ODAC Podcast - February 29, 2008

It's all about basketball in this installment of the ODAC Podcast! The ODAC Men's and Women's Basketball Tournaments are underway in Salem, Virginia, and Brad and J.J. speak with several of the recently chosen ODAC All-Conference players and coaches. Randolph-Macon College duo Molly Ariail and Amanda Hiltunen joined Virginia Wesleyan College head coach Stephany Dunmyer in a group interview the day before the women's quarterfinals began. Brad caught up with Guilford College mentor Tom Palombo to speak of his team's #1 ranking on the men's side. He also chatted with the Quakers' Ben Strong and had a few words with Washington and Lee University head coach Adam Hutchinson.


Ariail, only a sophomore, was chosen the ODAC’s top rookie as in 2007 before earning the league's Player of the Year award for this season. She finished second in the league in scoring at 16.3 points per game and fourth in rebounding at 8.4 boards a night. She led her team in scoring 13 times and collected one ODAC Player of the Week award.

Hiltunen was named the 2008 All-ODAC second team as well as earning the ODAC/Farm Bureau Scholar-Athlete award. In the classroom, the junior guard boasts a 3.73 grade point average while majoring in political science with a minor in journalism. On the court, Hiltunen put up 12.9 points per game and led the conference in both field goal percentage at 51.1-percent and free throw shooting at 86.7-percent. She was also third in the league in assists at 3.96 per contest.

Coach Dunmyer up her second ODAC Coach of the Year honor after winning the league’s top award in 2006. She led her team to the 20 win mark for the second consecutive season, the first time the Marlin program had accomplished such a feat since the 1988 and 1989 seasons. With a 17-3 conference record, her team set a program mark for wins within league play.

Strong adds the 2008 ODAC Player of the Year award to an ever-growing mantle of honors. Aside from winning last year's ODAC top accolade, he also picked up a pair of National Player of the Year awards (one shared) from the NABC and D3hoops.com. This year, he is still on the radar for more national player of the year honors and is also a finalist for the prestigious Jostens Trophy. He currently leads the ODAC in scoring, rebounding and blocked shots, and is also ranked nationally in those categories.

Hutchinson, in his fifth season at Washington and Lee, earns his first ODAC Coach of the Year award. He led his team to an overall mark or 15-10 and a conference record of 11-7 which is good enough for the fifth seed in this weekend’s tournament. His squad’s 11-7 mark in the ODAC marks the school’s best conference season since 1988-89.

Tom Palombo won the ODAC's top coaching honor last season and led his Quakers within one game of the national semifinals. Guilford is seeded #1 as play begins in the ODAC tournament.

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ODAC Podcast - February 22, 2008

In this installment of the ODAC Podcast, J.J. Nekoloff and Brad Bankston dedicate the entire program to indoor track and the upcoming ODAC Championships at Liberty University on February 29. Roanoke’s Finn Pincus and Robin Yerkes talk women’s track while Bridgewater’s Shane Stevens and Melvin Queen tackle the men’s side.


Pincus is in his 12th season as Maroons’ head coach. He has won six ODAC Coach of the Year awards through his mentorship of the Roanoke men and women’s track teams as well as the cross country teams. Pincus’ women’s squad features several national caliber athletes including the 2007 ODAC Athlete and Rookie of the Year, Yerkes. Yerkes won the 200-meter dash at last season’s ODAC indoor meet as well as the 100-meter and 200-meter events at the ODAC outdoor championships. She and three of her teammates took their acts to the national championships where they finished second in the nation in the 4x100-meter relay with a time of 46.67 seconds. Yerkes currently holds ODAC seasonal top times in the 55-meter, 60-meter, 100-meter, 200-meter, 400-meter and 500-meter events.

Stevens is in his 25th season as architect of the Bridgewater track program. He has won nine ODAC Coach of the Year honors on the men’s side as well as four more from his women’s coaching days. Stevens’ men last won the ODAC crown in 1997. Queen is a two-time winner of the indoor 55-meter dash, having won in both 2006 (6.50 sec.) and 2007 (6.42 sec.). Outdoors, he’s captured the past three 100-meter dash titles, posting times of 11.12 seconds (2005), 10.83 seconds (2006) and 10.73 seconds (2007).

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ODAC Podcast - February 15, 2008

Welcome to the ODAC Podcast! In this installment of the ODAC Podcast, Brad Bankston and J.J. Nekoloff talk ODAC swimming and basketball. J.J. shares a few words with a pair of Washington & Lee standout swimmers, Amy Roberson and Lindsey Strachan. They chat about several topics including what it's like to be a Generals' swimmer, how it's been competing under new head coach Kami Garden, and what we should all expect from the ODAC/Atlantic States Swimming Championships taking place at Radford University Feb. 15-17. Later in the show, J.J. speaks with Guilford big man Ben Strong about Quaker basketball, his successes and the upcoming ODAC Basketball Tournament.

