Athletics Archives

Transy announces Athletes of the Year for 2008

Posted on May 20, 2008July 14, 2020 by Office of Marketing and Communications

LEXINGTON, Ky.—Men’s soccer All-American Matt Vogel, two-sport standout Liz Meredith, and All-Heartland Conference golfer Rhea Badgett were named male and co-female Pioneer Athletes of the Year during Wednesday’s 15th annual Transylvania Athletic Awards ceremony. Vogel, a native of Lexington and a graduate of Lexington Christian Academy, was a two-time All-American and a three-time All-Region choice for the Pioneers. He was also the HCAC Player of the Year this season after leading Transy to its third straight NCAA Division III Championship appearance, where the Pioneers advanced to the round of 16. For the third time since the award has been given, there were co-female Pioneer Athletes of the Year in Meredith and Badgett. Badgett, a Madisonville North Hopkins product, was a four-time member of the All-HCAC first team and was the conference’s Freshman of the Year, when she finished second in the league tournament. A two-time team captain, she never finished lower than seventh in the HCAC Championships. Meredith was a starting outfielder on the softball team and a team captain on the swimming and diving squad. She played on the first Transy softball team to qualify for the NCAA Championships in 2006 and scored points in all three of her individual events at the Bluegrass Mountain Conference Swimming Championships. She also established personal best times in all her events as a senior. Brent Roach, a four-year member of the baseball team, received the George H.

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Transy men, women make NCAA Tournament field

Posted on February 27, 2007July 14, 2020 by Office of Marketing and Communications

LEXINGTON, Ky. — Transylvania’s men’s and women’s basketball teams have qualified for the NCAA Division III Championships. Both teams will play on the road this year, beginning play on Friday. The women, under first-year head coach Greg Todd, earned the first NCAA berth in school history, making the 63-team field as an at-large entry. The Pioneers missed getting an automatic berth when they lost 70-69 Saturday to Manchester in the finals of the Heartland Conference Tournament. The Transy women will travel to DePauw on Friday to take on the host Tigers. Transy is 19-8, compared to 25-3 for DePauw, winners of the Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference. Denison (24-4) meets defending national champion Hope (24-3) in the other half of the bracket with the winners meeting on Saturday. Denison won the North Coast Athletic Conference’s berth while Hope represents the Michigan Intercollegiate Athletic Conference. Hope defeated Southern Maine in last year’s national championship game. On the men’s side, coach Brian Lane’s Pioneers will go to Wooster for a rematch with the Scots, a team Transy defeated 91-88 in a second-round game last year at the Beck Center. Centre (23-4), winners of the SCAC tournament, will meet Capital (19-8) in the other half of the bracket with winners meeting on Saturday. Capital represents the Ohio Athletic Conference. Transy’s men advanced to the Elite Eight in last year’s NCAA Tournament before falling to national runners-up Wittenberg. Transy is among 59 teams in the

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Transy Names Manning Head Softball Coach

Posted on August 24, 2006July 14, 2020 by Office of Marketing and Communications

LEXINGTON, Ky. — Michelle Manning, the former head coach at Albion College and Shenandoah University, has been named head softball coach at Transylvania, Pioneers’ athletics director Jack Ebel said Friday. Manning, a former all-conference player at Mount Union College, has also coached at Bethany College during her career. She took over a struggling Albion program two years ago and had an immediate impact, posting records of 18-18 and 20-20. At Shenandoah, the team posted the second most wins in school history under Manning’s leadership. “Michelle has demonstrated her ability to coach and recruit NCAA Division III athletes successfully,” said Ebel. “I think she will do a great job at Transylvania and we are delighted to have her join our staff.” Manning has also coached volleyball at the collegiate level. She replaces Kelley Anderson, who guided the Pioneers for nine years and posted a 231-92-4 record, including four Heartland Collegiate Athletic Conference regular season titles and an appearance in the NCAA Division III tournament in 2006. Three Albion players earned All-Michigan Intercollegiate Athletic Conference honors last season and her team ranked in the top 10 academically. As a graduate assistant at Bethany, Manning was a member of the East Region Coaching Staff of the Year in 2002 following a 32-10 record and an NCAA regional championship. Bethany was 31-8 in 2003. Transy was 32-12 last year, the fourth time in school history the Pioneers have won 30 games in a season.

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Transy Names Villarreal Head Coach

Posted on August 7, 2006July 14, 2020 by Office of Marketing and Communications

LEXINGTON, Ky. – George Villarreal, the former head coach at Chicago and Frostburg State, has been named to lead the Transylvania swimming and diving program, Pioneers’ athletics director Jack Ebel said Monday. Villarreal replaces Ebel, who coached the Transy swimmers for 27 years before moving up to athletics director earlier this year. Vilarreal becomes just the second head coach in the history of the program. Transy’s men finished second in the Bluegrass Mountain Conference last year while the women were fourth and combined for a third place finish. The Pioneers compete as members of the NCAA’s Division III. Villarreal compiled a dual meet record of 12-9-1 at Chicago last year and over the last three seasons, he guided the Maroons to a pair of NCAA Division III top-40 finishes. Under his leadership, Chicago posted its best ever University Athletic Association finishes, getting back-to-back winning seasons for the first time in nearly two decades. “George is a proven head coach at the NCAA Division III level,” said Ebel. “He is in excellent fit for Transylvania and we look forward to having him on our coaching staff. He’s the perfect person to help us become competitive in Division III swimming and diving.” Under Villarreal’s leadership, Chicago set 28 new school records in 14 events with relay teams meeting the qualifying times for the NCAA Division III Championships for the first time. In addition to his position at Chicago, Villarreal was the head

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