E&H 11th in preseason poll
The Emory & Henry College Volleyball Team, led by first-year Head Coach Kyla King, has been tabbed as 11th in this year’s Old Dominion Athletic Conference Preseason Poll, ODAC officials announced Wednesday. The poll is voted on by the 13 head coaches in the league.
Last season, E&H went 7-21 (3-8 ODAC), missing the league tournament for the first time in program history. The top of the poll is crowded with league-favorite Washington and Lee University and Randolph-Macon College separated by one first-place vote. Virginia Wesleyan University is third while Bridgewater College and the University of Lynchburg round out the top five.
Williams promotes Wolfe
Virginia Tech head men’s basketball coach Buzz Williams has announced that Lyle Wolf has been promoted to director of basketball operations.
Now in his fifth season with the Hokies, Wolf previously served one season as assistant to the head coach and the past three seasons as director of student-athlete development. In his previous duties, he assisted Williams and the staff with a wide-range of responsibilities, including team travel, scouting, budgeting, summer camps and the staff’s day-to-day operations.
In the spring of 2014, Wolf received a master’s in sports leadership from Marquette University.
Sprinter to attend RU
Elise Fernandez was a force during indoor and outdoor track in several individual events and was a stalwart in relays, helping Fauquier win the 3,200-meter relay Class 4 Virginia title this past year title. She also competed in the 400, 800 and 1,600 relays.
The Fauquier High School grad will bring her talents this fall to Radford University.
Game experience at Tech
Virginia Tech fans enjoyed new fan experience technology during this past basketball season, and now the Virginia Tech Athletics Department is going to bring that experience to Lane Stadium this fall.
The department and Experience, an Atlanta-based mobile technology company, have partnered to deliver new fan experience technology to Virginia Tech football fans for the 2018 season.
Starting this season, fans will be able to use their smartphones to purchase football fan experience options from the athletics department. Branded “Maroon & Orange Memories,” these experiences include such things as:
• a Friday locker room tour and on-field photos for home games
• a photo with the HokieBird, a pregame photo on the field
• a pregame sideline pass to watch Enter Sandman from field level
• taking the Tunnel Walk with the team
• an opportunity to purchase a videoboard message
• a postgame photo on the field
Only fans with game tickets are allowed to purchase any of the offerings, unless otherwise specified.
To sign up, visit www.hokiesports.com/experience and fill out the form – signing up is free.
Hokies add thrower
Virginia Tech track and field and cross country director Dave Cianelli announced on Thursday another addition to the Hokies’ already impressive 2018 recruiting class.
The Hokies’ throws group, under coach Andrew Dubs, added another talented thrower with the addition of Isaiah Rogers.
He joins the Hokies after two years at Texas Christian University, where he earned second-team All-Big 12 honors in the shot put twice during his sophomore year and first-team honors twice his freshman year. The Smyrna, Georgia native’s top throws are 18.43 meters (60 feet, 5.75 inches) in the shot put, 19.45 meters (63 feet, 9.75 inches) in the weight throw and 57.96 meters (190 feet, 2 inches) in the hammer throw.
Songer takes Franklin County win
John Songer of Blacksburg won a 25-lap race for the Stock Four-Cylinder division, his second of the year at Franklin County Speedway’s August 11 event. Rian Wheat of Boones Mill was second and Roanoke’s Sean Palmer third.
Mike Reed raced to his fifth victory of the season in a 25-lap event, extending his dominance of Franklin County Speedway’s U-Car division. The Floyd resident increased his points lead as Dublin’s Ryan Cox finished second and Nathan Wheat of Boones Mill was third.
Late Model regular Wes Thomason was the surprise winner of a “flagpole” race — where drivers maneuvered stock passenger cars around hay bales in the turns.
Ricky Gillespie of Floyd won a race where drivers had tires stacked atop their cars.