Roberson is a three-time All-ODAC swimmer from Nacogdoches, Texas. She earned the 2007 ODAC/Farm Bureau Scholar-Athlete award, boasting at that time a 3.864 grade point average while double-majoring in psychology and sociology. She is a W&L record holder as a member of four relay teams, helped the Generals to victories in the 200-yard medley and 200-yard free relays at the 2007 championship meet, and placed third individually in the 100-yard butterfly in that same meet.


Strachan, from Midlothian, Virginia, is a two-time All-ODAC swimmer and the 2006 ODAC Rookie of the Year. Going into the 2008 championship meet, she held the ODAC's seasonal top times in the 50-yard, 100-yard and 200-yard backstroke events. She won the 200-yard backstroke at the 2007 championship meet, also swimming as a member of the winning 200-yard medley and 400-yard free relay teams. Strachan is a Washington & Lee scholar-athlete as well as a member of the ODAC honor roll. She is a political science major.

Ben Strong, from Chapel Hill, North Carolina, was named the 2007 ODAC Player of the Year and garnered national player of the year honors from D3hoops.com and the NABC. Strong recently moved into second place on the Guilford all-time scoring list and currently leads the ODAC in scoring (25.7 ppg), rebounding (11.0 rpg) and blocked shots (2.29 bpg). He led his team within one game of the NCAA Division III semifinals last season. Along the way, Strong scored a career-high 59 points against Lincoln in a triple-overtime playoff victory.

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ODAC Podcast - February 8, 2008

Welcome to the ODAC Podcast! In this installment of the ODAC Podcast, the ODAC staff discusses the upcoming swimming and indoor track championships. Lynchburg's Dr. Jack Toms and Randolph's Donna Hodgert share their thoughts on the upcoming ODAC winter championship events.

Dr. Toms is in his 30th year with the Hornets, having served as the men and women's coach during his tenure. Also the LC athletics director, Dr. Toms has coached 79 All-Americans and 11 national champions including 2001 NCAA Male Athlete of the Year, James Goss, and 2001 NCAA MVP, Kevin Smith. Dr. Toms has 61 conference and 25 NCAA Regional Coach of the Year awards. He was recognized in 1995 as the Commonwealth of Virginia top track and field coach with the Walt Cormack Award for success at the college level.

Donna Hodgert has been associated with Randolph swimming since 1997. She has been the head coach of the WildCat program since the 2000 season. Her teams have finished third in the ODAC/Atlantic States Swimming Championships three out of the past four seasons. She earned ODAC Coach of the Year honors in 2004 and mentored two-time ODAC Swimmer of the Year, Kim Edmonds. Prior to coaching, Hodgert was an All-American swimmer at Sweet Briar College.

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ODAC Podcast - February 1, 2008

Welcome to the official Old Dominion Athletic Conference Podcast! This week, Brad Bankston and J.J. Nekoloff chat with two of the ODAC's most successful men's and women's basketball coaches -- Page Moir and Carroll LaHaye

Roanoke College mentor Page Moir recently coached his 500th game for the Maroons. He's got his squad in the midst of a race for the top spot in ODAC men's basketball tournament. Five teams have themselves placed within a half-game of the conference lead and the top seed in the ODAC Championship.

Randolph-Macon College head coach Carroll LaHaye finds her Yellow Jackets in a similar battle for supremacy on the women's side. R-MC sits alone at the top with a 10-1 conference mark, but Eastern Mennonite and Virginia Wesleyan continue to bear down on the defending champions.

Listen in as each coach gives insight into the conference picture.

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ODAC Podcast - January 24, 2008

Welcome to the official Old Dominion Athletic Conference podcast! This week, marking the first ODAC Podcast, Brad Bankston and J.J. Nekoloff speak with former Emory & Henry College head men's basketball coach and current athletics director, Bob Johnson.

On Saturday, January 19, Emory & Henry dedicated the basketball court in the King Center in Coach Johnson's honor. E&H President, Dr. Rosalind Reichard, presented Coach Johnson with a framed proclamation and declared the day "Bob Johnson Day at Emory & Henry College." Coach Johnson explains his feelings about this honor to Brad and J.J., as well as outlining some of the new things happening at Emory & Henry.

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Welcome to the ODAC Blog

This blog is a site to manage the weekly Old Dominion Athletic Conference podcast created by the conference office staff each week.

The Old Dominion Athletic Conference is an NCAA Division III athletic conference headquartered in Salem, Virginia. The conference has 13 full-time members (12 in Virginia an one in North Carolina). The league sponsors 22 varsity sports and hosts championships in all 22.

This weekly broadcast will summarize conference events and call attention to special events across the league.