Marty Gordon
NRVsports@ourvalley.org
East Mont all-pioneer
The Pioneer District has announced its 2024 all-district football squad, and Eastern Montgomery’s Austin Tate was named all-purpose offensive player of year. Teammate Marshall Tate was named second-team punter.
The Pioneer defensive player of year is Braiden Mabe of Bath County. Wyatt Campbell, also of Bath, was the offensive player of year, while their coach, Jake Phillips, was also honored for his unbeaten season this year.
Dever to join Hokies golf
Virginia Tech women’s golf head coach Carol Robertson announced last week the signing of Emerson Dever to her Class of 2025. Dever, who is ranked 109th in the AJGA rankings, will join the Hokies next summer, in addition to Yao Wang, who was previously announced.
Emerson Dever, Durham, N.C., Jordan High School.
Junior/Amateur: Ranked 109th in the AJGA rankings … Champion of the 2024 Lanto Junior Championship at Blacksburg Country Club … Finished 12th at the 2024 Scott Robertson Memorial Tournament … Finished 20th at the HV3 Foundation Junior Championship … Tied for 56th for the Rolex Girls Junior Championship … Qualified for the 2024 U.S. Girls’ Junior … Three-time all-state honoree … Chose Virginia Tech over North Carolina.
New diving coach
Virginia Tech swim and dive head coach Sergio Lopez Miro has named Ryan Hawkins, a Virginia Tech graduate and former All-American, as the program’s new head diving coach.
Hawkins has served as a volunteer assistant coach for the Hokies since 2021. Both men’s and women’s squads have had immense success, with both squads ranked in the Top 25 of the final College Swimming & Diving Coaches Association of America polls in every season Hawkins has been with the Hokies. The men are currently ranked No. 13.
An excellent diver for the Hokies, Hawkins holds the three-meter school record with a score of 450.60. Hawkins was a four-time All-American, as well as a three-time Honorable Mention All-American, for the Hokies from 2010-14. He was named the Virginia Tech Male Scholar Athlete of the Year award in 2014.
All-Atlantic honors
Three Hokies have been named to the United Soccer Coaches All-Region Teams. Allie George earned Third Team honors while Natalie Mitchell and Emma Pelkowski garnered Fourth Team honors.
George tallied four goals and two assists on the season as a defender. She scored the game-winning goal against No. 17 Iowa in the NCAA Sweet 16 as well as playing all 90 minutes in the Hokies’ 11th shutout of the season. George logged 1,826 this season, the third most on the squad, as she started 21 matches this year. She was also named ACC Defensive Player of the Week (Sept. 3) after scoring two goals over two shutout wins. George was part of a backline that recorded 11 shutouts – the most in a single season since 2014 – and held opponents to one or fewer goals in 19 of 23 contests.
Mitchell finished the season leading the Hokies with 16 points with five goals and six assists. The Temecula, Calif., native scored back-to-back game-winning goals in the NCAA First and Second Rounds. Starting in all 23 matches this season, Mitchell recorded three game-winning goals on the season and led the Hokies with 67 shots. She also tallied two assists in Tech’s 3-2 comeback victory over No. 6 Florida State – the first win over the Seminoles in program history.
Pelkowski logged 2,011 minutes of action this season with the Hokies as a midfielder. She started all 23 matches and played the entirety of 19 matches. Pelkowski finished the year with three assists – including an assist on Natalie Mitchell’s game-winning goal against No. 9 UCLA in the Round of 32. The West Chester, Pa., native played over 6,000 career minutes as a Hokie in her four years.
