(Interesting Notes about Patriot athletics)

·         Francis Marion University graduate and former Patriot volleyball player Crystal Poskey (Clarkston, WA) was recently named the head women’s volleyball coach at Radford University. Poskey replaces Jerry Pruitt (her former coach at FMU), who had returned to Radford for a second coaching stint, but was forced to resign after only one month due to health problems. Poskey has been an assistant coach at Appalachian State University for the past three seasons. At FMU, Poskey was a three-time All-Peach Belt Conference performer, and became the first PBC athlete in any sport to earn “Player of the Year” honors (1998) after being named the “Freshman of the Year” (1996). She ended her career with nearly 5,000 assists and more than 1,000 digs in 128 matches. She helped lead FMU to a four-year mark of 111-23, two PBC regular-season titles, two PBC Tournament championships, and the program’s first invitation to the NCAA Division II national tournament.

·         FMU graduate and former Patriot centerfielder Ginger Miller (Wingate, NC) recently completed her second year as head softball coach at Georgia College & State University with a trip to the NCAA Division II College Softball World Series. She guided the Lady Bobcats to a 45-13 record and to the South Atlantic Region title. On Miller’s staff as an assistant was Mandy Harris (Richardson, TX), an FMU graduate and former Patriot shortstop who played alongside Miller from 1998 to 2001. Miller compiled a .328 career average in 192 games for the Patriots, while Harris batted .317 in a school-record 219 games.

 

·         FMU graduate and former women’s basketball player Megan Duran was recently named the assistant athletic director and head women’s basketball coach at Newbury College, an NCAA Division III institution in Brookline, Mass. She spent the two previous years as an assistant coach at Hartwick College in Oneonta, N.Y. Duran was a two-year starter for the Patriots and appeared in 123 career games between 1996 and 2000. She is tied for eighth on the FMU career assists list with 333. She helped lead FMU to a four-year record of 103-22 and four trips to the NCAA Division II Tournament, including three Sweet Sixteen appearances.

 

·         Two recent Patriot student-athletes will be applying their talents in something other than sports this fall. Jonathan Runion (Findlay OH), the starting FMU soccer goalkeeper for the past four years, has been accepted into the dental school program at Ohio State University. Jamie Wiggins (Marion, SC), the starting catcher on the Patriot softball squad each of the past three seasons, will be attending the College of Pharmacy at the Medical University of South Carolina in Charleston.