By Marty Gordon
Roanoke College is adding football for 2024. Last month, the school’s board of trustees voted on a proposal by President Frank Shushok Jr. to reinstate football as a varsity sport and add varsity cheerleading. A marching band program was also listed in the proposal.
Roanoke College has not had a football team since 1942, when it was discontinued because of constraints of WWII. The three new programs will launch only if the school can raise $1.2 million needed.
Former RU coach to Bluefield
Maggie White has recently been named the new softball coach at Bluefield University.
White comes to Bluefield University from Ferrum College, where she was Assistant Director of Athletics, Senior Women’s Administrator, and Associate Head Softball Coach.
White served at Ferrum the past eight season and helped facilitate the softball program’s transition from the USA South Conference into the Division III powerhouse Old Dominion Athletic Conference.
Prior to Ferrum, White held Head Coach positions at Georgia Southern University (2009-11) and Radford University (2013-15).
RU signee honored
Little Kanawha Conference (WVa.) softball coaches have named Wahama catcher Amber Wolfe to their first team. A Radford University signee, Wolfe belted 19 home runs, carried a .520 average with two triples, 14 two-baggers and 56 RBIs.
Outstanding student-athletes
In one of the best academic semesters the Radford University Athletics Department has ever seen, 86% of Highlander student-athletes achieved a 3.0 grade point average of better during the Spring 2023 semester.
An astonishing 243 out of 281 student-athletes reached the 3.0 mark, helping 15 out of the 16 Highlanders’ varsity athletics programs report a team GPA of 3.0 or better as well.
Beyond that, 193 Highlanders earned a 3.40 GPA or higher, placing them on the Radford University Dean’s List, while 62 of those student-athletes achieved a perfect 4.0.
Commissioner honored
Retiring Big South Commissioner Kyle Kallander has been inducted into the Big South Conference Hall of Fame as he concludes his 27-year leading the conference. He was the sole member of the 2023 Hall of Fame Class, and the 78th enshrinee in league history.
