers’ Brown hits late lay up to end Bobcat's title defense

By CODY DALTON
cody@southwesttimes.com



BRISTOL – It took only 6.4 seconds in the game, but the Radford High School boy’s basketball team watched their state title defense end in dramatic fashion on Saturday.

Lebanon’s Justin Brown drove from one length of the court to the other, slicing through defenders on his way to a game winning lay up as the Pioneer defeated the Bobcats, 62-61, in the Group A, Div. 2 State Quarterfinals at Virginia High School.

“This set loss set our program back,” said Radford coach Rick Cormany. “There is absolutely no positive because this team absolutely did not deserve to win the basketball game. We didn't do anything smart or intelligent all night long, all the way to the very end when you let a guy – a post player – take the ball the length of the court and score to beat us. It was classic of how the whole game went. That was a defining moment.”

The game appeared to be in hand, as freshman William Minter connected on six of seven free throw attempts and junior Dontae Carter made all four of his attempts. Brown would take Minter’s one miss though and drive for the winning score.

The majority of the game was close, with the largest lead being just four points through the first three quarters. However, that would change in the fourth when Radford (17-7) fell behind a game-high ten points, 51-41, and it looked as if the game’s momentum was shifting towards Lebanon (20-5).

Lebanon’s best player, Jerome Cobb, would foul out on back-to-back personal and technical fouls in the third though, which limited the Pioneer offense late. Jerome Alexander and Dontae Carter capitalize and power the Bobcats back in the game. The duo combined for 16 straight Radford points, as the Bobcats stormed back to retake the lead, 57-54.

Realizing they had to score and foul, the Pioneers sent both Carter and Minter to the line one time each within the final minute. They would connect on all four attempts though and it looked as if Radford would head back to the State Semifinals and defend their title at the Vine Center.

Late mistakes though marred the repeat to Richmond. Two fouls committed late by Radford against Lebanon stopped the clock, allowed for free throws, and gave the Pioneers a fighting chance to win the game.

“There is no moral victory here,” said Radford coach Rick Cormany. “I don't believe in moral victories. We did not deserve to win the basketball game. We had too many mental breakdowns. We were not a smart basketball team.”

Lebanon, a team who had shot poorly from the free throw line, would make their opportunities late, which led to the dramatic final score for the victory.

Jerome Alexander scored a game-high 22 points and 12 rebounds. Dontae Carter added 16 points for Radford, who finishes the season with a 17-7 record and both the Three Rivers District regular season and tournament championships.