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The Clarion April 20, IBSS" Page 11
Alice Gaines, the artist, is as in
tense about her work in the Col-
trane as she is about her running.
(Bi^r Orrell photo)
Bom to run
by Kenny Monteith
According to Alice Gaines, she has been
given a talent to run. “I know I’m doing
something that is good for me, and I’ve
been given the talent so I should use it.”
And use it she does.
Peanut’spix ...
Among her many accomplishments are
earning the rank of Junior College All-
American, being a member of the national
champion cross country team, and setting
the school record for the 1500 meter run at
the State Collegiate Track Meet in Chapel
LA all
the way
by Juan Kincaid
As the NBA season comes down to
playoff time, the two NBA powers, the
Boston Celtics and the L.A. Lakers, are
once again expected to go all the way to the
finals where they will battle it out for the
NBA crown like they did last year.
There two teams are the class of the
NBA and people are still asking that same
question, “\^o is gonna beat L.A. or
Boston.”
Well I can’t think of anyone. With the
Atlanta Hawks and Detroit Pistons pro
viding the competition for Boston, the
Seattle Supersonics and the Dallas
Mavericks keep LA on its toes. But there’s
one thing that Boston and LA have that no
other team in the league have: Larry Bird
3nd Earvin “Magic” Johnson. Bird, the
^ton Celtic great, will carry his team to
we finals. You may not like him but he tets
e job done. And Magic Johnson, with his
fancy passes and last years MVP crown by
his side, continues to lead the Lakers in
almost every category. We all know that
it’s going to be Boston and LA in the finals,
but who’s gonna win? LA of course. Why
LA? Well, let me count the ways. One,
Magic Johnson, two, James Worthy, three,
Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, four, Michael
Cooper, and five, Byron Scott - undoubted
ly the best five-man rotation in the NBA.
Of course, Boston has Bird and Kevin
McHale, but this is only two men with a
supporting cast. Don’t expect any
miracles in this year’s final.
It’s L.A. all the way!
Well this is the way I see it, so for one
last time let’s say it together; “Put your
money on me ’cause I’m your best bet.
P-Nuts Pix
It won’t go 7 games
LA wins series 4-2
LA Repeating NBA World Champions
Hill, April 9.
Gaines, a BC freshman from
Blacksburg, Va., has been running since
she was 12 years old. “It was something
different,” says Gaines, “not everybody
else did that.”
She and her sister would journey
through the woods located behind her
large house. “My sister and I would get up
and run in the mornings at like 6:30,”
Gaines says. “I like running with her in the
mornings,” she adds.
The warm feeling of home has always
been special to Gaines. “I love to go
home,” says Gaines. “I feel so much bet
ter about everything when I go home.”
And better she should feel as the loving
arms of her mother and father, and her
four brothers and sisters await her. Along
with her older sister, Gaines runs with her
younger sister, her oldest and younger
brother, and her father. “I live way out in
the boondocks,” says Gaines of her house
10 miles outside of Blacksburg. “I love
running out there. All the mountains and
stuff, and there’s lots of trails.”
Gaines says that her parents are “so
supportive about everything...Even if I
have a horrible race and I’m all disap
pointed,” say Gaines, “they would say
‘that’s o.k. you still did great,’ and they
never ever pressure me.”
Gaines’ adjustment from high school
athletics to college athletics came rather
easy because Coach Dave Rinker was her
track coach during her freshman year in
high school. “My coach after Rinker was
just almost exactly hke him because they
coached together,” says Gaines.
As for the tornado runners, Gaines feels
Rinker has been a real inspiration. “He en
courages us all,” says Gaines. “He’s real
ly great and he’s not only a coach, but he’s
a friend too and pays attention to each in
dividual.”
“I feel a lot better about running here
than I did in high school,” say Gaines,
“because the atmosphere is better. I like
running here in the mountains.” “I have
Alice Gaines, pacing herself in a meet in
Raleigh earlier this year.
that at home too, but it’s a change,” she
adds.
In the classroom, Gaines is another “All-
American.” Last semester she made the
Dean’s List and is still striving for perfec
tion this semester. Although Gaines ad
mits running can be “mentally and
physically exhausting,” she also says it
helps her in life. “Running helps and
disciplines me,” says Gaines. “It makes
you more alert.”
Before a race, Gaines says that
sometimes the butterflies start fluttering
in her stomach. “If it’s a really big race, I
get nervous,” she says. “I always get ner
vous before a race, but sometimes I get
really nervous.”
But once the gun goes off Gaines is ready
for the race. “I just think atxmt what I
have to do and think about the strategy
that Coach and I talked about,” she says.
Although Gaines is many miles from
home, she has a family unit on the track
team. “Everytime we have a track work
out, everybody yells for everybody else -
and that’s great,” she says. “It also makes
you work harder.” Gaines also says it
makes the team become closer. “The two
other girls I run with, Marj and Michelle,
we all help each other by running
together,” Gaines says. “We’re all
friends.”
During her spare time, Gaines enjoys
“doing artsy things... not so much draw
ing,” she says. “But just creative stuff.”
As for the future, Gaines is undecided on
the college for her last two years. She is
sure she will stop running competitively,
but she will definitely continute running in
her leisure time.