Marty Gordon
The Virginia High School League has announced the 2024 Class 3 all-state volleyball team with two from Christiansburg High School being honored. Ela Shepherd and Addison Reasor were named to the first team.
Caliegh Ponn of Hidden Valley was named the Class 3 player of year, and David Keeter of Grafton was named coach of the year.
Highlander player of week
The Big South Conference announced Adelyn Traylor-Walker has been named freshman of the week after solid performances against Loyola (MD) and Clemson.
Traylor-Walker earned her first career start for Radford University this past week at Clemson and had a career performance. The redshirt freshman dropped a career-high 15 points with 11 of those points coming in the opening quarter. Her 15 points are the most scored by a Radford freshman this season. In a tight contest against Loyola (MD), she also added a single-game best four assists in the comeback effort.
Traylor-Walker is the first Highlander to earn a weekly award this season. The honor also marks the third straight season a Radford freshman has earned a weekly award from the conference office.
RU men on ESPN
One of the most highly anticipated conference openers in school history for the Radford University men’s basketball program got even sweeter as the Highlanders will take on rival High Point in front of a national audience on ESPNU on Thursday, Jan. 2.
Tip for the conference showdown is set for 7 p.m. from the Quebein Center.
ESPNU and the Big South Conference announced the showdown between the Highlanders and Panthers will be the first Big South Wildcard broadcast of the 2024-25 season.
The match-up will mark the first between the two programs on ESPNU and the 17th Big South ESPNU Wildcard game for Radford all-time.
Both teams are currently tied for first place in the Big South standings at 9-2 overall. The Panthers are a perfect 7-0 at home to start the year, while the Highlanders three true road wins lead the conference.
Radford’s 9-2 record is its best start to a season since 1988-89. Winners of five straight, the Highlanders are ranked No. 122 in the NET and their non-conference wins include William & Mary, Old Dominion, Evansville, Chicago State, Purdue Fort Wayne, Saint Francis, North Carolina Central and Bucknell.
Lincoln boasts fourth top-time
The Virginia Tech track & field sprints group opened their 2024-2045 indoor competition slate on Friday at the Clemson Opener, hosted by Clemson with Justin Lincoln IV in his third year with the program, boasted a top ten program time with his 32.37 finish, just .09 off the current program record held by Jacory Patterson.
His result topped his previous career-best in the event and replaced his second-place slot in the program’s top 10 performances list of 32.60. Previously 11th in the NCAA 300m records, Lincoln now skyrockets to fourth all-time for the 300m.