Lancers Past

In Michelle Meadow's 17-year career at Longwood University, she relished her time helping student-athletes.   She worked her way up from assistant athletic director for compliance to LU's athletic director.   As a four-year starter on the Virginia Tech women's softball team, she was elected to the Hokie's Hall of Fame in 2010.   The three time Academic All-American is now the Vice President and Ch...

Jamal Allen wasted no time in becoming a professional baseball umpire.   Six months after graduating from Longwood, he headed to the Wendelstedt Umpire School and completed a season in the Northwoods League, a collegiate wooden bat circuit.   Last season, Jamal started his professional career in the Florida Complex Rooke League and is expected to umpire in Class A baseball in either the California...

In just his fourth year at Longwood, Ron Carr's 1993-94 team made their mark.   They finished the season 23-6, #19 in the nation and won the opening game in the program's first appearance in the NCAA Division II playoffs.   And - they also won 20 straight games.   Carr remains the only Longwood men's coach ever to earn two consecutive trips to the NCAA playoffs.   Ron retired from full-time teachi...

This is a bonus episode and part two of a two-part series. As a utility player, Tim Lowery totaled 49 at bats and batted .285 over two seasons - a solid, but not spectactular career.  But for Coach Buddy Bolding and the Longwood baseball team, Lowery was more than a teammate. He was an unofficial coach with a baseball mind.     Listen to Tim talk about Longwood baseball from his recruitment to his...

This is part one of a two-part series.   Long before Longwood, Tim Lowery wanted to be a health and physical education teacher and baseball coach.   Now retired after 36 years of public-school service in Chesterfield County, Tim touches on Longwood baseball and how it shaped his high school coaching and teaching career.   With 470 victories, one state championship, three regional titles, and 11 di...

Born with a curiosity about how things work, Mary Beth Wusk found her calling at NASA.   The 34-year veteran is now the Senior Leader of the NASA Engineering and Safety Center at the Langley Research Center in Hampton.     The 1989 graduate and Physics major lettered two years as a setter for the Longwood volleyball team before the program was discontinued.   She earned a second B.S. in Electrical...

When you talk about academic and athletic excellence AND service to peers and your university, Madison Hommey is hard to beat. She completed two degrees from Longwood in five years and was a fixture at midfield for the soccer team.   Known as Maddie, s he also received the Dan Daniel Senior Award for Scholarship and Citizenship and a Graduate Fellowship from the Big South Conference.   This fall,...

Eliot Dix is the second consecutive Longwood graduate to transfer to a university in a Power 5 conference to play baseball.   He is headed to the University of North Carolina in Chapel Hill to compete for the starting job at third base.   In three years at Longwood, Eliot batted 340, 341 and 347 and is the only Lancer ever named All-Big South Conference three times.   Eliot earned a B.S. in Sociol...

Joe Kaminski first came to Longwood in 2014 as the Athletic Events and Game Operations Manager and returned a year later as the Assistant Athletic Director for Marketing Operations.    In July 2023, he left the Colonial Athletic Association to reunite with Jeff Bacon, ASUN Conference commissioner.   In this episode, Joe talks about his 15 years in athletics administration, conference realignment i...

In May 2023, Mallory was named an assistant women's basketball coach at Division I Northern Kentucky.   As a dual sport student-athlete in basketball and softball, Longwood fans remember her enthusiasm and grit.   She received her BS in Business Administration in 2021 and was a two-time Big South Conference All-Academic team selection.   Mal started her coaching career as a graduate assistant at V...

Kelly Church quickly realized that making the Longwood men's basketball team was not realistic. As an aspiring basketball coach, he poured into his obsession and became a student manager.   This fall, Kelly will start his 26th year as the head coach at Hedgesville High School in eastern West Virginia.   He will also be inducted into the school's Class of 2023 athletic hall of fame.  

Former Head Coach Jhonnatan Medina Alvarez not only elevated the Lancer tennis programs (2017-2021), but his own stock as well.   As a student and coach, Jhonnatan graduated magna cum Laude with a B.S. in Business Administration from Longwood and teamed with professor Dr. Laura Poe to pen Results Generate Results .   Before Longwood, he ran his own tennis academy in Orlando and was a world class t...

Saturday, May 15, 1982, Valdosta, Ga. marked one of the top moments in Longwood baseball.   Faced with a depleted pitching staff in the championship game of the South Atlantic Regional, Coach Buddy Bolding turned to a seldom used pitcher in relief - John DiPierdomenico.   JD pitched five innings of shut out ball to earn a 3-1 win over Valdosta State and a berth in NCAA DII CWS.   Catcher Doug Toom...

