This Week in VMI Athletics - April 12

We'll open with something other than baseball, just to give this week a bit of variety. It's been announced within the last hour that VMI's Stephen Robarge is the Division I leader in face-off percentage (63.8%). As a team, VMI ranks second in D-I in that stat, trailing only Hartford...Robarge is also second in D-I in ground balls per game (8.09) trailing the face-off specialist from, you guessed it, Hartford.

For all fans wanting to see if the Keydets can get back on the winning track, you can go here to watch the game for a $5.95 fee.

Track has perhaps its biggest weekend of the year, starting Thursday in Charleston as CSU hosts this year's Big South Outdoor Championships. As we were last year, the VMI Athletic Media Relations office will be on hand to live blog and otherwise chronicle the events...The blog was a no-doubt, rousing success last year and should be a similar venture in 2010. You'll also be able to follow along the Big South Network's video streaming, as well as live results. The full preview on VMIKeydets.com, evaluating the Keydets' chances in particular events, should be up either Tuesday or early Wednesday.

Also from track, an alumnus wrote up a perspective on late March's Military Championships. Please check that out at the bottom of this post.

Wade Branner did an audio interview with Head Football Coach Sparky Woods earlier this week, and you can check that out here.

Now, baseball :-)...Rankings haven't come out yet for this week, but the Keydets are expected to remain ranked for the fifth consecutive tabulation after sweeping Gardner-Webb to run their win streak to eight. There is a chance VMI could move up to 27th in a matter of moments (Baseball SID Christian Hoffman, sitting right behind me, is pressing refresh on his web browser every couple of minutes).

Back to the on-field action...Alex Haitsuka had a huge week, including a 4 for 5 Sunday and a cycle Tuesday versus Longwood. Jordan Ballard tied the VMI record for career home runs Saturday, and Cory Spangenburg had a nice week as well. This is quite the roll...And now the Keydets draw UVA. Virginia comes into Gray-Minor Wednesday night for a 6 p.m. tilt, in a game that will be the first matchup between two ranked teams ever at the Keydets' home facility. The Hoos are currently ranked #4, but could move up as high as #1 in some polls after taking two of three from second-ranked Georgia Tech...Notes and a full preview should be up tomorrow.

IMPORTANT NOTE - The Virginia game is expected to draw one of the largest crowds in the history of Gray-Minor Stadium. Fans are strongly encouraged to park on the parade ground and walk to the stadium, as parking down the hill will be severely, severely limited and congestion will be high in that area. Also, we recommend that you purchase tickets in advance, just in case (540-464-7266).

That'll do it for this week...Check back next week for another update from Post, and hopefully more ranking updates from baseball!

NOTE AFTER PUBLISHING - Keydets are ranked 26th in Collegiate Baseball poll...Release to follow later today.
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It’s Saturday in Virginia’s Shenandoah Valley. The air is cool and clear. Miles away from major cities and sports arenas, a few spectators stand and sit in the chill for hours to watch a great and sadly unheralded sports event.

The press and media presence is minimal. There is no wide video screen. There are no instant replays. There is no loud music. America is tuned into March Madness when sixty four teams will compete before screaming fans in massive arenas. There will be Cinderella stories and close games, but none of that can inspire one as the competition which unfolded last weekend at the Virginia Military Institute (VMI).

Here was held the 2010 Military Track & Field Championships. Present were teams from all the Federal Academies- Army, Navy, Air Force, Coast Guard and Merchant Marine together with the Citadel and VMI. Over 350 athletes competed over two days. These athletes do not aspire to be professional stars; most are to become second lieutenants and ensigns and some, future generals and admirals.

It was a privilege to spend several hours at this meet watching athletes, some of national stature and many more competing for the joy of competition. I sat next to Bobby Ross VMI Class of 1959, a career college and professional football coach who started his coaching career at VMI and concluded it at West Point. Along the way he won a national championship at Georgia Tech and took the San Diego Chargers to the Super Bowl. This man knows intercollegiate athletics, its purposes, its successes and its challenges.

He also knows what it means to be a member of the military. His son Kevin was a distance runner and captain of the Navy track team in the 1980’s. With a daughter-in-law serving in the Army in Afghanistan and a daughter married to a Navy Captain, just back from Afghanistan, the Ross family knows well the sacrifices our service men and women and families make defending our country.

Together, we watched race after race. We marveled at the competition and incredibly “squared away” young men and women in the races and field events. They were uniformly trim, athletic and fiercely competitive.

Yet the true majesty of the meet was not lost as we watched and talked. These were not just athletes; they will be the future leaders of America. More importantly, they would soon be responsible as young line officers for America’s greatest treasure- its young men and women serving throughout the world in its most dangerous places. They will place their own lives at risk and will be responsible for the lives of those they will command. They will undertake whatever mission they are given no matter how dangerous it might be. How they have been trained to endure pain and lead amidst adversity will determine whether men and women die, are wounded or return to their families safely.

Just when we thought it would not be possible to be more proud of a group of young Americans, the track meet hosted two races – 100 and 200 meter events. This time young military veterans would be the runners. This time they would be not just runners, but wounded warriors running with artificial legs. They gave all they had to run those meters with grit and courage- the same grit and courage that, no doubt, had helped them overcome the pain of their wounds. Other wounded veterans refusing to give in to their injuries and showing the same determination the runners displayed competed in field events.

As the last race was run and the loud speaker system announced the order of team points, we focused not on who won or lost, but that from these fields of friendly competition, these Soldiers, Sailors, Marines and Airmen would one day serve as comrades in arms defending our nation. On those occasions, they may reflect with pride on one spring weekend in Virginia when they met, competed and prepared to lead our Armed Forces in their defense of our freedom and liberty.

Certainly the commentaries and press will describe with much fanfare another brand of sacrifice, leadership and courage throughout March Madness. Yet if they wanted to see a much different level of collegiate athletics, sacrifice, courage, commitment and leadership and one vital to our nation, they should have been in Lexington, Virginia this weekend.

May God bless and protect this very special group of American athletes and patriots.

George. H.”Skip”Roberts, Jr. is an attorney practicing in Lexington, ran cross country and track at VMI 1964- 1968 and served in the United States Air Force. He may be reached at sroberts@wawlaw.com.