Greetings from Hilton Head Island, SC. I haven’t been here in close to 20 years but it is obvious that this place has maintained its status as a great resort island. We are staying at the Inn at Harbor Town which is a fantastic property. This weekend was a whirlwind of motion with the season kicking off and thousands of people descending on the island for Memorial Day Weekend. I am really impressed with all of the bikers at Sea Pines. They ride everywhere. This is a great thing for exercise and cost savings…$3.95 a gallon makes me want to ride my bike everyday!
This has been a particularly nice working week for me as my wife Mary joined me in Hilton Head. We have had a fun time exploring the island around our Big South meetings. We have had an especially great time with Dr. Betty Dore and her husband Dick. We are so fortunate at Radford to have Dr. Dore as our Faculty Athletics Representative. Betty is such a wonderful person and she has a great love for Radford University and the students. One would certainly be lucky to have the opportunity to take her class or be under her leadership preparing for a career in education. In addition, she and Dick are so fun to be around and Mary and I have had an absolute blast the past two evenings!
I am really excited about Thursday night’s Big South Conference Banquet where Radford tennis player Cassandra Price is being honored as this year’s recipient of the Christenberry Award. This is the top award given by the BSC honoring the top male and female student-athlete for their accomplishments in the classroom and in their respective sports. Cass is tremendously deserving of this award as she has been extremely successful on the court and in the classroom. She graduated from Radford with a 4.0 GPA and a double major in Finance and Economics. We are so very proud of Cass’s accomplishments and we look forward to following what will no doubt be a fantastic career in whatever line of work she chooses.
These are my first Big South spring meetings and they have certainly been very interesting. We have such an outstanding group of Presidents and athletic directors in this conference. Under this leadership, the BSC is poised to do a lot of great things. As an AD, I did spare the conference one important item today…I passed on the golf outing! I was asked on numerous occasions since I arrived if I was planning to play on one of the famous Hilton Head courses with my fellow ADs. To preserve the beauty of the courses here and out of respect for conference, I respectfully declined! Instead, I went to the beach for a good run and then spent the latter part of the day on the phone with our Associate AD Randy Butt going over planning and budget numbers. If you haven’t met Randy I encourage you to do so as you will not find a nicer person in the world. He is also the best financial guy in college athletics.
Best of luck to our track athletes who head to Florida State for the NCAA Regional Meet this weekend. These athletes continue to perform at a very high level.
Go Highlanders!
Thursday, May 29, 2008
Thursday, May 22, 2008
Spring Update
I hope all of the Highlander fans out there are having a great spring. Before I get into events in the athletic department, I want to congratulate the class of 2008 on graduating May 3rd. We are really proud of our RU graduates and I know they will go out into the world and do great things. We are particularly proud of our student-athletes that graduated. We will miss you and we are so grateful for your many accomplishments and contributions.
Like the weather here in the New River Valley, our department continues to undergo many changes. Perhaps the biggest change is Coach Jeri Porter’s departure to George Mason University. Jeri did a wonderful job during her six years at RU and we wish her the very best as she moves to Fairfax. Jeri’s exit has opened the door for a great opportunity for her successor, Taj Ngongba. After an intense search we believe we have hired a tremendous coach, recruiter, and person. Taj has been a success at every point in her career. She was an All-American forward at George Washington University where she scored over 2,000 points and played in the Sweet Sixteen twice. She graduated from GW and played in the WNBA where she played against the very best.
Taj has also had successful stops as an assistant coach at Richmond, VCU, and George Washington. The Colonials have been to the Sweet Sixteen the past two seasons. We are excited about her leadership and expect continued success in our women’s program. Make sure you make a point to come over and see Taj as she is very excited to get to know people in the Radford University community, New River Valley, and beyond.
We currently have two teams still competing and they are baseball and track and field. The baseball team continues to improve and we are really excited about what Joe Raccuia and his staff are doing. The team is playing excellent baseball as we beat a good Liberty team 15-4 Wednesday in Big South Tournament play in Danville. I want to make special mention of Joe’s seniors-Eric Evans, Jonathan Spears, Nate Toth, and Nachion Moore. These young men have helped pave the way for an extraordinarily bright future for Radford Baseball. Their tremendous attitude, effort, and leadership have been crucial in our efforts reshape this program. I would also like to take a moment to congratulate Alex Gregory, Tyren Rivers and Eric Evans, all of whom were named All-Conference. Special congratulations go to Alex Gregory, who was voted the baseball Scholar-Athlete by the Big South. This is a prestigious honor that combines academic and athletic prowess.
Track and field has had a terrific spring and will send five student-athletes to NCAA Regionals next week. Congratulations and good luck to Kyle Morse, Amy Marshall, Shemilia Brandon, Daniel Oseth and Nic Moore, all of whom will represent RU at Regionals next weekend. RU’s 4X400 team qualified for regionals as well. Good luck also to the team of Raschad Kelso, Gaylon Johnson, Olajuwon Jones, Wayne Gore and Sean Bossman.
I want to congratulate Mickey Dean and the softball team on a sensational year. We won 46 games playing a tough schedule that included wins over NC State, Georgetown, Rutgers, Indiana, James Madison and Penn State. This team accomplished so much in 2008. President Kyle, Jo Kiernan, and I made the trip to Winthrop last Wednesday for the softball awards banquet where the Highlanders were very well represented. Here is a list of accomplishments by this team:
Ashley Taylor Big South Pitcher of the Year
First Team All-Conference Pitcher
Big South All-Tournament Team
Shannon Keefe Big South Freshman of the Year
First Team All-Conference Utility
Jenn Everhart First Team All-Conference 2nd Base
Big South All-Tournament Team
Kristen Shifflett First Team All-Conference Shortstop
Vicki Madden First Team All-Conference 3rd Base
Hope Creasy First Team All-Conference Outfielder
Big South All-Academic Team
Sarah Himan First Team All-Conference Catcher
Ashley Carlson Second Team All-Conference Outfielder
Many congratulations are in order for Coach Mike Anderson and his outstanding tennis team. We had an absolutely fantastic spring. This team accomplished so much sweeping all Big South opponents in the regular season and going on to win the Big South Tournament over Winthrop. Here is a tremendous list of honors for this exceptional team.
