RU names new tennis coach
Rolando Vargas has been named the next Radford men’s tennis head coach, Director of Athletics Robert Lineburg announced Wednesday morning. Vargas comes to Radford after spending seven seasons as the head coach for the men’s and women’s programs at Auburn University at Montgomery.
In Vargas’ seven seasons, he helped the men’s team to a 140-37 record and the women’s squad to an impressive 150-35 mark. During the 2017 season, Vargas led both programs to national and regional rankings while playing its first full NCAA Division II schedule. The 2017 season saw the men’s program finish ranked 13th nationally and the women rank 19th in the country.
Slye on Groza list
Virginia Tech senior kicker Joey Slye has been named to the Lou Groza Collegiate Place-Kicker Award Watch List, the award’s committee announced Wednesday. The award is presented annually to the nation’s top kicker.
There are 30 names on the list and Slye is one of only three active kickers to be named a semifinalist for the award twice. Slye shares that distinction with Daniel Varlson of Auburn and Jonathan Barnes of Louisiana Tech.
The Stafford, Virginia native was named first-team All-ACC by the league’s coaches last season after finishing first in the ACC with 118 points among kickers and third with 20 field goals made. His six made field goals at Pitt on Oct. 27 tied a conference record and his 21 points were the most by a Hokies’ kicker in a single game. Slye led the nation with 73 touchbacks last season and is also the ACC’s active career leader in field goals with 63.
The Lou Groza Award is presented by the Palm Beach County Sports Commission. The award is named after former Ohio State Buckeyes and Cleveland Browns player Lou Groza.
Big South scholar-athlete of year
Radford University men’s soccer defender Fraser Colmer has been voted the 2016-17 Big South Conference Male Scholar-Athlete of the Year, the league announced Wednesday afternoon. The Scholar-Athletes of the Year are voted on by the Big South Sports Information Directors from a pool of each sport’s Scholar-Athlete winner.
The Big South’s Male and Female Scholar-Athletes of the Year were selected from a pool of the conference’s scholar-athletes who represent all of the individual sports’ scholar-athletes, who were announced during the regular season.
Colmer is Radford’s second recipient of the Big South Male Scholar-Athlete of the Year award in three seasons and the school’s fourth overall in the 21-year history of the award.
