Thursday, October 25, 2007
Salem to name football field after White
The annual football game between Salem and Pulaski County is always a big one.
It just got bigger.
The Nov. 9 game between the two River Ridge District rivals took on added significance Wednesday when Salem city officials announced that the field at Salem Stadium will be named after former Spartans coach Willis White during a halftime ceremony.
White coached at Salem from 1983-2003, leading the Spartans to four Group AA Division 4 championships during a five-year period between 1996-2000. He also coached Salem to a Group AAA Division 6 runner-up finish in 1986 and a berth in the Division 4 finals in 1991.
White finished with a 201-51-3 record at Salem, including 15 district championships and 10 regional titles.
"I think he's done as much for the community as anyone, morale-wise," Salem councilman Randy Foley said. "He built the Salem High School program and resurrected the tradition of the Andrew Lewis program. Obviously that continues 24 years later."
Foley said White will be honored during a brief ceremony, at which time a sign reading "Willis White Field" located on the field house will be unveiled.
"It will be relatively low-key, said Foley, a star player on Salem's 1986 team. "We'll read a proclamation and unveil the sign. Because it's a big game and it will be at halftime, we won't have much time. We don't want to hold up the game."
White also was the head coach at Fort Chiswell for three years and at Patrick Henry for five. At PH, he took the Patriots to the 1979 Group AAA championship game.
White was an assistant coach at PH under the late Merrill Gainer. Patrick Henry named its new playing surface "Gainer Field" in August.
"In a perfect world, we would have done this before they did theirs," Foley said. "To some people it might look like this is copycat, but this has been in the discussion stage for a few years. This seems like the right time to do it."
White, who remains a familiar figure at games on Friday nights, deflected credit for his success at Salem.
"I don't get into a lot of that," he said. "It's a nice honor, but you realize you had a lot of help. Nobody does anything by himself."
Two more from BRD headed to D-I ranks
Continuing a recent stream of Timesland baseball players to the Division I level, Lord Botetourt first baseman Josh Holskey has committed to Campbell, while Alleghany's Steven Keener is headed to Liberty.
Holskey was a first-team All-Region III performer and first-team All-Timesland choice in 2007 after batting .433 with seven home runs and 18 RBIs. He had a .950 slugging percentage and a .628 on-base percentage for the Cavaliers.
Holskey is the second Botetourt player to commit to a Division I school in recent weeks. Pitcher Alan Watts committed to VMI. Watts had a 3-2 record for Botetourt with 33 strikeouts in 32 innings pitched. He was also the winning pitcher in the Blue Ridge District championship game.
Keener, who expects to be used at first base, said he chose Liberty over VMI, Radford, Richmond and Ferrum.
He has been playing this fall for a Roanoke-based travel team called the Hitting Zone. Several players on that team also have committed to the D-I ranks, including Hidden Valley's Zack Helgeson (Maryland) and Mikey O'Brien (Winthrop) and Pulaski County's Jared King (Virginia).
Ellenbogen selected AJGA All-American
Blacksburg golfer Courtney Ellenbogen is one of 12 girls named a first-team Rolex Junior All-American by the American Junior Golf Association.
The All-American squads were determined by the AJGA's 2007 rankings through Oct. 10. Ellenbogen, who won three AJGA events this year, was ranked No. 9.
Ellenbogen led Blacksburg to its second straight Group AA golf championship. She was the Region IV champion and placed third in the Group AA tournament.
Ellenbogen is eligible to attend the All-American awards banquet Nov. 18 in Reunion, Fla.
Auburn's Millirons achieves milestone
Auburn volleyball coach Sherry Millirons earned her 200th career victory Tuesday night when the Eagles defeated Three Rivers District rival Eastern Montgomery.
Millirons has been Auburn's coach for 13 seasons. The Eagles are 15-4-1 this year, in second place in the Three Rivers District standings behind defending Group A champion Glenvar.
