Campaign, petition launched to save Highlander athletics As the COVID-19 pandemic has waged on during the 2020 calendar year, a number of universities across the country have made budget cuts in various forms. A number of schools have eliminated certain sports from their athletic slates, and one Division I school – Wright State – saw the departure of their softball program. To date, though, no major university has disappeared from the athletics scene entirely. That could soon change, however, following recent developments from the Budget Advisory Committee at the University of California, Riverside. An early August recommendation from the same…
Author: jmcleod
The Florida Gulf Coast League has added another team in preparation for the 2021 summer season; the Siesta Key Phinz have been announced as the league’s newest member. The Phinz are the second team to join the league following the FGCL’s debut season that took place this summer. Seven teams competed in the league’s inaugural season, and the Phinz follow the Sarasota Circus as new additions. Former men’s fastpitch player and current Furman assistant coach Aaron Vail will serve as the Phinz head coach during the 2021 summer season. The Paladins were well-represented in the league during its first year,…
Kendall Potts will join the Auburn coaching staff as a volunteer assistant, sources confirmed to JWOS. An announcement is expected later in the week. A redshirt senior during the 2020 season, Potts elected not to take advantage of the NCAA’s extended eligibility waiver and will instead begin her coaching career. Potts began her playing career at Baylor before transferring to Texas A&M for her final two seasons of eligibility. Selected to the Big 12’s All-Freshman Team in 2015, she played two years for the Baylor Bears and recorded a 21-4 overall record during her time in Waco. Her true junior…
The University of Dallas has named Christian Novak as the program’s new head coach. Novak spent the last two seasons as an assistant coach at Cottey College, working as the team’s pitching coach and also working with the team’s outfielders and slappers. In her first season on the Comets’ coaching staff, Novak helped guide the squad to a 22-2 overall record in their first season in the NAIA. During her playing career at Memphis, Novak recorded 230 strikeouts in more than 313 innings of work for the Tigers. She battled injuries on multiple occasions during her career, though her finest…
Since she began her coaching career, one might say that Marisa Runyon has had a meteoric rise through the ranks of the profession. After beginning her career as a high school assistant coach just three years ago, Runyon is now back in Division I, recently named the newest assistant coach at Tennessee Tech. During her playing career at Alabama, Runyon was quietly effective for the Crimson Tide. She is most often remembered for her home run against Oklahoma in the 2015 Super Regionals; that grand slam helped vault Alabama back to Oklahoma City and the Women’s College World Series. “That’s…
Tammy Lohmann has been named the new head coach at San Jose State. Lohmann ended the 2020 season as the interim head coach at Cal, assuming the temporary helm of the program following Diane Ninemire’s abrupt retirement. She led the Golden Bears to a 3-2 record in one weekend of play before the season’s sudden end. Prior to being named the program’s interim head coach, Lohmann spent fourteen years on Ninemire’s staff as the associate head coach. During her tenure, the Golden Bears reached the NCAA tournament twelve times. She was also part of the staff during the program’s most…
Emmanuel College, a Division II school in Georgia, has hired Kevin Fagan as the program’s head coach. Fagan spent the last seven seasons as the head coach at the College of Central Florida, where he posted a record of 355-68 during his tenure. The Lady Patriots also assembled a 124-20 record against opponents within the Mid-Florida Conference. During his time at CCF, Fagan led the program to four conference championships, including back-to-back titles in 2018 and ’19. Fagan earned four conference Coach of the Year awards, and helmed the South Regional Coaching Staff of the Year in both 2014 and…
North Carolina Central has named Cat Tarvin as the program’s interim head coach. Tarvin takes over for Vashion Johnson, who “resigned to pursue another professional opportunity,” according to a school release. Johnson spent four seasons as the head coach at NCCU, having been hired in the fall of 2016. He guided the Lady Eagles to 23 wins during the 2019 season, a program record at the Division I level. The squad pulled off an upset against in-state ACC foe North Carolina to close the ’19 campaign. “We are thrilled to appoint Coach Cat Tarvin to serve as interim head coach,”…
Following their successful opening weekend, Athletes Unlimited on Tuesday evening staged the draft for the league’s upcoming second week of play. One of the cornerstone hallmarks of the upstart league, a new draft is held each week of the AU season, with team captains determined based on points earned during the previous week’s play. Tuesday’s draft was unique in that it was the first draft held with captains determined from actual regular-season play; the previous captains, who led for the opening weekend’s games, were selected based on play in pre-season scrimmages. Cat Osterman, the week 1 overall points leader, had…
Miami Ohio has named Kirin Kumar as the program’s new head coach. Kumar spent the last two years on staff at Virginia Tech, and was part of the Hokies’ coaching staff that won the ACC regular-season title in 2019. Prior to her tenure at VT, Kumar spent two years on staff at North Carolina State, working with the team’s offense and defense. Her resume also includes two stints on staff at Tulsa, as well as time at Tennessee Tech; Western Kentucky; and North Carolina. A former Georgia Tech standout, Kumar was named to the ACC All-Tournament team in 2005 and…