2008 Big South Champions-Regular season and Tournament
NCAA Tournament Participant playing at the University of Georgia against a Bulldog team that won last years’ National Title.
Mike Anderson won his 3rd straight Big South Coach of the Year Award
Martin Sayer 4th straight Big South Player of the Year Award
Mehdi Benhammou All Big South Conference
James Lloyd All Big South for the 4th season
Ivan Salec All Conference Award and Big South Freshman of the Year
Zack Watson All Big South Doubles
What a phenomenal year for Radford Tennis!
Finally, I want to congratulate Joe and Jodi Raccuia on birth of the third child, Emma. She joined us in the world last Thursday and was on hand for her first of many baseball games last Saturday when her dad’s Highlanders played Coastal Carolina.
Now I’m ready to take Coach Mike Grant up on his offer to take me smallmouth bass fishing on the New River!
Go Highlanders!
Like the weather here in the New River Valley, our department continues to undergo many changes. Perhaps the biggest change is Coach Jeri Porter’s departure to George Mason University. Jeri did a wonderful job during her six years at RU and we wish her the very best as she moves to Fairfax. Jeri’s exit has opened the door for a great opportunity for her successor, Taj Ngongba. After an intense search we believe we have hired a tremendous coach, recruiter, and person. Taj has been a success at every point in her career. She was an All-American forward at George Washington University where she scored over 2,000 points and played in the Sweet Sixteen twice. She graduated from GW and played in the WNBA where she played against the very best.
Taj has also had successful stops as an assistant coach at Richmond, VCU, and George Washington. The Colonials have been to the Sweet Sixteen the past two seasons. We are excited about her leadership and expect continued success in our women’s program. Make sure you make a point to come over and see Taj as she is very excited to get to know people in the Radford University community, New River Valley, and beyond.
We currently have two teams still competing and they are baseball and track and field. The baseball team continues to improve and we are really excited about what Joe Raccuia and his staff are doing. The team is playing excellent baseball as we beat a good Liberty team 15-4 Wednesday in Big South Tournament play in Danville. I want to make special mention of Joe’s seniors-Eric Evans, Jonathan Spears, Nate Toth, and Nachion Moore. These young men have helped pave the way for an extraordinarily bright future for Radford Baseball. Their tremendous attitude, effort, and leadership have been crucial in our efforts reshape this program. I would also like to take a moment to congratulate Alex Gregory, Tyren Rivers and Eric Evans, all of whom were named All-Conference. Special congratulations go to Alex Gregory, who was voted the baseball Scholar-Athlete by the Big South. This is a prestigious honor that combines academic and athletic prowess.
Track and field has had a terrific spring and will send five student-athletes to NCAA Regionals next week. Congratulations and good luck to Kyle Morse, Amy Marshall, Shemilia Brandon, Daniel Oseth and Nic Moore, all of whom will represent RU at Regionals next weekend. RU’s 4X400 team qualified for regionals as well. Good luck also to the team of Raschad Kelso, Gaylon Johnson, Olajuwon Jones, Wayne Gore and Sean Bossman.
I want to congratulate Mickey Dean and the softball team on a sensational year. We won 46 games playing a tough schedule that included wins over NC State, Georgetown, Rutgers, Indiana, James Madison and Penn State. This team accomplished so much in 2008. President Kyle, Jo Kiernan, and I made the trip to Winthrop last Wednesday for the softball awards banquet where the Highlanders were very well represented. Here is a list of accomplishments by this team:
Ashley Taylor Big South Pitcher of the Year
First Team All-Conference Pitcher
Big South All-Tournament Team
Shannon Keefe Big South Freshman of the Year
First Team All-Conference Utility
Jenn Everhart First Team All-Conference 2nd Base
Big South All-Tournament Team
Kristen Shifflett First Team All-Conference Shortstop
Vicki Madden First Team All-Conference 3rd Base
Hope Creasy First Team All-Conference Outfielder
Big South All-Academic Team
Sarah Himan First Team All-Conference Catcher
Ashley Carlson Second Team All-Conference Outfielder
Many congratulations are in order for Coach Mike Anderson and his outstanding tennis team. We had an absolutely fantastic spring. This team accomplished so much sweeping all Big South opponents in the regular season and going on to win the Big South Tournament over Winthrop. Here is a tremendous list of honors for this exceptional team.
2008 Big South Champions-Regular season and Tournament
NCAA Tournament Participant playing at the University of Georgia against a Bulldog team that won last years’ National Title.
Mike Anderson won his 3rd straight Big South Coach of the Year Award
Martin Sayer 4th straight Big South Player of the Year Award
Mehdi Benhammou All Big South Conference
James Lloyd All Big South for the 4th season
Ivan Salec All Conference Award and Big South Freshman of the Year
Zack Watson All Big South Doubles
What a phenomenal year for Radford Tennis!
Finally, I want to congratulate Joe and Jodi Raccuia on birth of the third child, Emma. She joined us in the world last Thursday and was on hand for her first of many baseball games last Saturday when her dad’s Highlanders played Coastal Carolina.
Now I’m ready to take Coach Mike Grant up on his offer to take me smallmouth bass fishing on the New River!
Go Highlanders!
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