Medlam joins RU softball as volunteer coach
Hannah Medlam, a face familiar to the Radford University softball program, has returned to the New River Valley to be the volunteer assistant coach.
Medlam played four years at Radford from 2016-19 and saw action in 222 games, starting 217 of them. She scored 91 runs while tallying 181 hits, including 31 doubles, seven triples and 71 RBIs. The Bethlehem, Ga., native was a .291 career hitter and never struck out more than 20 times in a season..
Medlam will assist with a multitude of administrative tasks along with helping in the outfield and with hitting.
RU catcher Podaras on watch list
Radford University senior catcher Straton Podaras has been named to the 2020 Buster Posey National Collegiate Catcher of the Year Award Watch List, the Greater Wichita Area Sports Commission announced Monday evening.
Podaras is the only catcher in the Big South Conference to be included on the watch list, which is comprised of 60 of college baseball’s top Division 1 catchers.
Podaras is off to his best start in a Highlander uniform, batting .283 with six doubles, a triple, nine RBIs and 13 runs scored through 15 games. The Glen Head, N.Y., native has started all 15 games behind the plate this season.
Considered one of the top defensive catchers in the Big South, Podaras has thrown out 60 per cent of opposing base-stealers (12-of-20), the highest mark in the Big South Conference. His 12 runners caught stealing leads the conference. He anchors a Highlander defense that is the hardest to steal on in the conference, with opposing baserunners having just a 41 percent success rate.
VT swim teams to nationals
Virginia Tech men’s and women’s swim teams are set to compete in the 2020 CSCAA National Invitational Championships at the Robert F. Busbey Natatorium in Cleveland, Ohio. Fourteen Hokies will take part.
On the men’s side, freshmen Hunter Cassady, Will Koeppen, Cobi Lopez Miro and Forest Webb and sophomores Brennen Doss, Dylan Eichberg, Keith Myburgh and Alex Wright will swim for the Hokies.
Koeppen, Miro, Webb, Doss, Eichberg and Myburgh competed at the ACC championships, and all advanced to the finals in at least one event. Eichberg had a breakout performance at the conference meet as he etched his name onto the Tech Top-10 list in three events:the 200 fly, 200 IM and 400 IM. Doss also turned in noteworthy times, making the top-10 list in four events: 200, 500, 1000 and 1650 freestyles. Myburgh and Webb both improved upon their top times with Myburgh in the 200 breast and Webb in the 50, 100 and 200 backstrokes.
For the women, freshmen Karisa Franz, Morgan Miller, Julia Smith and Brooke Travis will be joined by sophomores Julia Bruneau and Loulou Vos at the national championships.
Miller, Smith, Travis and Vos were all in action at ACCs as all four advanced to the finals in at least one of their respective events. Vos and Travis both posted top-10 times in the 500, 1000 and 1650 freestyles while Travis ahad a top time in the 400 IM. Miller turned in a top-10 time in the 200 fly.
RU’s Higgerson player of week
Radford redshirt senior infielder Colby Higgerson has been named the Big South Player of the Week, the conference office announced Monday afternoon.
Higgerson was 11-for-17 (.647) with two doubles, a triple, five RBIs and nine runs scored across four games during the week, all wins. The Chesapeake, Va., native had himself a series to remember against Canisius, going 10-for-13 (.769) in a sweep of the Golden Griffins, which helped his season batting average climb to .448.
Higgerson had a career-high five hits in the series opener against Canisius, then went 3-for-4 and 2-for-3 in the two weekend games. He was also walked four times and hit by a pitch, posting a .727 on-base percentage and a .882 slugging percentage for an OPS of 1.609 for the week.