It was just like any other day for Alex Guerra, a former baseball student-athlete and current head coach at Radford, who was out for a walk when he heard a scream for help.
With no time to think about the consequences, he quickly jumped into a river to save a student from drowning.
For his act of bravery, Guerra was announced as the 2026 NCAA Award of Valor recipient. The award is given to a coach, administrator or current or former NCAA student-athlete who, when confronted with a situation involving personal danger, averted or minimized potential disaster by courageous action or noteworthy bravery. He accepted the award at the NCAA Convention in January in the Washington, D.C., area.
On Sept. 10, 2024, Guerra had just finished practicing with some of his teammates when his fiancee, Heather Conklin, suggested the two of them take a walk along the New River, just behind the baseball facilities at the southwestern Virginia school.
“That particular day … I’ll be honest, I had no interest in going,” Guerra said. “I don’t know if we had a bad practice. I don’t know if I was just in one of my moods. I don’t know if I was frustrated with something, but something inside me was like, ‘You know what? You got to suck it up. Let’s enjoy some quality time. Maybe this is good for you.'”
After walking for a while, the couple had turned around and began heading back when they heard someone screaming for help.
“It all happened so fast,” Conklin said. “One second, we were just walking on the trail, and then the next, Alex and I heard someone yelling for help. We ran toward the water, but at first, we couldn’t see what was happening.”
The young man yelling for help, Radford student Nick Barton, was fishing with a friend, Cody Duncan, when Duncan fell into the water and struggled against the river’s strong current. Barton tried to help his friend but could not pull himself and Duncan out of the water alone.
“I remember asking, ‘Do you see a dog or a child?’ and then suddenly Nick was able to get Cody’s upper body above the water,” Conklin said. “Once we saw that, Alex tossed me his phone. I called 911, and he jumped off the ledge into the river to help. In that moment, you don’t really have time to think. You just hope Cody’s OK and focus on helping however you can.”
“I had (Nick) in my hands, my arms underneath him. (Cody) had him by his legs,” Guerra said. “And we were fighting each other because we were wanting to get him out so quick. I ended up just laying in the water because you’re able to float in it, and I just rode him back. While I was laying him down on my chest, I could feel a pulse. So, at that point, the only thing I really knew to do was to wake him up. So I started kind of slapping his face, and I could hear him coming to life a little bit. At that point, I felt like he was going to be OK.”
After a hospital stay, Duncan made a full recovery.
Baseball has played an integral part in Guerra’s life, helping shape the man he is today.
“I have a great relationship with the game of baseball,” Guerra said. “It’s allowed me to be around some of the best people that I’ve ever met in my life. And it’s taught me tremendous lessons that I’ve been able to use off the field.”
Guerra played at the Division III level before transferring to Division I Radford for his final two years of eligibility, what he recalls as “the best decision I ever made in my life.” There, Guerra learned many life skills, perhaps unknowingly at the time, that he still relies on daily.
“When you’re a student-athlete, you learn so many different things that in the moment you don’t realize how beneficial it’s going to be when you when you leave college: accountability, time management, organization, competitiveness, work ethic, overcoming adversity, toughness,” Guerra said. “There’s going to be tough times that you’re going to go through. Every single student-athlete goes through it. And in the moment, it’s not very enjoyable, but when you’re able to overcome them and come out better from that, it’s the best feeling in the world.”
Another pivotal skill he learned as a student-athlete was how to be a leader.
“When you’re doing the stuff that you’re doing as a student-athlete, the daily grind and all the things that go into it, when you become an upperclassman, you want to be able to impact the younger players,” Guerra said. “You want to be able to help them along because you remember what it was like when you were a freshman. So you just have these natural leadership moments every single day. And the more you do it, … the more you’re in those moments of just leading, then you just become more comfortable.”
That same leadership mindset is something Guerra wants to instill in his players, preparing them to lead on and off the field. As a coach, he strives to be an example of what a leader is. The pivotal role he played in Duncan’s rescue serves as a reminder of what can happen when you are comfortable stepping up to meet the moment.
Soon after Guerra and Barton got Duncan out of the water, first responders arrived and confirmed that Duncan would be OK. It wasn’t until he and Conklin arrived home that night that the adrenaline subsided a bit, and they began to unpack the gravity of what had occurred.
Conklin shared the story on Facebook, resulting in dozens of messages from family and friends, as well as his coaching staff and student-athletes. She thinks the act of bravery was another example of the kind of character Guerra has always embodied and why he deserves an honor like the NCAA Award of Valor.
“He’s always putting others before himself, so it’s completely in his character to be the one to act in a situation like this,” Conklin said. “What happened that day truly reflects who he is, not just to those he loves, but even to strangers.
“This award truly reflects who Alex is at his core, and I’m so thankful that he’s being recognized. I couldn’t be prouder of him, not just for what he did that day, but for who he is every day.”
While appreciative of the honor, Guerra hopes anyone else in his position would act just like he did.
“I would like to think that everybody would react in a very similar way,” Guerra said. “But I think at the end of the day, when those moments happen, it’s either you’re going to fight or flight. … I didn’t really have any thought process in my mind other than, ‘Somebody needs help. Let me go help them.’ I’m just thankful the good Lord put me in a position to be able to make an impact.”
The former and late RU women’s basketball coach Charlene Curtis was also honored posthumously during the award show. Curtis was honored with the Gerald R. Ford Award.
The trailblazing coach and advocate Charlene Curtis was honored posthumously for her transformative impact on diversity and inclusion in college athletics. Curtis became the first African American women’s basketball head coach in the Atlantic Coast Conference, coaching at Wake Forest from 1997-2004 after stops at Temple and Radford.
At her alma mater, Radford, she led the team to four Big South regular-season titles and three tournament championships. As an assistant coach at UConn, she helped guide the Huskies to a perfect 35-0 season under Geno Auriemma. Beyond coaching, she transformed officiating in the ACC by expanding staff, introducing instant replay and creating standardized training clinics, leaving a legacy of excellence and inclusion.
The Gerald R. Ford Award honors an individual who has provided significant leadership as an advocate for intercollegiate athletics throughout the individual’s career.
Both recognitions are the first-ever for alumni from Radford Athletics. This year’s honorees span a wide range of sports, backgrounds and accomplishments, united by their commitment to leadership, resilience and service.
Fellow award honorees include Samantha Schott, Drew Brees, Tamika Catchings, Dr. Lauren Witmer, Nick Ackerman, Nikki Franke, Francesca “Frankie” Loiseau, Mia Levy, Micaylon Moore, Aino Martikainen, Brayden Long, Ella Brissett, and Matthew Wrather. The honorees will be celebrated at the NCAA Convention in January in the Washington, D.C., area.
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