updated March 15
March 3-4 (Brian Stanley, Athletic Communications)
After watching our men's basketball team defeat High Point to advance to the Big South semifinals, I finally headed home to pack for Radford Softball's trip to Hawai'i. I finally finished around 1 a.m. and took a quick two hour nap (boy 3 a.m. came pretty quick!) before heading to the Dedmon Center for a 4 a.m. departure to Charlotte-Douglas airport.
When I arrived at Dedmon and got on the bus there seemed to be some excitement about the fact that this team would be in Hawai'i by the end of the day. Well, it took all of five to 10 minutes before most of the travelers were sleeping. It took me a bit longer, but I was able to find an hour of dreamland.
We unloaded the bus at 6:30 and checked in for our flight. Only 13 hours to go!!! For me the plane ride went quick. I got a lot of work done before my laptop ran out of battery power. When we touched down in Dallas-Fort Worth we found a sandwich shop in the airport and picked up some much needed food.
After an hour layover, we boarded the plane for an eight-hour flight to the island of Oahu. A couple of inflight movies covered about half the trip. I did fall asleep (tells you a lot about the move) during the Day the Earth Stood Still remake with Keanu Reeves. They followed that with a really good movie in 21 about black jack, featuring one of my favorite actors, Kevin Spacey.
Still four hours and change to go. Next to me sat senior Jenn Everhart and athletic trainer Tennille Chambers. They decided to watch several episodes of "One Tree Hill" which I decided to pass on. A couple of episodes of The Office and a few more glasses of Coke kept me going.
FInally the pilot made the announcement that we were starting our decent ot Oahu where the weather was 69 degrees with a little bit of rain. Definitely beats the 18 degrees and snow that we left behind in the New River Valley.
One amazing feat was that nobody lost their luggage and we made it to the little complex of two houses and a poolhouse without getting lost. After eating a dinner of lasagna, everyone headed off to bed to get a good night's rest before a 10 am practice on Thursday.
All I can say is WOW! I woke up in the morning looking out at the ocean and watching the sun rise. I feel very fortunate that I was able to come to this beautiful place to work and watch softball for 12 days.
Thoughts from our seniors Alex Roderick and Jenn Everhart (March 6)
Alex -- Everyone should have the opportunity to visit Hawaii at least once in their life. It's amazing to be playing on a field where you can look over your shoulder and see beautiful green mountains! The house we are staying is amazing also -- big rooms, sliding doors, palm trees (for Himan), right on the water and truly magical scenery! We love it here and do NOT want to leave....
Today we won both of our games against Mount St. Mary's & Santa Clara--we are so excited to be representing RU here on the island against some really good teams.
Right now there's about 10 girls in the kitchen getting the food Brandon (business manager) grilled -- Jenn is outside in the backyard trimming Kristy's hair in a slight breeze -- and there are others shoving the best pineapple down their throats!! We are so lucky!!
Now it's time to eat, relax, and put in a movie to bond with my lovely team =) GO RU !!!
Jenn -- Our trip in Hawaii is amazing!! The rental house that we are staying in is absolutely gorgeous. After our eight hour plane ride from Texas we checked in and all took a trip to the grocery store which was quite interesting!! 23 people in a grocery store=not good.
The next day we had practice at 10. Practice started out a little rough but we pulled together and ended well which led to two wins the following day. We really came together as a team and beat schools that had played several more games than us already, considering the fact we came in only playing six games (one in the last two weeks).
The gazebo outside the houses gives you the best view. Thursday night, Tree (Volunteer assistant coach Ashley Taylor), Nicole Daily, Meredith, and I sat out on it for an hour just relaxing. Then, I stepped on a baby bird egg and destroyed it. Tree and Meredith decided to dissect it and noticed that you could see its eye poking out of the egg. I felt horrible!!!!
All in all, our trip so far is awesome and is the perfect "senior trip" for Alex and I :)
10:44 am Saturday - TIme to settle in a watch the Big South Championship game with the team.
We had to depart for the field a few minutes into the second half. So my vehicle was following the ESPN Gametracker on my cell phone the entire 30 minute drive. It got pretty exciting as the time was winding down and the lead was increasing. We arrived in the garage with 45 second left in the game and got the news of the big win as we sat down in the stadium.
