Sports this College," Russo said. Russo also said the freshman class for the 2008-09 season arrived in a period of transition for the team. After the 2009 season, Russo said, the senior-heavy team would be graduating multiple seniors at the shooting guard position, where Snapp plays. "We had a couple really good seniors last year at the two-guard that we knew we would have to replace," Russo said, "and having Isaac come in as a freshman underneath those guys as they were seniors, we thought it would be the perfect storm." Snapp said he has been adapting to the college experience at Emory & Henry and has had a great deal of support from his hometown, especially his father, Rick, and his high school basketball coach, John Dyer. "Support from my home town has been great," Snapp said. "It's always especially fun to go back and see everyone, and they're always eager to ask how things are going and especially eager to wish me the best." In addition to hometown support, Snapp said he is enjoying his time at Emory & Henry. "Everyone on campus is extremely friendly and it's been exciting meeting and interacting with new people from not only this region
The Perfect Storm: Snapps arrival vital to E&H basketball growth
Gavin Wright Editor in Chief gwright05@ehc.edu
Scruggs steps down as womens hoops coach
Chris Hatcher Sports Editor chatcher06@ehc.edu
First-year student Isaac Snapp couldn't have timed his arrival to Emory & Henry much better, especially with regard to his place on the men's basketball team. Snapp had been a key recruiting target of E&H Men's Basketball Head Coach Paul Russo, who said that he and his recruiting team had had their eye on the guard since his junior year of high school. Snapp, a native of Blountville, Tenn., had been in attendance at many of the summer basketball camps at Emory & Henry. "Typically with the recruiting process we don't get on kids that early," Russo said, "but with him being local and being on campus for the summers we knew about him and we certainly thought he could help us here, so we've been on him for quite some time." Russo cited Snapp's "ability to shoot, how tough he is, and his work ethic" as the key factors in the recruitment decision, but acknowledged that Snapp is more than just a basketball player. "He's an Emory kid, exactly what we're looking for. He's very respectful, a good representation of our program out in the community, which is very good for
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Senior first baseman Dana Dettmar (center) leads the softball team with 28 hits, a .431.
but other regions as well," Snapp said. "I am looking forward to three more years." Snapp is currently a chemistry major in the pre-pharmacy program, and said he is excited to continue with his school work and pursue pharmacy school and a career in pharmaceuticals. He also said he was looking forward to the opportunity to step up into a starting role with the basketball team after the departure of graduating seniors Camillo Weinz and Rob Hudson. "I have a lot of work ahead of me to be where I need to be next year," Snapp said. "I need to step up and do the best I can to fill the huge shoes they left behind."
After serving as the head coach of Emory & Henrys womens basketball team for 28 years, Joy Scruggs stepped down from her position early last week. Clearly a decision of that magnitude is one you put a lot of thought into, Scruggs said. I just found I was really excited about the opportunity to pursue full-time teaching, and with the new things that were doing here and the courses Id have the opportunity to teach, it just felt like the right thing to do. In her impressive career as an E&H coach, Scruggs compiled 384 wins and led her 1984 team to a regular season ODAC crown and her 1988 team to an ODAC Conference Tournament championship. When asked about the makeup of her teams and why they were so successful, Scruggs answered, Ive always felt like the thing that has helped us to be successful here is teamwork. That teamwork led to Coach Scruggs being named the ODAC Coach of the Year on three separate occasions (1984, 2002, and 2003). Although Scruggs doesnt know who her replacement will
E&H Sports Information
be at this time, she believes that the pieces are there to be successful right away. Its a great opportunity for whoever gets this job, Scruggs said. I cant imagine that somebody is not going to be delighted to have this opportunity. Though Scruggs appears ready for the next step, she said that she will miss the competition of the game. Coach Scruggs impact on basketball at E&H has been invaluable to the program and the athletic department as a whole. Though she is stepping away from basketball, the future for Scruggs the educator is bright, as she has merely exchanged one passion for another.
Congratulations Senior Athletes
Sports Opinion To p 5 M o m e n t s i n E & H A t h l e t i c s i n 2 0 0 8 - 0 9 Emory & Henry College experienced a banner year in 20082009. In academics, the College demonstrated why it is among the top schools in the nation as it received praise from Forbes magazine and as yet another one of its professors was honored with a statewide award. The College's achievements in the classroom also spread to the playing fields of athletics, where many defining moments signified an athletic program that is once again on the rise. Below is my list of the Top 5 sports moments from the past school year. 1. Senior Day SuccessIn one of the most comprehensive victories under Don Montgomery (and perhaps in E&H history), the Wasps beat the Guilford Quakers 44-7 on Senior Day to finish in a four-way tie for the ODAC conference crown. Though the Wasps did not win the tiebreaker to get them into the NCAA D-III playoffs, they looked more the part of the 2006 E&H team that also finished 6-4 than a team that had struggled for the past two seasons and was picked last in the ODAC's preseason poll. The Wasps proved their doubters wrong and erased much of the disappointment associated with their violation the year previous. Additionally, workhorse running back Caleb Jennings set ODAC and state records with 2,161 all-purpose yards, and was a finalist for the 2008 Virginia Player of the Year Award and an honorable mention All-American for D-III. 2. Seven Times SweeterThe Women's soccer team came out of the gates sprinting like it was the last leg of a world championship race, winning their first seven games. That win streak set the program record for consecutive wins. The Wasps played arguably their most dominant in the program's history, racking up 31 goals to their opponents 2 during that span. This impressive run also included 5 shutouts for freshman keeper Hayley Poland. 3. Youthful Wasps Tough To StopThe E&H Volleyball team finished the season 20-7 (6-4), posting two separate seven-game winning streaks, including their last seven games prior to losing in their conference tournament to Virginia Wesleyan. The Marlins were the only team all season long that defeated the Wasps 3-0, although the Wasps upset the higher seeded Marlins during the regular season. The team finished in sixth place during the regular season, and freshman Rachel Fertitta was named ODAC Volleyball Rookie of the Year, the College Division Rookie of the Year in the State of
By Chris Hatcher
Virginia and named to the First Team All-ODAC. 4. Marlins Meet Their MatchAfter only winning one game before the Christmas break, the women's team surged back and lost a one-point nail biter to defending ODAC Champion Bridgewater on a questionable call before winning two straight on the road against Hollins and the #1 team in the conference at the time, Virginia Wesleyan. The Jan. 16 meeting between the two teams took place on Wesleyan's home floor, where the Wasps controlled the game from the opening tip, winning 60-57. The Wasps dominated the Marlins on the glass, winning the rebounding battle by 15, which included a career high from Alex Lyons with 18 rebounds. Kayla Blackstock stepped up and scored 10 points for the Wasps. This game and another streak of four winning games helped
the Wasps to finish the season stronger than one could have predicted from their first semester record. 5. No Record Lasts ForeverDespite not running the Grinnell system and a drop-off in his production, senior wing player Camillo Weinz still managed to set the 3-point record for both E&H and the ODAC. Weinz who is from Berlin, Germany, broke the 18-year-old ODAC mark set by Gary Chupp (294) of Eastern Mennonite in the game against Hampden-Sydney College. Weinz continued to add to his total, finishing his career with 308 3pointers. Senior post player Kyle Huckins also set the ODAC record for field goal percentage for a career by shooting 67.55 percent from the field, breaking the previous record of Bridgewater's Tim Llewellyn, 1985-89, who shot 67.1 percent.
