By Marty Gordon
In announcements made by the Big South conference office Monday afternoon, Radford University men’s golf head coach Mike Grant was named Big South Coach of the Year, and Hannah Moran was named the Track Athlete of the Week for the second time this season after a record-breaking day\at the Virginia Challenge.
Now in his 18th season at the helm of the Radford men’s golf program, Grant secured his third career Coach of the Year award. He also earned the distinction in 2008 and 2014, making him one of the most decorated coaches in Radford Athletics history.
His team led the Big South with a 288.85 round score average and then tied for fourth at the Big South Championship, narrowly missing a spot in match play. Grant coached four players to Big South Player of the Week honors and had four golfers in the conference’s top-12 for scoring averages on the year.
Bryce Corbett was one of the top competitors in the conference all year and he was rewarded with a First-Team All-Big South selection. The sophomore from Gainesville, Va., was named Big South Golfer of the Week on three separate occasions and finished fourth to make the All-Tournament team at the Big South Championships.
Corbett led the Highlanders and ranked third in the Big South with a 71.69 stroke average, including a season-best score of 65 in the first round of Appalachian State’s Bash at the Beach. He played in all 10 tournaments for Radford and secured four top-5 finishes.
Tyler Hull ended his standout career with a Second-Team All-Big South selection after averaging 72.97 strokes per round this year, good for seventh-best in the conference. The Toronto, Canada, native posted a pair of top-10 finishes on the year while playing in all 10 tournaments.
Patrick Gareiss gave Radford another all-conference member, making the Big South Honorable Mention list. The junior made a strong push late in the season and averaged 73.65 strokes per round in the six tournaments in which he played. He received a Big South Player of the Week nod of his own after finishing 10th with a -2 at the Wofford Invitational.
Moran track athlete of week
At the Virginia Challenge, Radford University’s Hannah Moran took more than a minute off the previous school record in the 5,000m, finishing with a time of 15:54.32 to earn Big South Track Athlete of the Week honors. The time was a personal record by more than 30 seconds and made her the second-fastest woman in Big South history in the event as well as just the second athlete ever to break 16 minutes.
Moran took fifth overall in the event against a star-studded field that included winner Katelyn Touhy, who ran the fastest time in the nation this season en route to breaking the meet and facility records on the day. Moran’s time ranks her 23rd in the nation and 11th in the NCAA East Region.
This was the second time Moran has earned Athlete of the Week honors.
Custis into alma mater Hall of Fame
In other sports notes, Virginia Tech’s Ace Custis will be inducted into the Northampton Athletic Hall of Fame Saturday at Northampton High School.
At Northampton, Curtis was part of cross-country, basketball, and baseball. He grew in stature, eventually reaching 6’8”, and excelled on the basketball court. The summer prior to his senior year, he was invited to play on the Boo Williams elite AAU basketball team in Hampton, Va. He played with two eventual #1 NBA Draft picks: Allen Iverson and Joe Smith. Before his senior season, he committed to Virginia Tech on a full athletic scholarship.
At Tech, Curtis was the third player (fourth overall) in VT men’s basketball history to score 1,000 points and bring down 1,000 rebounds. He had his No.-20 jersey retired in 1997, just the third player in the history of the program to achieve such an honor. He also became a member of VT’s Hall of Fame in 2007. Curtis graduated from VT in 1997 with a degree in marketing. His best college moment was winning the 1995 NIT Championship game over Marquette at Madison Square Garden.
After leaving VT, Curtis played professional basketball for 15 seasons. He was originally signed to a free-agent deal by the Dallas Mavericks in 1997. He played semi-pro for two years stateside in the CBA and the ABA and twelve seasons overseas. He played in Indonesia, Venezuela, Qatar, the Philippines, Syria, and Lebanon before retiring in Japan in March 2012.
Curtis then began a coaching career at Virginia State in Petersburg in 2013-2014. After the season, he joined the coaching staff at the University of Maryland Eastern Shore (UMES) in Princess Anne, Md. At the conclusion of his fifth season at UMES, he returned to his alma mater as the Coordinator of Basketball Relations. He is currently the Special Assistant to the Head Coach at Virginia Tech.
VT lacrosse ranked No. 1
After handing formerly top-ranked Brigham Young its first loss of the season and downing conference rival and No.-4 Liberty University, Virginia Tech has ascended to the top spot in the New Balance MCLA Division I Weekly Coaches Poll.
The Hokies (12-1) gobbled up 24 of the 26 first-place votes cast this week to grab the No. 1 ranking, clearing No. 2 Concordia-Irvine (12-1) by 34 points.
Brigham Young (13-2), which also lost to No. 17 Texas (8-4) last week, dipped to No. 3 this week, although it managed to retain the final two first-place votes.
Despite the loss to Virginia Tech, Liberty (10-3) remained at No. 4, followed by Florida (13-1) in the fifth spot.