Congratulations Men's Basketball!!!! (Brian)
Sunday, March 8 (Juniors Hope Creasy and Sarah Himan's thoughts just hours after defeating No. 25 Mississippi State and Oregon State to close out the first tournament)
Hope - Radford Softball has definitely done things that have never been done before in the program’s history, beginning with a long trip such as this one to Hawaii. There seems to be four main highlights of our trip so far: playing, site seeing, car pooling and in-the-house entertainment.
Playing – We started out with practice when we first got here that may have scared some people but in the end I think we all knew that it was gonna get us fired up and it did. We came out at the beginning of the tournament and got two wins, dropped one game but came back in the next one against Hawaii looking better than ever. Unfortunately that one ended in a rain delay but we picked up the next day right where we left off (beating two very good programs); our game, from every aspect, was on fire.
Site seeing – Even though we are here for softball and that is where our main focus is, we make sure we take care of business so we can go have some fun. We’ve spent two days at the beach where the water and mountains are beautiful and can’t forget the many times that most of us got wiped out by the waves. One other pretty cool adventure some of us have had in the short time we’ve been here was to see Gilligan’s Island (thanks Brian)!! (located about a half-mile from our house).
Car pooling – All I have to say is I never wanna hear SHOT GUN again…and the music selection is TERRIBLE. I, along with a few others, am being deprived of our country music.
Entertainment – RU men’s basketball winning Big South (congrats!!!!), TV, sleep, food, and of course CHUBBY BUNNY!!
Many memories yet to be made along with a lot more softball to be played!!
ALOHA!!
Sarah - Hawaii has been awesome. Nothing can beat softball, palm trees, beaches, a huge house, AMAZING pineapple, and warm weather.
I am sharing a room with Kristen and Shannon. I would definitely say that we have the best room in the house. I feel bad though sometimes for them because of my snoring. I get woken up at least once a night from Shannon telling me that I am snoring too loud. I have told her every time that I will work on trying not to snore so loud, but it has yet to happen!
One of the funniest moments so far in Hawaii was when we got lost going to the beach on Thursday. Jenny, Daily, and Tree were supposed to be leading us to the beach; however, they did not realize that they were actually leading us straight back to the house. So basically we left from the house and headed back towards the house before they realized what was up because they were reading the wrong directions. We finally got to the beach after about an hour of back tracking it was hilarious.
As far as softball goes, we ended the tournament today on a good note. We beat a top 25 team and also a Pac10 team which is great for our program. Both games took the effort of everyone. It was amazing to see so many different players step up when we needed them to. The team is really coming together and I am looking forward to see the great things that this team is going to do.
Tomorrow is our day off and we are going snorkeling and to a luau.
Go RU... "DO WORK!"
March 9 - Sophomores Lauren Williams and Taylor Cunningham talk about their day off which included getting lost (bad directions from me) on the way to snorkeling in Han Bay and a luau in the North Shore.
Lauren - Today was our only break from softball so our team got up early to actually enjoy Hawaii!!!
Snorkeling- We started off the day getting lost on our way to snorkeling where we saw many parts of the island including neighborhoods, a downtown area, a hospital (seen more than once), and a picture perfect view of enormous waves crashing into the side of even bigger cliffs. We finally arrived to our destination where everyone piled out of 4 cars. Being scared at first, snorkeling took a lot of getting use to. Trying to figure out how to breathe underwater was a challenge for me. Although, seeing all the beautiful fish and trying something new was well worth the wait.
Polynesian Cultural Center- After getting cleaned up from snorkeling, we all went to the Polynesian Cultural Center were we did what girls do best, Shopping!! For dinner, we got to experience a real Hawaiian Luau!! Dinner and entertainment, what could be better than that?! I got to try many different flavors of Hawaiian food including purple sweet potatoes, purple bread, poi, and a mango smoothie inside of a hollow pineapple. We ended the day with a night show including a cultural performance of different Polynesian countries. The show consisted of hula dancers and fire throwers with an interactive and comical twist thrown in as well. It was the perfect end to our day off.
So far this trip to Hawaii has been a good experience for me as an individual as well as the team as a whole. Days like today give me a chance to get to know the girls a little better. Living with the girls in two houses allows us to grow closer and find out who each other really are. I can see the team chemistry being carried over to the field as we have won 4 big games after a rocky start to the first tournament. The trust that we have in each other is only getting stronger.
