Marty Gordon
Christiansburg’s Leila Haley is transferring to Virginia Commonwealth University to run track after a year at Davidson.
She placed fifth in the 500 meters at the Atlantic 10 Conference indoor championships and was Davidson’s top 400-meter runner as a freshman this past year.
Haley also placed fourth at the Atlantic 10 outdoor championships as a member of the school’s 4X400 relay team.
RU to travel to MD
The Radford University men’s basketball team will face the University of Maryland Dec. 29 in College Park, MD. Current Terp coach Buzz Williams will have familiarity with the Highlanders after a stint as the coach of Virginia Tech, where he played RU twice.
CHS alum transferring to USC Beaufort
Jeremiah Thompson is transferring from Concord University to USC Beaufort to continue his baseball career.
The USC Beaufort Sand Sharks represent the University of South Carolina Beaufort in intercollegiate sports. The program competes as a member of the NCAA Division II’s Peach Belt Conference.
The school’s baseball team finished 12-34 this past season.
Thompson played in 12 games at Concord as a utility player. He is listed as a pitcher and outfielder.
Thompson committed to play football and baseball at Concord University but is expected to play just baseball at his new school.
Historic gift to track and field
Virginia Tech Director of Cross Country and Track & Field Ben Thomas announced the largest gift commitment in program history, a $1.2 million philanthropic gift from Martha and Paul Seufer of Lynchburg, Virginia.
The record-breaking contribution will establish the Champions For Life area within the lobby entrance of Rector Field House, where Virginia Tech will recognize program alumni whose accomplishments extend beyond the field of competition.
The gift will also support the construction of the Seufer Family Pavilion, a new covered space at Virginia Tech’s outdoor practice facility designed to enhance the student-athlete experience by providing a dedicated area for training, recovery and team activities.
Copeland Preseason All-ACC
Virginia Tech senior defensive tackle Kemari Copeland was named to the All-ACC Preseason Football Team as announced by the conference Wednesday afternoon.
Copeland started all 12 games for the Hokies last season, registering 48 tackles (11 solo) including 7.5 TFLs. The Virginia Beach product led the team with 4.5 sacks while recording an interception and a quarterback hurry. Copeland tallied three sacks in a 42-34 overtime win over Cal last October, becoming the first Virginia Tech defensive tackle to have at least three sacks in a game since JC Price in 1995. Following the 2025 season, Copeland was named Third Team All-ACC.
Big South staff
The Big South Conference has announced the promotion of Emily Dassel to Associate Commissioner – Brand & Creative Strategy, and the addition of Kenadie Hudler to the position of Assistant Director of Administration/Executive Assistant to the Commissioner. Dassel begins her 12th year with the Conference office and was recently the Assistant Commissioner – Digital Media for the last four seasons. She joined the staff in September 2015 as Assistant Director of Multimedia and was promoted to Director of Digital Media in 2017.
In her elevated role, Dassel will guide the creative execution along with the planning, brand direction, and strategic decision-making behind the Big South’s content and digital initiatives. She serves as the primary shooter, editor, producer and director on all conference video content, including highlights, season preview videos, championship promotions and student-athlete video features.
Hudler joins the Big South staff from Pfeiffer University, where she was the Assistant Women’s Basketball Coach in 2025-26 following a four-year playing career with the program. She was a team captain as well as a four-year member of Pfeiffer’s Student-Athlete Advisory Committee (SAAC), including the last two as Vice President.
Hudler was a Compliance & Student Services intern for the Big South office in 2024 where she helped coordinate the league’s annual SAAC Leadership Weekend. She also assisted at the Big South Basketball Championships in 2025 and 2026.
In her new role, Hudler will be responsible for oversight aspects of internal business operations, including coordination of account receivables and payables, accounting liaison, procurement oversight, and administration of officiating program services.
18th highest GPA in NCAA
The Women’s Golf Coaches Association (WGCA) announced Thursday afternoon the top 25 team GPAs for the 2025-26 academic year which included the Radford Women’s Golf program placing 18th with their impressive 3.855 GPA.
The lone Big South school on the rankings list, the women’s golf program continues to showcase academic excellence as it improved last year’s rankings by three spots. The ranking is also the second in program history.
Five Highlanders were also named WGCA All-American scholars earlier this month including Grace Addison, Caroline Gilreath, Macy Johnson, Shea Smith and Mckenzie Weddle. Johnson and Smith were also named College Sports Communicators (CSC) Academic All-District members.
RU golfers All-Americans
The 2025-26 Cobalt Golf All-America Scholars for NCAA Division I have been announced by the GCAA and include Highlanders Tate Corbett, Kieran McCarthy, and Louie Stott. To be eligible for Cobalt Golf All-America Scholar nomination, an individual must be a sophomore, junior or senior both academically and athletically in NCAA Division I, II, III, and NAIA, or receiving their associate’s degree and in their last year of athletic eligibility in the NJCAA. In addition, they must participate in 50% of their team’s competitive rounds, have a stroke average under 76.0 in NCAA Division I, and maintain a minimum cumulative career grade-point average of 3.2. A recipient must also be of high moral character and be in good standing at their college or university.649 NCAA Division I athletes from 210 schools earned 2025-26 Cobalt Golf All-America Scholar honors. Twenty-three NCAA Division I schools had at least five recipients; Radford finished the year with three recipients.
