Marty Gordon
NRVsports@ourvalley.org
A familiar name to Christiansburg and Virginia Tech football fans is joining the new coaching staff at the University of Florida.
Johnathan Galante, a 2025 Broyles Award nominee, just finished his first season with Tulane as its Special Teams Coordinator after three years in the same capacity at Marshall. He is joining former-Tulane head coach Jon Sumrall in Florida.
Prior to Marshall, he was the special teams’ analyst at the University of Alabama (2019-2022) and the special teams graduate assistant at Virginia Tech (2017-2018).
Galante played linebacker at Virginia Tech and at Christiansburg High School.
Big South honors RU freshman
Radford University forward Georgia Simonsen (Fairfax, Va.) is the Big South Conference Freshman of the Week for games played Dec. 15-21.
Simonsen averaged 11.7 points, 8.3 rebounds and 2.3 assists in three games for Radford. She added 1.0 blocks and 0.7 steals while shooting 53.6 percent from the field (15-of-28) and 50.0 percent from 3-point range (1-of-2). She totaled eight points, eight rebounds and two blocks in 14 minutes against Concord, then recorded a 12-point, 12-rebound double-double with three assists in an overtime win at Hampton.
The freshman closed the week with 15 points against Virginia Tech, tying her career high, along with five rebounds and three assists.
Hunting violation
In October of 2025, Virginia Conservation Police Officer Wood received information that a Pulaski County resident was routinely hunting from the road and targeting trophy antlered deer. CPO Wood began conducting surveillance and collecting evidence. Upon conducting an interview, the suspect admitted to having trespassed and killing numerous deer from the road.
Officers removed 10 antler sets, only one of which had less than eight points, three firearms, and two captive racoons from the residence. Appropriate charges are pending.
Violations include hunting by use of a vehicle, spotlighting, shooting across roadway, killing deer illegally, killing deer over season limit, using a rifle during archery/muzzleloader season and unlawful possession of wildlife/wildlife parts.
RU strong fall GPA
The 285 student-athletes that make up Radford University Athletics earned an overall department grade point average (GPA) of 3.45 during the Fall 2025 semester to show the department’s commitment to academic excellence.
Fifteen of Radford’s 16 athletics programs earned a 3.0 GPA or better, with 55% of all student-athletes earning a 3.50-plus GPA as well. The Highlanders also had an impressive 104 student-athletes earn a 3.75+ GPA and 48 total student-athletes reached a perfect 4.0 GPA.
“Radford student-athletes worked extremely hard in the classroom this semester, and the results were outstanding!” said Associate Athletic Director for Student-Athlete Support Services Maggie Hinson. “Their drive and motivation they showcase when competing with their sport and in the classroom was on full display this semester. Student-Athlete Support Services is proud of their effort and attitude in the classroom. We look forward to another great semester in the spring.”
On the women’s side, the women’s golf program (3.84 GPA) and women’s cross country program (3.80 GPA) paved the way with the top two highest team GPAs among all sports. The softball (3.66 GPA), volleyball (3.66 GPA), women’s basketball (3.62 GPA) and lacrosse programs all showed their dedication to success as well.
Among Radford’s men’s programs, men’s golf continues to lead the pack with an impressive 3.65 GPA. The baseball program (3.42 GPA) and men’s soccer program (3.36 GPA) also finished their Fall semesters strong to round out Radford’s great year in the classroom.
Former Highlander on Nats staff
The Washington Nationals announced the remainder of their Major League coaching staff on Tuesday.
Grant Anders, 29, comes to Washington after two seasons (2024-25) as the Baltimore Orioles Major League development coach and six seasons (2020-25) total in the Orioles organization. He served as Baltimore’s Major League player development analyst from 2022-23 after joining the organization in 2020 as the development coach for Double-A Bowie in 2019. He gained experience as a baseball operations trainee with the Cincinnati Reds in 2019 and as a minor league video intern in Kansas City’s organization from 2017-18.
A 2018 graduate of Radford University (Va.) and native of Wytheville, Anders was the director of player development for Radford’s baseball team from 2015-18. He received his masters of sports law and business from Arizona State University in 2019.
