Marty Gordon
NRVsports@mainstreetnewspapers.com
Radford University Athletics has announced the resignation of head men’s soccer coach Chris Barrett.
Current Associate Head Coach, Andy Cormack, will serve as the immediate Interim Head Coach.
Barrett had spent over 20 seasons with the Radford’s men’s and women’s programs and had served as the head coach of the men’s team since 2020. A national search for the program’s next head coach will be conducted.
Lady Hokie signees
Virginia Tech women’s basketball head coach Megan Duffy announces the addition of two standout student-athletes to the Hokies’ 2026 signing class, welcoming Natalie “Kaleo” Anderson (Mill Creek, Wash.) and Arianna Harris-Mott (Columbia, Md.) to the program.
Anderson, a four-star prospect ranked 66th in ESPN’s class of 2026 list, heads cross-country after rewriting the record books at Kings High School in Mill Creek, Washington. A three-time Emerald Sound Conference MVP, she enters her senior season as the school’s all-time scoring and rebounding leader while also holding the single-game scoring record.
The 6-foot guard led Kings to a 1A State Championship runner-up finish and was named the 2025 State Tournament MVP and The Herald’s Girls Basketball Player of the Year. Anderson is a three-time State All-Tournament selection and three-time MaxPreps All-American. During her junior campaign, she averaged 23.6 points and 8.8 rebounds per game.
On the AAU circuit, Anderson competed with the Northwest Blazers for Steve Klees and earned invites to elite Under Armour events, including the Future 60 camp.
Harris-Mott, a 6-foot-4 forward, is a four-star prospect and ranked 40th by Collegiate Girls Basketball Report. A two-time IAAM All-Conference honoree at St. Vincent Pallotti High School, she was named the 695 Hoops Defensive Player of the Year for the 2023-24 season and earned Washington Post All-Met Honorable Mention recognition after the 2024-25 campaign.
A team captain and IAAM Leadership Award winner, Harris-Mott also shined on the national circuit with the Boo Williams EYBL program, averaging 8.1 points, 6.6 rebounds, and 2.0 blocks per game while shooting 53 percent from the field in 2024.
Hokies golf signee
Virginia Tech women’s golf head coach Carol Robertson has announced the signing of Raquel Walker of the Robinson Secondary School in Burke. She will join the Hokies in the fall of 2026.
In high school she was a four-year letterwinner at Robinson Secondary, a four-time first-team all-district selection and team captain. She was also first-team all-region in 2023-25, region champion in 2024-25, team state champion in 2023 and runners-up in 2024-25, was the coed individual runner-up in 2024 and placed third in 2025. She chose Virginia Tech over North Carolina State, Penn State and the University of Wisconsin-Madison.
Appy schedule unveiled
The Appalachian League announced its schedule for the 2026 season. The league’s eight team, 48-game regular season schedule will begin with Opening Day on Thursday, June 4, and end Thursday, July 30.
The Appy League playoffs will begin on July 31. The team with the best winning percentage in each division will host the team in its division with the second-best winning percentage. The winners will meet in the Championship Game, hosted by the East Division winner, on Aug. 1.
The reigning champion Bluefield Ridge Runners will begin their season on the road against the Danville Otterbots, the 2024 title game winners. All four Opening Day matchups are as scheduled:
Bluefield Ridge Runners at Danville Otterbots
Elizabethton River Riders at Greeneville Flyboys
Burlington Sock Puppets at Kingsport Axmen
Johnson City Doughboys at Pulaski River Turtles
Teams will play 24 home games and 24 road games during the 2026 season. Every team will have a home game either July 3 or July 4.
Big South new sponsor
The Big South Conference has announced Air Force Reserve as the title sponsor of the conference’s 2026 Basketball Championships. The 2026 Air Force Reserve Big South Men’s and Women’s Basketball Championships will be held March 4-8 at Freedom Hall Civic Center in Johnson City, Tenn.
As part of the 2026 Basketball Championship entitlement, Air Force Reserve will feature prominently through consistent branding, on-site engagement, and digital and social media messaging.
ACC All-Freshman Team
Virginia Tech Forward Dagur Traustason was named to the ACC All-Freshman team.
In his rookie season, Traustason led all Virginia Tech players with seven goals and 14 points. Five of his goals came in the same week after registering the program’s first hat-trick since 2019 against Longwood (Oct. 7) and then put away two in the shutout win, 2-0, versus Louisville on Oct. 11.
The forward ranks second in the ACC with three game winning goals and third with a 0.58 goals per game average, both ranking 29th nationally.
Ripkens at Tech baseball night
On behalf of the Virginia Tech baseball program, head coach John Szefc is pleased to invite all to celebrate the Hokies during the program’s 18th annual Baseball Night in Blacksburg, scheduled for Saturday, Jan. 24, 2026, at The Inn at Virginia Tech. Headlining this year’s banquet will be keynote speakers Bill Ripken and Cal Ripken Jr. – accomplished baseball brothers, Mid-Atlantic legends and MLB teammates with the Baltimore Orioles.
Billed as the formal kickoff to Virginia Tech’s spring season, Baseball Night in Blacksburg provides an intimate setting where guests can meet with VIPs and interact with current Hokies before the start of the 2026 campaign.
Complete event details and information for Baseball Night in Blacksburg, including those pertaining to registration and ticketing, will be made available at a later date.
At-large bid
The NCAA Division I Cross Country Selection Committee announced Saturday, Nov. 15 that the Virginia Tech men’s cross country team has earned an at-large selection to the 2025 NCAA Championships. The national meet will be held at the Gans Creek Cross Country Course in Columbia, Mo., on Saturday (Nov. 22). The women’s 6k is scheduled for 10:20 a.m., followed by the men’s 10k at 11:10 a.m.
The Virginia Tech men secured their at-large bid after placing fourth at the NCAA Southeast Regional Championships.
