Gene Crane, a former track star at Hermitage High School, will join five others in the latest class selected for the Virginia Tech Sports Hall of Fame. In 1977, Crane set a school record in the steeplechase that still stands when he ran a time of 8:47.2 on the way to a third-place finish in the 1978 State Championships. He also set a school mark in the 5,000 meters that day, finishing fourth. Crane took second place in the steeplechase at the 1979 Metro Outdoor Track & Field Championships. He finished second in the event at the Atlantic Coast Relays and the State Championships that season.

COLUMBUS, Ohio - Ohio State coach Jim Tressel said yesterday linebacker Tyler Moeller will miss the season. The fourth-year junior from Cincinnati injured his head when it hit the floor during a family trip in Florida about two weeks ago. A hospital spokesman said Moeller was released Monday from the Ohio State University Medical Center. Moeller, a junior, was expected to start at outside linebacker.

Ronnie Black figures he will need to join the “7-foot club” to have a chance at winning the high jump in next week’s USA Junior National Track and Field championships in Eugene, Ore. Black, who turns 19 in August, qualified for the event by clearing 6-10¾ in his freshman season with VCU. “If I hit 7 feet on my first attempt, I think I’ll be set for the top four,“ he said.

HIGH SCHOOLS Nansemond-Suffolk 202
(9 holes, Tuckahoe Creek Course at CCV, par 36)
  C: Mabry 35, Cantor 39, Donohue 39, Sauter 39 NS: Werszner 47, Lewis 47, Brunett 54, Sharett 54 At Thomas Dale
Long jump—Q. Fulgham (TD) 23-1¾; triple jump—Q. Fulgham (TD) 45-10¾; high jump—Tyler (Meadowbrook) 6-2; shot put—Hartman (TD) 49-4¼; discus—Chatman (Mbk) 142-2

As a Mills Godwin High School junior, Dominic Costanzo re-invented himself as an athlete. Happy ending here: The new model outperforms the original. Admittedly just a fair-to-middling basketball player, Costanzo has erupted as a track and field blockbuster.

Lee-Davis sophomore Montasia Golden scored 51 points at the Capital District meet, winning the long jump and 300-meter dash, taking second in the triple and 55 hurdles, and helping L-D win the 1,600 relay. High school track previews It’s time to run . . . outdoors Lee-Davis has Golden opportunity to make some noise Lee-Davis High School’s golden rule for track and field reads like this: When Montasia Golden enters an event, plan on tacking plenty of points to the Confederates’ tally.

The bounce is back in Jasia Richardson’s step. Last night she bounce, bounce, bounced her way to her second Group AAA triple jump title at the Boo Williams Sportsplex in Hampton. Leading all the way, the J.R. Tucker High senior’s 40-2¼ leap on her first attempt in the finals bested Grassfield’s Karimah Shepherd by 5 inches.

Clear the runway. Eric Spott is an upward bound athlete, primed for takeoff. The hip-hopping Lee-Davis High School senior is an air-borne triple threat in the pole vault, high jump and high hurdles.

Mike and Kaye Newcomb have ample cause to feel cursed. Instead, they count their blessings, with loving daughter Kelsey, a Dinwiddie High School freshman track star, high atop the list. With their devastating, debilitating illnesses, the Newcombs could pout and complain, making strangers feel awkward and uncomfortable. Instead, they greet an outsider with warm welcomes, glowing faces and easy laughter. If you’re looking to crash a pity party, the Newcombs suggest going down the road to find one.

Varina’s Devin Lacks takes off in a relay at St. Christopher’s. Devin Lacks got lost in the shuffle of Varina High School football. Still, he didn’t fold. Now, he’s become the royal flush of track. “I always wanted to play football here, but I got cut as a freshman,“ he said. “There were just too many other good players.“ So instead of running up and down the football field, Lacks kicks up his heels around the track that circles it. This winter, the 5-7, 145-pound senior ranks as the best 1,000-meter runners in the area and among the best in the state.

They asked for a candid review of their problems and they got it—69 pages of unflattering details, uncomfortable advice and a laundry list of possible solutions for the U.S. track team. A task force commissioned by USA Track and Field released its report yesterday, lashing out at the American relay system, recommending streamlining Olympic trials and calling for a more stringent policy for dopers who want to be reinstated.

Virginia Commonwealth University runner and artist Tim Rusterholz will have one of his sculptures displayed during this week’s NCAA Convention in Washington.

Nikki Nunn won the long and triple jumps at the recent Central Virginia meet. For leaper extraordinaire Nikki Nunn, it seems not even the sky is the limit. No matter how far her rivals might jettison through space, Nunn vows to travel farther.

Patrick Henry’s Aaron Harris cruises to a win in a meet last week. Harris has covered the 55-meter hurdles in 7.71 seconds this season. With Michael Quash having moved on, there’s a vacancy in the penthouse of area high school high-hurdlers. Aaron Harris has a sharp eye on the property. The Patrick Henry senior opened the indoor track season by running Virginia’s fastest-to-date 55-meters - 7.71 seconds.

Alex James has tossed the shot put more than 51 feet. Glancing at powerfully-built Alex James, people guess the St. Christopher’s senior plays football. He doesn’t. Folks might never suspect he’s an accomplished violinist and chess-team president. He is. So much for judging a book by the cover. “I know I surprise people,“ the 6-3 240-pounder said.