GO RU!!! :)
Taylor - Aloha from Hawaii! It's the end of our first full day off in this amazing paradise. Today we went to Hunauma Bay to snorkel and to the Polynesian Cultural Center for a Luau. After driving the wrong way for about 45 minutes (thanks to Brian, even though he won't admit it) Coach Dean decided to pull over and be a man and ask for directions! After finding out we were pretty much on the wrong side of the island we got back on route and ended up at Hunauma Bay about 30 minutes later.
If you have never been snorkeling it is an experience that everyone should try. Even people who didn't know how to swim that well (Hope and Himan) were able to swim with the fishys :) Even though I did find my heart beating rather fast and myself breathing heavy, I'm glad I put some fears aside to do it. There were fish probably 1-2 feet long and all colors of the rainbow. Issac (coach Dean’s son) even said he saw a small octopus.
After snorkeling we headed back to the house to get pretty for the Luau. It was about a 45 minute drive to the Polynesian Cultural Center but well worth it. When we first got there we had about an hour to walk around and look in the shops and take lots of pictures. Then it came time for the actual luau. First we got received our leis and then we went inside. It was pretty cool watching some of the native dancers, but I know everyone’s favorite part was the buffet. Our eyes were definitely bigger then our stomachs. Some of the girls loaded there plates high and a few went back for seconds. But don't you doubt that, we didn't save room for dessert! We're softball players... we know how to eat. After dinner, we went to watch the show. That’s where the real action was. They had dancers throwing fire in the air, sitting on fire, one even tried eating fire. Shannon and I kept wondering why the people on stage reminded us of Poncho (Himan) then we realized they were speaking a different language and if you've ever met Himan... her English can be interesting sometimes ;)
Hawaii has been amazing so far, I'm sorry all of you can't be here to enjoy it with us, but if you ever get a chance to come, don't pass it up! Pictures can say a thousand words but they will never capture what our eyes have seen. Aloha everybody! Peace and love.
March 10 - Freshmen Leigh Godfrey and Kristy Brewer talk about Radford's trip to the Pearl Harbor and the USS Arizona Memorial, shopping at Waikiki and dinner with at P.F. Changs which happened to be owned and operated by Radford Alum Bob Crowley ('79, '81).
Leigh - Hawaii, what a beautiful place ? and to start of our sixth day here we had a two hour early morning train
ing session followed by a trip to Pearl Harbor.
What an amazing memorial for a tragic day in American History. Our tour started off with a 20 minute movie telling us all the reasons behind the attack on Pearl Harbor and the after effects of that day which was very helpful for people like myself who are not from America and don’t know a lot behind the meaning of that infamous day! From there they take you on a boat to the memorial site of the final resting place of the Arizona and its crew! What an amazing and at the same time sad site!!
After Pearl Harbor it was off to Waikiki beach for some shopping and dinner. Dinner was amazing we went to a place called P.F.Chang’s which is run by a Radford University alum. He put on a fantastic dinner for us and i don’t think i have ever been as full as I was when I left this place. The food is great I recommend to anyone who is in Hawaii to go check out this place ?
Well that was how we spent our sixth day in Hawaii, now it’s time for bed as us Australians need our beauty sleep and tomorrow we start our next tournament. Night
Kristy - Today we started off the day with an early morning practice that went pretty well, and we got to take a 20 minute run around Hawaii. We came back to the houses and got ready to go to Pearl Harbor. It was really interesting and I think everyone enjoyed learning about it and getting to see the memorials. We watched a movie about Pearl Harbor and then took a boat out to see the memorial for the USS Arizona. After Pearl Harbor, we all went to Waikiki and could either go to the beach or walk up and down the strip of stores for about two hours. Alex, Sarah, Nicole Daily and I walked around and went shopping. It was really hot out and there were a lot of people, but it was nice and we all got to look around for stuff we wanted. The whole team got to eat at P.F.Changs, which was DELICIOUS. Alex’s and my parents came to dinner joined us for dinner. After, we got to walk around for an hour more, then we all came back to our houses and just laid around. We have a game tomorrow so were getting ready for that.
March 11 - Radford began its second tournament at the University of Hawai'i defeating St. John's 6-3. The Red Storm are coached by former Highlander head coach Amy Kvilhaug, who is in her third season with the Red Storm. Sophomores Kellie Snooks and Kristen Shifflett share their thoughts about today.
