Foweler’s works pays off

When senior Donny Fowler (Woodbridge ’99) began workouts last fall for Duke University’s men’s track team, Blue Devil head coach Norm Ogilvie could see he had a much-improved runner on his hands.

“The greatest change was his work ethic,” Ogilvie said. “He finally figured it out how he was going to get better.”

Fowler’s indoor season performances have only confirmed that.

On Saturday at the Armory Collegiate Invitational in New York, Fowler finished second in the 800-meter run (season-best 1:53.65). He was also a member of Duke’s 3,200-meter relay team that set a new meet record and posted the second-best time in that event in school history (7:33.42).

Both times qualified Fowler to compete in the IC4A Championships March 8-9 in Boston.

“It’s his senior year and he is stepping it up,” Ogilvie said. “We knew he was capable of this, but maybe it’s the immediacy that this is the end.”

Ogilvie is counting on Fowler for points this weekend at the ACC Indoor Track and Field Championships in Chapel Hill, N.C.

The University of Virginia’s Dawn Cleary (Woodbridge ’98) finished fourth in the 3,000-meter run last weekend in the Tech Challenge in Blacksburg.

East Carolina’s Terri Davenport (Hylton ’01) was eighth in the 200 last weekend at the Sykes/Sabock Challenge in State College, Pa. Her time of 24.85 was also a qualifying time for the ECAC’s

SWIMMING

Virginia Tech’s Christian Lindberg (Woodbridge ’00) is in good position to claim a title this weekend at the Big East Championships at the Nassau County Aquatics Center in Uniondale, N.Y. Lindberg has the conference’s best time in the 50-meter freestyle. His time of 20.20 is also a school-record.

Matt Miller (Gar-Field ’00) has helped lead Marist College to a 12-1 dual-meet record going into the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference Championships, which began Thursday and run through Saturday at Loyola College in Baltimore.

Last year at the MAAC Championships, Miller was fifth in the 1,650-meter freestyle and sixth in the 1,000-meter freestyle.

Competing for Marist in the women’s conference championships will be Kristina Mulholland (Osbourn Park ’02). Mulholland’s main events are the butterfly and the freestyle.

BASKETBALL

Kristen VanHaverbeke (North Stafford ’99) and Tanesha Tyus (Hylton ’00) have been getting the job done in the post for the United States Coast Guard Academy.

VanHaverbeke, a 5-11 senior center, leads the team in rebounds, averaging 8.0 per game, while Tyus, a 5-11 junior forward, is averaging 5.8 rebounds per game.

VanHaverbeke, who also led the Coast Guard in rebounding last season, is averaging 7.5 points per game. Tyus is averaging 5.3 points per game. The Bears improved to 14-8 overall with a 71-64 win Tuesday over Springfield. Tyus had 12 points and 10 rebounds in that game, while VanHaverbeke had five points and four rebounds.

David Fawcett’s They’re In College Now column appears Fridays in the Potomac News & Manassas Journal Messenger. Reach him at (703) 878-8052 or at [email protected]