Marty Gordon
NRVsports@ourvalley.org
Several state championships and an Olympic gold medal headlined sports in Montgomery County and Radford areas this past year.
Brady Hand won wrestling state title to Christiansburg at 144 pounds, his third straight in his high school career. Hand is coming off a VHSL title at 144. His wins as a freshman came at 120, and then at 138 as a sophomore. He expects to possibly move up to 150 for his senior year and is favored to win another championship.
Hand is pushing 600 overall wins in his career including over 100 in VHSL competition. He finished 35-4 this past season. He committed earlier this year to continue his career at Appalachian State.
In the spring baseball season, Auburn claimed another state baseball title in Class 1, and for its success, the school had both the player of the year and coach of the year. Zac McGlothin was the player of the year, and his coach, Eric Altizer was named the coach of the year.
In golf, Auburn High was this year’s Class 1 state champs as Matthew Alitzer took medalist honors with a 69. Teammate Gaston Wimmer finished second with a 72 round. Overall, as a team, Auburn shot a 301 with Smith Mountain Lake Academy second (315), Lancaster third (327) and George Wythe fourth (331).
For the fifth year in a row, Blacksburg High School also claimed the Class 4 golf state championship played at Heritage Oaks in Harrisonburg. The team shot 293 to defeat Jamestown and Broad Run by 18 shots for the win. Cameron Sharp and Jack Skinner were state runner ups, both shooting a 72.
This fall, Christiansburg High School finished the regular volleyball season undefeated and won the regional crown and fell in the state semi-finals. This past week, the Virginia High School League (VHSL) announced Christiansburg senior Ela Shepherd as the Class 3 player of year. Her coach Morgan Taylor was named Class 3 coach of the year.
The 5-10 Shepherd received her third straight selection to the Class 3 all-state first team. She finished the season with 365 kills, 525 assists, 11 solo blocks, 50 assisted blocks, 289 digs, and 54 service aces this past season. As a Radford University signee, she played a key role in helping Christiansburg to 28 straight wins before a 3-1 loss to Abingdon in a hard-fought state final, where she tallied 19 kills and 20 assists.
Taylor led Christiansburg to a 28-1 record and its first-ever trip to the state finals after reaching the state semifinals in each of the past two seasons. After serving as the Blue Demons assistant coach for three years, Taylor took over the program and has a 51-5 overall record (.911%) and one Region 3D championship.
Radford senior setter Mattox Adams is the Class 2 Player of the Year, and Radford head coach Karen Adams is the Class 2 Coach of the Year.
As the setter, the 5-7 Adams spread out the offense and remained an offensive threat for the Bobcats. She finished the season with 764 assists, 401 digs, 42 aces (97.5% serving), 51 blocks, and 61 kills while leading the Bobcats to the Class 2 state title. She ended her career with 2,267 assists and 1,206 digs.
The Region 2C POY and Three Rivers District POY, Adams also earned second-team all-state selection in 2024. Additionally, she earned first-team all-region honors as a junior and second-team recognition as a sophomore and was named to the first-team all-district for three consecutive years. Adams remained uncommitted.
Adams led Radford to a 25-1 record and her program’s third state title since taking over the Bobcats in 2017. Her 2025 team ended the season on a 24-match winning streak. Her team claimed title number three with a 3-1 (25-20, 25-19, 16-25, 25-23) win over Fort Defiance in the Class 2 finals at the Salem Civic Center. Her teams won back-to-back state titles in 2018 and 2019 and were runners-up in 2017. She owns a 150-54 (.735%) career record in nine seasons leading the Bobcats.
The roar of race cars is coming back to a Radford-area track.
Three years ago, the Shelor Group which owned and operated the facility shut down racing at the facility. A nationally-televised SRX Series was one of the last events held there in 2024 with Kyle Busch winning in his SRX debut. Since then, the paved .426 mile oval has been silent.
Last year, the Shelor Group donated the facility along with Calfee Park to Pulaski County.
The county’s administrator called it one of the largest private donations to a local government in all of Virginia. Jonathan Sweet said it was one of the largest private donations historically in the state of Virginia. He was emotional in speaking to the crowd of local leaders and media.
Sweet said it was great day for both the county and local sports fans in keeping the facility open for future sporting events.