Kellie - So today was our seventh full day in Hawaii, and it finally hit me that we are over half way done with our beautiful paradise trip. It started off with a somewhat late wake up, and a nice breakfast of bacon and eggs made for our house. We got on the road and headed to our fist game of the second tournament here in Hawaii. We didn't run into much traffic, so we got to the game early and got to watch a little of the Cal-Berkley and Memphis game.
The entire day pretty much surrounded our one game. We warmed up, and got going with our game verse St. Johns at 1pm. The game started off as a nail biter 0-0 no hits across the board up until I think the 4th inning. I spent most of the time in the bullpen ready to go in at any time. Shannon started the bats going with her homerun, and after a couple more hits, and an RBI by Leigh, Kristen came up and smacked another homerun, and we scored five runs in the top of the 5th. You could hear our hyped up dugout yelling "GUCCI" and "DO WORK." (the two sayings known to get us hyped, if you come to a game you will see this almost every inning!) The game ended 6-3, and we came out on top.
After we got back to the house, everyone was pretty exhausted. Everyone decided our best choice would be to relax around the house since we have five games left here in the next three days. Some of us hung out in the pool and hot tub, while a few others relaxed and watched a movie. Kristen, Hope, Taylor and I took a trip out to the gazebo to talk with the owner of the estate we were living in. He told us about the 400 fish he bought and put in the pond. These fish are HUGE! He also told us about the sharks, and stingrays that come to the wall that separated the estates and the ocean. How crazy is that?
After a nice taco dinner we are all calling it a night, getting ready for our next two games to be played tomorrow. Its about time to DO WORK!
MAHALO EVERYONE :)
Kristen - Hawaii has been the trip of a life time!! It is everything I thought it would be and more. No matter where you are if you look around its beautiful!! The house we are staying in is amazing. You look outside and there is the ocean,a gazebo, pool and hot tub. We have spent many nights hangin out in the hot tub just talking about the games, old memories, and whatever else comes to mind and sometimes Brian even like to listen in ;)
I have done many things here that I would never thought I would experience. I have gone to a real luau, the beautiful beaches, and the Pearl Harbor memorial. Radford Softball has really been blessed to be able to take a trip like this and play softball in this warm weather :)
My roomates are Shannon Rosie and Sarah aka Poncho :) It has been an experience all by itself just rooming with those two. Between Sarah's snoring, each of us getting text messages and phone calls in the middle of the night, and Sarah waking me and Shannon up ten minutes before we have to leave, it has been rocky but alot of fun and I wouldn't change it :)
Today we played St. Johns University. We beat them 6-3, it was a good win because the head coach of St Johns was the former head coach of Radford. In the beginning of this tournament the team started off up and down and we took a loss to Florida Gulf Coast and it wasn't pretty. Since then we have really come together as a team and played well. The pitching has been better than its been all year and we are hitting well as a team. Since we have been here, we have hit 12 or 13 homeruns and multiple people have stepped up in big situations to help us win the games. The trip has been great all around. We are playing great softball and having an experience we will always remember and cherish!
peace and love
Kris10
March 12 - The Highlanders picked up a pair of wins over Utah and Memphis today. Against the Utes, coach Dean won his 100th game at the helm of Radford. The feat took Dean just 145 games. Today sophomore Rebecca Whalley and freshman Nicole Daily will entertain you with their thoughts.
Rebecca - So we are still in Hawaii and the sun is still shining for us, sometimes it has to shine through the rain but we manage. With two big games to be ready for today, the good little children of Radford Softball were in their allocated holiday houses by curfew (10pm). For me that meant taking a shower (yuck) and settling down on the couch with my trusty laptop and not so trusty internet connection. After going through the usual pre-bed routine of checking facebook, my email and saying goodnight to the boyfriend (who is only about a six hour flight from here as compared to the usual 24 from Virginia) I pulled up blankets pilfered from mine and Chelsea’s room upstairs and went to sleep. My sleep was cut short at 5:30am though because I imagined a gigantic spider crawling on my feet. As I am scared of spiders, I moved quicker than I think I’ve moved in years, jumping out of bed (right onto my laptop, which thank goodness, did not break) and over to the light switch. Of course there was no spider, but it was a great energetic start to the day.
