Hazelton on watch list
Virginia Tech redshirt junior WR Damon Hazelton has been named to the watch list for the Biletnikoff Award, the award’s committee announced Thursday. The award is presented annually to college football’s top receiver.
Hazelton (6-2, 225) led Tech with 51 catches for 802 yards in his first season as a Hokie. He earned second-team All-ACC honors after registering eight touchdown catches in 13 games. The Baltimore native was a first-team All-ACC selection by Phil Steele and a second-team preseason All-ACC pick of Athlon Sports.
The award recipient is selected by the highly distinguished Biletnikoff Award National Selection Committee, a group of prominent college football journalists, commentators, announcers, Biletnikoff Award winners, and other former receivers. The name Biletnikoff is synonymous with the term receiver. Fred Biletnikoff, a member of the Pro Football and College Football Halls of Fame, was a consensus All-America receiver at Florida State University, and an All-Pro receiver for the Oakland Raiders.
New softball coach at BC
William V. Campbell Director of Athletics Martin Jarmond has announced the hiring of Amy Kvilhaug as the new head coach of the Boston College softball program. Kvilhaug becomes the fifth head coach in program history after a successful 12-year tenure as head coach at St. John’s.
During her 12-year tenure, Kvilhaug helped the Johnnies to seven BIG EAST tournament appearances. The pinnacle of her coaching career at St. John’s came during the 2015 campaign when she guided the team to the program’s first NCAA tournament appearance in 35 years.
Prior to Boston College, Kvilhaug was named the eighth head coach in program history at St. John’s in 2006. The former St. John’s coach is coming off of a notable 2018 season that featured her 400th career win. Kvilhaug has tallied a total 408 victories, including 281 at St. John’s.
Tech to host Big 12
For the 13th consecutive season, two of the nation’s premier women’s basketball conferences will square off for hardwood bragging rights, as the matchups for the Big Ten/Atlantic Coast Conference Women’s Basketball Challenge were announced Tuesday. The annual challenge, which is scheduled to continue through the 2026-27 season, offers 14 high-quality matchups for the sixth consecutive season.
The Challenge takes place over two days in early December, beginning Wednesday, Dec. 4, with five matchups as ACC schools Miami and Notre Dame play host to Big Ten programs, while Boston College, Clemson and Duke will travel to Big Ten sites. The following night (Thursday, Dec. 5), features the remaining nine games of the Challenge as Florida State, Georgia Tech, North Carolina, NC State and Virginia Tech will serve as the ACC host schools, while Louisville, Pittsburgh, Syracuse and Virginia will play at Big Ten sites.
Purdue will be in Blacksburg on December 5.
Draper Mile & Fun Run
The 37th annual Draper Mile is slated for Friday, August 2 in conjunction with the Steppin’ Out Blacksburg festival. The top three finishers overall and in each age group will receive awards. Entry fee is $17 after July 22. Race day entry is $25.
Register at either Run About Sports or Mish Mish in Blacksburg. For more information, call 552-9339.
Clemons honored by Big South
Campbell senior men’s basketball player Chris Clemons (Raleigh, N.C.) has been voted the Big South Conference Howard Bagwell Male Athlete of the Year for the 2018-19 season by the league’s Athletics Directors, Senior Woman Administrators and Sports Information Directors, it was announced today by the conference office. The candidates for the annual award consist of the Players of the Year from each sport.
Clemons is the first basketball player to win the Howard Bagwell Male Athlete of the Year Award, and the third consecutive Campbell student-athlete to receive the honor. He earned 116 points and 16 first-place votes, ahead of UNC Asheville tennis player Henry Patten (61 points, three first-place votes). Campbell cross country/track & field runner Amon Kemboi (four first-place votes) and Kennesaw State quarterback Chandler Burks (three first-place votes) tied for third in the voting with 59 points. Radford men’s basketball player Ed Polite Jr. rounded out the top five with 29 points (one first-place vote).
Fleenor All-ODAC academic
The Old Dominion Athletic Conference has released its All-Academic Team for the 2018-19 academic year. The number of honorees conference-wide set a new record for the eclipsing the 2,000 mark with 2,094 student-athletes receiving recognition.
Eligibility for the ODAC All-Academic Team is open to any student-athlete that competes in a conference-sponsored sport, regardless of academic class. He or she must achieve at least a 3.25 grade point average for the year to be considered for an ODAC All-Academic Award.
Emory & Henry had 118 athletes named to the team including Josh Fleenor (football) from Christiansburg.
New coach at E&H
Shawnee Kegley, who just completed her first year as an assistant coach at Emory & Henry College, has been promoted to head coach for the men’s & women’s cross country/track & field teams. She will oversee all aspects of the Wasps’ cross country and track & field programs.
Before coming to the College, Kegley was the head track & field coach at Chilhowie High.
A six-time NCAA Division II All-American in indoor and outdoor track & field, Kegley was the Division II Champion in the 800-meters in 2011 (outdoor) and 2014 (indoor). She was also named an Academic All-American® by CoSIDA in 2014. As the only national champion in Concord University history, Kegley was inducted into their Sports Hall of Fame in 2016.
Emory & Henry also announced that Nathan Magstadt has been hired as an assistant coach. A native of Dickinson, North Dakota, Magstadt attended Dickinson State University, earning a degree in elementary education while competing for the Blue Hawks’ track & field team. He most recently served as the head track & field coach at Holston High School.
Knowles on Dean’s List
On Thursday afternoon, Concord University announced its 2018-19 Dean’s List for both the Fall and Spring semesters during the past academic year. The honorees included: Bailey Knowles (cross country) from Christiansburg.
The Dean’s List recognizes full-time undergraduate students who were registered for a minimum of 12 Concord credit hours and have attained a grade point average of 3.5 or above at the end of the semester.
Over the past school year, the Concord Athletic Department had 127 student-athletes, across 15 intercollegiate sports that Concord sponsors as well cheerleading, named to the Dean’s List.
RU golf team recognized
The Radford men’s golf team was honored as a Golf Coaches Association of America (GCAA) All-Academic Team, which was announced on Thursday morning.
Radford was one of 193 teams that submitted a 3.0 GPA or higher for the 2018-19 season. To be eligible for GCAA All-Academic Team honors a college or university must submit the GPAs for each player on its official squad list for the academic year.
The Highlanders were one of six Big South teams to be honored with the award. High Point, Longwood, Presbyterian, Winthrop and USC Upstate were the other five.