The county announced a name change to the facility, becoming known as the Pulaski County Motorsports Park. The names the facility had formerly been known as include Pulaski County Speedway, New River Valley Speedway, then Motor Mile Speedway.
Five years ago, the speedway and adjacent dragway was listed for sale at $1.4 million. The exact real estate value is not currently public but could be near that early amount of more.
In 1952, a dirt track originally opened on the former farm site between Radford and Dublin. In the 80’s, a paved 0.416-mile oval was built on the site. The track announced that it had cut all sanctions with NASCAR and discontinued its oval track racing in late 2017 but reopened under NASCAR sanctioning in 2019. It was purchased by Shelor Automotive Group in 2004 and was subsequently renamed Motor Mile Speedway. The track is most famous for hosting four NASCAR Busch Series events between 1989 and 1992, which included future NASCAR champions like Jeff Gordon.
Pulaski County has formed a sports entertainment group to oversee all the properties that were donated along with attracting the public to a new Multi-sports facility in a Dublin industrial park.
In November, the International Hot Rod Association (IHRA) is proud to announce the launch of the IHRA Stock Car Series, a bold new division built to restore the true essence of grassroots stock car racing. The series emphasizes driver talent, balanced competition, and fair, cost-controlled rules—while delivering a national platform
The IHRA Stock Car Series marks a major expansion in the IHRA’s rapidly growing motorsports portfolio. With an unwavering commitment to accessible racing, the series will offer a simplified rules package, affordable participation, and transparent competition standards that put the focus back where it belongs: on skill, determination, and the spirit of American short-track racing.
The series will include two stops in our area at Pulaski Motorsports Park, formerly known as Motor Mile Speedway near Radford, on March 21 and July 25 in 2025.
Our area also has its first Olympic champion. This summer, Cole Hocker shocked the world and won the 1,500 meter final (3:27.65) in the Paris games, setting a new record in the event.
Hocker, who is originally from Indianapolis, Indiana, now calls Blacksburg home. The 20-year-old was the youngest athlete to represent the United States in the 1,500-meter race since Marty Liquori (19 years old) in 1968.
Of course, Hocker has a familiar face in Blacksburg as his former coach, Ben Thomas, returns to Virginia Tech after serving as an associate head coach at the University of Oregon and head coach of the Oregon Track Club for the past five years. Prior to Oregon, Thomas spent 17 years with the Hokies.
It was during that time in Oregon Hocker and Thomas teamed up.
Thomas is a three-time USTFCCCA National Assistant Coach of the Year, having most recently won back-to-back indoor honors for the Ducks’ incredible success during the 2020 and 2021 seasons. He earned his first national award during his time at Virginia Tech following the 2017 season, becoming the first ACC assistant to ever win the award. Thomas is also a 10-time USTFCCCA Regional Assistant Coach of the Year, including four selections at Oregon.
Radford University added a new basketball coach after Darris Nichols left to take the similar job at LaSalle. Over his four seasons, Nichols completely reintegrated Radford back into championship contenders in the Big South. His squad also made one post season appearance with a run to the College Basketball Invitational semifinals in 2022-23.
Radford University announced Zach Chu as its ninth men’s basketball coach in the history of the school. He most recently served as the Chief Strategist for the Southern Methodist University men’s team.
While at SMU, Chu helped the Mustangs to a 23-10 record overall, which included a mark of 13-7 in conference play. The team advanced to the ACC quarterfinals and put itself in position to become a bubble team for the upcoming NCAA Tournament, all during the program’s first year in the prestigious power conference.
Prior to his role with the Mustangs, Chu served for three seasons on Carlisle’s staff with the Indiana Pacers as the Manager of Game Strategy and Analytics. While with the Pacers, the squad advanced all the way to the Eastern Conference Finals in 2023-24. He also hit the sidelines as an assistant coach for Indiana’s summer league team for two summers in Las Vegas.
Before his time in Indiana, Chu served as an assistant coach for three years with the Texas Legends, the G-League affiliate of the Dallas Mavericks, followed by two seasons as the analytics liaison to Carlisle with the Mavs. During Chu’s tenure with the Mavericks, the team achieved the most efficient offense in NBA history at the time with an offensive rating of 115.9 in 2020. His time with the Legends was highlighted by a 29-21 campaign in 2017-18, which led to the team’s second post season appearance all-time since moving to Texas.