Oh and the reason I’m sleeping downstairs (in the non-air-conditioned living room) is because I got sick in Hawai'i. Yes, it really happened. Take me to the snow and I’ll stay healthy but put me in tropical weather and my nose will drip like a tap- thus why I am boycotting all air-conditioning for the rest of eternity.
Okay back to the trip, starting with simple math. Yesterday we kicked butt + Today we kicked butt = Coach Dean is a VERY happy boy sooooooo we now get the possibility of pizza for dinner (as long as it’s wheat crust) and the freedom to take the minivans wherever we want (bar taco bell) during our chill time this arvo. (Arvo is ‘afternoon’ in Australia and no, Shannon, Australian is not a language) With our limited freedom of choice a few people are going to sightsee, some to the mall, some to Safeway for food (I’m going there because food is my life!) and I heard rumours of pedicures but I’m not sure how true they are.
Before I close out this blogging sesh I should actually touch on the games... since that is probably the entire reason this blog even exists. We played Utah this morning at 11am and beat them 5-0. We started off slow and then got some hits in the 4th to bring in some runs. Then we played Memphis and won 4-2. I’m starting to think the sandwiches we eat between games have some kind of special power because we always manage to bring a second hit of energy for the end of the day no matter how tired or sore we are. It’s great. Hope they sell the same brand of turkey and ham in VA ?
Alright well I’m hoping this wasn’t too boring for everyone who took the time to read it. If it was then you’ve learnt your lesson about reading! (I’m totally kidding, I love reading)
Have a good one! Xx AUSSIE #13
Nicole - Hawai’i is amazing! The view is beautiful no matter where you look. Today we played two games against Memphis and Utah. We beat Utah 5-0 and Memphis 4-2, the win against Utah gave coach Dean his 100th win.
After the game a bunch of us piled into one vehicle and headed up to the North Shore. The whole ride there all Tree and Hope could talk about was getting out and chasing the chickens on the side of the road. After an hour drive and some interesting conversations we finally made it. The waves were huge; I have never seen anything like it. Everyone was getting knocked out by the waves and we were covered in sand head-to-toe. We ate dinner at a shrimp place along the side of the road. Which was really good compared to the burnt chicken and cardboard hamburgers we have been eating (sorry Brandon).
I think I can speak for everyone when I say I am not ready to head back to reality or the cold weather.
March 13 - Freshman Meredith Moore and sophomore Shannon Keefe share their thoughts about the trip and today's games against Wisconsin and host Hawai'i. The Highlanders went 1-1 on the day, rebounding from an early loss to the Badgers by beating the Rainbow Wahine, 6-1.
Meredith - Aloha! Today was a crazy day from start to end! We all woke up super early even though we didn't play until 3:00 today! Shannon, Sarah, Jenn, and I were playing with the dogs next door and all of a sudden roobear and scruffy (the dogs) sprinted away and we thought they were gonna jump into the hammerhead infested waters!! Jenn and I took off one way and Shan and Sarah the other! We ended up catching the dogs and making sure they were safe, but we looked extremely goofy trying to catch them!!
We beat Hawaii and it was a great team win! We were loud and energetic and were so proud of each other when we won 6-1!! This trip has been an amazing experience and I'm so fortunate as a freshman to have the opportunity to play some great competition and get our season started!! It's going to be an awesome one!!!
I can't wait to wake up and play tomorrow!! Go Radford!! <3
Shannon - So we all woke up around 8am today when we didn't play till 3...weird ha. The morning was adventful. We were in the kitchen for about five hours doing what we do best...EATING. Michelle Beal was easily influenced to go swim with the baracudas on a sinking floaty device. All she was successful in doing was sinking two feet deep in smelly dirty mud.
The games went alright. The fist game we lost when we shouldn't. We didn't make adjustments, end of story. The second game we ended up lighting up Hawaii again and this time we finished it out (no rain). Nichole Beall aka SCRUFFY hit a bomb home run bringing in two RBI and then another great hit to right center bringing in two more runs. The team all around stepped up and Willie made an outstanding diving catching finishing it with a double play.
B STAN ..B STAN..B STAN.. He is the best driver on this trip.
BOLA!!!
