May 5, 2008

A planned slow start to her senior season could help make for a long and successful finish to Beverly Rogers' collegiate career at Bucknell University.

The graduate of Ringgold High School and native of Finleyville, Rogers is a standout javelin thrower who set Bucknell's school record last year with a mark of 154 feet, 3 inches. That record toss came at the Patriot League Championships as Rogers was the league's runner-up for a third straight season. The previous school record was 152 feet, nine inches set by Heather Korhammer set back in 1986.

This spring, Rogers sat out Bucknell's season-opening meet at the Maryland (College Park) Invitational merely as a precaution, according to Kevin Donner, Bucknell's seventh-year women's and men's track and field and cross country head coach.

"Beverly was experiencing a little bit of pain with her elbow and we just wanted to make sure she's OK and she is," Donner said. "We're projecting a long season for her so we held her out of the first meet. She's been launching them pretty good."

For Bruce Wald's complete article from the Pittsburgh (Pa.) Tribune-Review click here.