As a 6-6 post player, Ron Orr was one of the first Lancers to ever score 1,000 career points and haul in 500 rebounds.   During the Orr years (1980-1983), the Lancers were 77-30, including a trip to the 1980 NCAA Division III Final Four.     With a B.S. in Social Work, he served as a principal and administrator in special education and alternative schools in Union and Essex County New Jersey.     ...

Ryan Marable stood five feet nine and 165 pounds and made the Longwood basketball team as a non-recruited walk-on.   By playing stingy defense and limiting turnovers, he earned substantial minutes at point guard and competed with the best in NCAA Division II.   He passes on his love as a middle and high school coach and founded Local Legends Sports in Chesterfield County.       

The 2012-2013 season was Longwood's first year in the Big South Conference and the women's basketball team made it count.   Despite an 8-10 conference record and a #7 seed, they won three games in four days before falling to the #1 seed Liberty Flames in the tournament finals. While the Lancers were loaded with seniors, they also relied on talented freshmen in their historic run.   Kyndal Skersick...

Coach Shirley Duncan (1983-2005) coached nine All-Americans, earned four trips to the NCAA Division II tournament, and is the winningest basketball coach in Longwood University history.   Before college coaching, the Lexington Kentucky native and UK graduate taught and coached in Northern Virginia.   She headed back to the Bluegrass State to lead Eastern Kentucky for four years where she won a sta...

Former president Patricia P. Cormier (1996-2010) envisioned's Longwood's potential in student enrollment, campus expansion and overall exposure.   Listen to Patty describe the journey to NCAA Division I and Big South Conference membership.   She also shares her admiration for Longwood legend Jerome Kersey and how she helped him complete his B.S. in Social Work 22 years after suiting up for the Lan...

Junior Burr was a member of perhaps Longwood's most cohesive and talented men's basketball team ever, certainly on the Division II level.   The 1993-94 Lancers racked up 20 straight wins and won a game in the college's first appearance in the NCAA Division II tournament. While his playing time was limited, he applied lessons learned on a bigger stage.     As the founder and owner of Canterbury Ent...

March 2020 signified the start of the Coronavirus epidemic.   But, for six former Longwood gymnasts from the 1980s, they braved the threat and enjoyed a mini reunion where they shared old memories and made new ones.    This third episode of a three-part series highlights Kerri Hruby Kraisser as she reflects on Longwood Gymnastics.    Listen to episodes one and two with teammates Tammy Zeller Pierc...

March 2020 signified the start of the Coronavirus epidemic.   But, for six former Longwood gymnasts from the 1980s, they braved the threat and enjoyed a mini reunion where they shared old memories and made new ones.    This second episode of a three-part series highlights Lynda Chenoweth Loden as she reflects on Longwood Gymnastics.   Lynda lives in Suwanee, Ga.   Listen to episodes one and three...

March 2020 signified the start of the Coronavirus epidemic.   But, for six former Longwood gymnasts from the 1980s, they braved the threat and enjoyed a mini reunion where they shared old memories and made new ones.    This first episode of a three-part series highlights Tammy Pierce as she reflects on Longwood Gymnastics.   Tammy lives in Mifflinburg Pa.   Listen to episodes two and three with te...

Joe Bass enjoyed the wrestling spotlight in Lancer Hall (now Willett Hall).  With a career record of 48-25, he qualified for the NCAA DII regionals and was a key part in a young program. After retiring from the Army, Joe went back to his family roots and owned and operated restaurants.  Now, as a full retiree in Burke Virginia, Joe reconnects with other Longwood wrestlers and plays golf.   

As an up-and-coming officer in the Army, Joe Bass shared his story to anyone considering college.   He graduated from high school with a 1.93 GPA with dreams of playing college football. He learned quickly that barely passing was not enough.  With the help of coaches and ROTC mentors, Joe found his way to Longwood and then to the U.S. Army where he worked his way up to Brigadier General, Longwood'...

Longwood assistant women's basketball coach Loretta Coughlin talks about Cassie Ensley from recruitment to graduation in this special 20-minute podcast.  Coughlin assisted Head Coach Shirley Duncan from 1985-1998, served as Softball Head Coach from 1986-1995, and taught 20 years at Longwood in the Department of Kinesiology.   She retired from Albemarle County Public Schools in June 2022 after a 17...