March 14 - Today started early (6am) to get ready for our big game with No. 9 Cal, but as we were about to depart at 6:45 am, a call came in that the game was canceled due to the monsoon type rain covering the whole island. After some disappoinment about not being able to play, we changed and headed out on a full days adventure of shopping, hiking, eating, sun bathing and sight seeing. Our freshmen twins, Michele and Nichole Beall, let you in on what the day and night consisted of.
Michele - Six o’clock comes around and everyone gets out of bed with our last game here in mind. We load up the vehicles to find out that the game had been canceled due to rain. As a result we just changed in to other clothes and went to the Flea Market, Diamond Head National Monument, and the beach. After the beach, a few of the girls, including myself, and Brian went to the North Shore to watch the sunset. This was by far the most beautiful thing I have seen since I have been in Hawai'i. We got to the beach around 6:15 and picked the best spot we could find. The magic started to happen at about 6:40 when the sun finally came down below the clouds. It was like the sun was floating right on top of the water. The mountains to the left of the sun were outlined in pink and orange and the glare of the sun on the water was yellow and red. It was the picture perfect sunset that one could only dream of. The worst part was when it ended. It ended in what seemed like a few seconds after it broke free from the clouds, but it was totally worth every second.
Nichole - Today we woke up bright and early for our last game against Cal-Berkeley. I woke up at six o’clock, just enough time to get a good breakfast and get dressed. Coach Dean got up a little earlier to make us all scrambled eggs and bacon, so I had plenty to eat. After eating breakfast, I brushed my teeth and did my other morning routines and slipped on my uniform. As we climbed into the car we all got word that the game was canceled. So we unloaded the car and gathered back into the house. Then Coach Dean had the attitude that “since we are all up, we might as well go ahead and do something.” So we all changed clothes piled back into the cars and headed to the flea market. At this point everyone was thinking that Coach was crazy because we had a flash flood warning in effect for our area and yet we were headed to an outdoor flea market. However, it turned out to be a pretty amazing day.
We went to the flea market for a little while, then headed on over to Diamond Head to do some hiking. It took us a while to get to the top of the mountain, but it was so worth the struggle just to see the view at the top. It was so gorgeous. After about one hundred pictures taken we made our way back down the mountain, got in the cars and headed for the beach. At the beach we just hung out and were being lazy until we decided to go. We left the beach and headed home where we grabbed something to eat. Then we all decided that for the remainder of the day we would do what we wanted, so we all split up and did our own little things.
Today was a lot of fun. Though I really wished we would have played our game against Cal, having today gave us an opportunity to get out and do our own things. I really enjoyed the day and just hanging out with the team.
March 15 - Today was a jam packed day and sophomore Chelsea Kelley let you know all about it.
Chelsea - So today started off with some serious issues with super glue. Enough said. But no worries, it all got better from there. We started off our morning with breakfast in our cozy little house. Coach Lampman made us eggs and we all made ourselves whatever else we wanted to go with them. Then it was off to the flea market again.
The flea market was packed today with so many vendors and shoppers, unlike yesterday when it was pouring and we were one of the only crazy groups out in that weather. Everybody split up and went their separate ways trying to find jewelry, bags, and whatever other souvenirs they wanted. (Not that any of us could afford to buy anything else since we were already over our weight limits for the plane on the way here.)
After the flea market we rushed back to our houses to watch the March Madness Tournament selection show. We all gathered around the tv at our house and tried to guess who the basketball team would be matched against for the first round. We finally learned it would be UNC, but were disappointed that they didn’t show our guys celebrating like some of the other teams ?. Then Brandon grilled us out a great lunch and we quickly changed to head for the beach.
Today’s beach of choice was Sunset Beach at the North Shore. Some girls on our team had already visited there and we had heard stories about the waves but seeing them was unbelievable. There were tons of surfers in the water and great sunshine to get a tan. We stayed there for a few hours and at about 6 o’clock we packed up all of our things and jumped back in the cars to head for a lookout point about a half a mile up the road. We got out and took team pictures as we watched the sunset out over a rock formation and waterfall. It was one of the most beautiful sights I have ever seen!
Now we are all back at our houses frantically trying to locate all of our belongings and pack them back up. It is sad that it is our last night here. It’s going to be a long night and then an early morning tomorrow as we get up for a sunrise breakfast on the shore.
It’s been a great trip…so many memories!!!! LOVE YOU GIRLS!!!
