COLLEGES
Women’s soccer player Ece Turkoglu and football player Jason Henderson took home the awards for Old Dominion’s female and male Athletes of the Year during the annual Golden Monarch Awards on Wednesday night at Chartway Arena.
Henderson led the country with 14.2 tackles per game and was ODU’s first FBS first-team All-American. Turkoglu became the Monarchs’ first United Soccer Coaches All-American as she was named to the third team.
Among other awards: Tennis player Connor van Schalkwyk and soccer player Ashlynn Kulha were the men’s and women’s Freshman of the Year, respectively; conference titles on the same day in field hockey and women’s soccer were the Best Moment; and Henderson’s school-record-tying 22-tackle game against Coastal Carolina was the Best Individual Performance.
Men’s tennis player Yanis Moundir won the Spark Plug Award; women’s swimmer Peyton Turner was honored for Community Service; baseball’s Vincent Bashara was Mr. Monarch; field hockey’s Evelyn Murray was Ms. Monarch; and the women’s lacrosse team took the Monarch Cup.
Swimmer Zander Johnson and sailor Elizabeth Gildea were the male and female Scholar-Athletes of the Year, respectively.
JMU announces Roan as athletic director
James Madison University President Jonathan Alger and the university Board of Visitors on Thursday announced the appointment of Matt Roan as the new athletic director. Roan arrives following four years as AD at Eastern Kentucky and will be replacing Jeff Bourne, who will retire at the end of April.
“Matt Roan is an exceptional leader and rising star in the field,” Alger said in a release. “He brings years of experience as a sitting Division I director of athletics, along with a sophisticated understanding of the rapidly evolving national landscape.”
COLLEGE WOMEN’S BASKETBALL
Hampton coach completes staff
New Hampton coach Tamisha Augustin finalized her first coaching staff Thursday, according to a release.
Dexter Holt, Jaamal Rhodes and Brooke Key’Ontay Moore will serve as Augustin’s assistants, while I’Liyah Green will be her Director of Basketball Operations.
Holt comes to Hampton with more than 30 years of coaching experience. He was most recently at Maryland Baltimore County but spent the bulk of his career in a 23 year stint with Alabama A&M, where he was an assistant coach during Augustin’s playing days.
Rhodes spent the past year as the associate coach of player development at Kentucky. He also was a video coordinator at Arizona and has nearly 20 years of experience at the prep level.
Moore comes to HU after one season as a graduate assistant at Ole Miss. She wrapped up her playing career in 2022 after spending two seasons at AUburn and Purdue, respectively. Ole Miss head coach Yolett McPhee-McCuin described Moore as a “rising star,” per the release.
Green has logged time as a director of basketball operations at Abilene Christian and North Florida. She played for Cincinnati while Augustin served as an assistant coach for the Bearcats.
COLLEGE MEN’S BASKETBALL
Two VCU players enter portal
VCU’s Max Shulga and sophomore Tobi Lawal have entered the transfer portal, according to On3sports.
Shulga, a 6-foot-4 guard, made the All-Atlantic 10 last season after averaging 14 points and 3.6 assists, hitting 41.5% from 3-point range. Lawal, a high-leaping 6-8 forward, averaged 7.7 points and 6.0 rebounds this season.
COLLEGE BASEBALL
Bryant & Stratton boosts win streak to five
Bryant & Stratton edged Richard Bland 7-6 in 11 innings, the fifth consecutive victory for the Bobcats (25-14, 17-10 conference).
Wednesday, No. 10 Virginia defeated George Mason 11-5 in Charlottesville. The Cavaliers (29-9) bounced back from Tuesday’s loss to Old Dominion by defeating the Patriots (16-18) at Disharoon Park in Charlottesville. UVA racked up 14 hits and scored double-digit runs for the 20th time this season.
The Cavaliers broke a 4-4 tie in the sixth inning with consecutive triples by Lafayette High graduate Luke Hanson and Eric Becker, followed by an RBI double by Griff O’Ferrall, and never looked back. Cox High alumnus Ethan Anderson scored on Hanson’s triple.
COLLEGE WOMEN’S GOLF
ODU eliminated in Sun Belt semifinal
Fourth-seeded Old Dominion fell 3-0 to top-seeded eventual champion Texas State in a semifinal of Sun Belt Conference match play at Lakewood Golf Club in Point Clear, Alabama.
When the Bobcats clinched the victory, ODU’s Puneet Bajwa, who was tied, and Lucia Gonzalez, who was 2-up, did not get to finish their matches. Carley Rudolph (1-up), Klara Wildhaber (4 and 3) and Leiu Yuenyoung (3 and 2) lost to Texas State opponents.
Thirteen teams competed in 54 holes of stroke play over the previous three days. ODU, which shot 21-over-par 885, posted the fourth-best total to earn its spot on the final day.
Second-seeded Georgia Southern beat third-seeded Louisiana Monroe in the other semifinal but then lost to Texas State for the trophy and an automatic NCAA regional berth.
COLLEGE MEN’S TENNIS
Campbell bounces Hampton in CAA tourney
No. 6 seed Campbell ousted No. 11 Hampton 4-0 in the Coastal Athletic Association championship tournament’s first round at William & Mary’s Mackesy Tennis Center.
Daniel Flynn and Aryan Arora won 6-2 at No. 3 doubles, but the Camels took the other two doubles sets to move ahead 1-0. Campbell then won Nos. 4, 5 and 6 singles in straight sets, keeping HU’s top three of Emiliano Jorquera, Flynn and Donte Armbrister from finishing their matches.
Also in the first round, No. 8 Charleston beat No. 9 North Carolina A&T 4-2 and No. 7 Drexel bounced No. 10 Hofstra 4-0.
The tournament continues Friday with the quarterfinals. Top-seeded UNC Wilmington meets Charleston at 9 a.m., followed by No. 4 Monmouth against No. 5 W&M at noon. At 3 p.m., No. 2 Delaware faces Drexel, and No. 3 Elon takes on Campbell at 6 p.m.
