Marty Gordon
NRVsports@mainstreetnewspapers.com
D1 Softball announced Friday afternoon the Radford University softball program has been ranked 23rd in their preseason rankings.
The D1 Softball Mid-Major Rankings are currently in their second season and release weekly throughout the season on D1 Softball’s website and socials. In 2025, Radford appeared in the rankings over four weeks on their way towards a Big South Regular Season championship. Radford climbed as high as 24th, making their check-in at 23rd this season a new program high.
In the Big South’s preseason honors, Radford was predicted to finish first by the conference’s head coaches picking up Preseason Pitcher of the Year (Dakota Redmon) and five all-conference honors (Redmon, Morgan Cooper, Grace Bechtol, Amanda Lee and Kelley Feigen). It was Radford’s first time being picked preseason favorites in the Big South since the 2012 season.
Former Hokie to Appy State
Justin Harper has been hired to be Appalachian State Mountaineers’ wide receivers coach. Harper was drafted into the NFL following a standout collegiate career as a Virginia Tech receiver and played professionally from 2008-13, spending the first three seasons with the Baltimore Ravens.
He began his coaching career in 2013 and served on Bob Chesney’s staff as James Madison’s wide receivers coach from 2024-25.
Prior to joining JMU’s staff, Harper coached at fellow Sun Belt East Division program Old Dominion (tight ends from 2022-23), Towson (wide receivers/pass game coordinator from 2018-21), Central State (wide receivers in 2017), Virginia State (wide receivers from 2015-16, with a stint as the interim head coach in the 2016 preseason) and Lenoir-Rhyne (wide receivers from 2013-14).
He caught 83 passes for 1,338 yards and eight touchdowns as a member of the Hokies, scoring twice in the 2008 Orange Bowl, and was a seventh-round draft pick of the Ravens before finishing his pro career in Canada with the Saskatchewan Roughriders and BC Lions.
RU duo honored
Radford University women’s basketball standouts Joi Williams and Georgia Simonsen were named to the Big South weekly award list, as announced by the conference on Monday afternoon. Williams was the Player of the Week for January 19-25, while Simonsen was named Co-Freshman of the Week.
Williams led the Highlanders to two huge conference wins and helped move Radford up to a tie for second place in the standings. On Wednesday versus Longwood, the junior only missed two shots to lead all scorers with 23 points. In Friday’s win over UNC Asheville, Williams came through to end a late Bulldogs run with a three-point play with under five minutes left. She also set a new career best with a pair of blocks. With 21 points scored against UNC Asheville, Williams became the first Radford player to score 20+ in consecutive games since Destinee Walker during the 2018-19 season (20 vs. Longwood on Feb. 16, 2019, and 26 at Winthrop on Feb. 19, 2019).
Simonsen set a new career high with 18 points and eight field goals in Radford’s 15-point win over Longwood on Wednesday. She also tied a career-high with three blocks, adding a key role in slowing down the Lancers offense. Simonsen followed that with 10 points against UNC Ashville, again shooting better than 50 percent from the floor. She also grabbed a team-high six rebounds.
Erichsen freshman of week
The Big South Conference announced Monday afternoon Radford University’s Frederik Erichsen has been named the Freshman of the Week for the second straight week after another pair of solid performances in two tough games.
The reigning freshman of the week didn’t miss a beat, averaging eight points per game in two tough battles at Winthrop and at home against High Point. Erichsen did most of his work this week in a quick turnaround against the Panthers, coming off the bench to score 11 points on a limited shooting performance with just five takes from the floor.
Gate City golfer to RU
VHSL Class 2 state champion golfer Carter Wolfe of Gate City will play golf Radford University beginning in the fall. Wolfe will join four other freshman at Radford for Coach Mike Grant.
