Baseball, softball registration
The Christiansburg Parks and Recreation is now signing up individuals for this spring’s youth baseball and softball. Registration will run through March 2 for: T-ball (ages 5-6), Boys and Girls coach pitch (ages 7-8), Boys Dixie (ages -10), Babe Ruth softball (9-18) and Babe Ruth baseball (ages 13-18).
For more information, call 382-2349.
Youth volleyball
Registration is now open for Christiansburg Parks and Recreation’s youth volleyball spring play for ages 9-12. Games and practices will be held on Sunday and Mondays. $35 for town residents, and $45 for non-residents. For more information, call 382-2349.
Temporary closure of skate park
Depot Park in Christiansburg has been closed since November 2017, as contracted crews work on a stream restoration project for Towne Branch, a tributary of Crab Creek that flows through the park.
As part of this project, construction crews will be entering the area near the North Franklin Street skate park in the coming weeks. As they begin to run equipment into the area of the Skate Park, they will provide flaggers. Once the equipment is in place, the skate park will be temporarily closed.
The stream restoration project – which involves restoring approximately 1,995 linear feet of Towne Branch and approximately 210 linear feet of unnamed tributaries of Towne Branch – will improve water quality along the stream and reduce erosion.
White Big South Player of Week
For the second straight week and fifth time on the season, the Big South Player of the Week resides in Radford as Janayla White earned her second honor of the season as announced by the league Monday afternoon.
The player of the week honor is the fourth of Radford University’s White’s career, while becoming the third Big South player to don the honor twice during the 2017-18 season. White has won seven Big South weekly awards, earning three freshmen of the week nods during the 2014-15 season.
In two Big South victories, White averaged 15.5 points per game, 11.0 rebounds per game, 3.5 blocks per game and 2.0 assists per game. White was 8 for 13 from the field, while going 15 for 20 from the free throw line.
Szamski honored by conference
After sitting out the 2017 season due to NCAA transfer rules, Andrew Szamski made the most of his first series in a Radford University uniform as the redshirt junior was named Big South Player of the Week as announced by the conference Monday afternoon.
Szamski earned the league’s first award of the 2018 season after going 8 for 13 with six RBIs and five runs scored in Radford’s Opening Weekend series win at North Florida. Of the eight hits, three were of the extra-base variety with two doubles and a home run.
In his first NCAA Division I game on Friday, the Concord (W.Va.) transfer went 3 for 5 with two RBIs. After the first weekend of play, Szamski leads the conference in average and hits. He is tied for second in RBIs.
Hokies move up in polls
Following a weekend of 13 first-place finishes at the Roanoke Tune-Up, the Virginia Tech track and field teams moved up seven spots each in the latest United States Track and Field and Cross Country Coaches Association (USTFCCCA) Indoor Computer Rankings, as announced by the organization Monday afternoon.
The women’s team jumped up to No. 15, its highest ranking of the season, while the men’s squad moved up to No. 17. The Hokies are the lone school from the ACC to have both teams ranked inside the Top 25. Florida State (No. 7) and Syracuse (9) sit above Tech on the men’s side, and the women are the only ranked team from the ACC.
Jones ties Big South record
Redshirt freshman guard Carlik Jones led Radford to two conference wins on the week, which resulted in him being named Big South Conference Freshman of the Week for the seventh time overall, the conference office announced Monday afternoon.
With the honor, Jones ties Charleston Southern’s Christian Keeling, who previously owned the conference record himself after earning the award seven times during the 2016-17 season.
The Cincinnati, Ohio native helped lead the Radford men’s basketball team to home Big South wins over Campbell (72-53) and Presbyterian (74-68).