Lancer Roundup

Former Lancer pitcher wins Triple-A World Series

Former Longwood pitcher Mark Montgomery ’11 capped his sixth season of professional baseball in championship fashion, winning the Triple-A National Championship with the Scranton-Wilkes Barre RailRiders, Triple-A affiliate of the New York Yankees. Montgomery split the 2016 season between Scranton-Wilkes Barre and Double-A Trenton, and rejoined the Triple-A club in September just in time to help the RailRiders capture the International League title and top Pacific Coast League champ El Paso in a single-game, winner-take-all championship matchup. Montgomery, an 11th-round draft pick by the Yankees out of Longwood in 2011, posted a 2.56 ERA, a 2-0 record, seven saves and 63 strikeouts in 2016, including a 2.92 ERA and a .184 opponent batting average in 24.2 innings with the RailRiders.

Alum slides into Greenville Drive honors with 16 homers

Former Longwood slugger Kyri Washington ’15 was named the Single-A Greenville Drive’s 2016 Player of the Year. A 23rd-round draft pick by the Boston Red Sox in 2015, Washington made quite the impact in his second year in the Boston Red Sox organization, earning top-30 prospect status in the Red Sox organization by MLB.com in his second professional season. Washington hit .262 with 16 home runs, 20 doubles, 73 RBI and 16 stolen bases, ranking among the South Atlantic League’s top 10 in homers, total bases and RBI.

_{Courtney Tolton '17} 

Golf standout wins second career tournament

Courtney Tolton ’17, a business major from Mitchell, Ontario, captured her second career tournament win in September, surging to the top of the leaderboard across two days of competition at the Tignanelli Towson Invitational at Eagles Nest Country Club in Phoenix, Maryland. Tolton became the Big South’s first player this season to win a tournament and the first under third-year head coach Shannon Briggs to win multiple tournaments. Tolton won at the Mimosa Hills Intercollegiate last season.

_{Darius Thigpen}

New 'voice of the Lancers' named

Darius Thigpen, Longwood’s assistant director of athletics communications for new media, was named the new voice of Longwood men’s and women’s basketball, baseball and softball. Thigpen, in his second year as a full-time member of the athletics department, will provide all play-by-play for the four sports’ games broadcast on WVHL 92.9 FM Kickin’ Country in Farmville, as well as selected broadcasts on the Big South Network streaming platform. A graduate of Ohio State University, Thigpen provided play-by-play and analysis for numerous Longwood sports last season, including men’s basketball. He takes over for Scott Bacon, who served as the voice of the Lancers for eight years before moving to Jacksonville University in Florida this past July to accept the position of deputy athletics director for external relations.

Men's golf pulls in GCAA award

The Longwood men’s golf program was honored by the Golf Coaches Association of America (GCAA) with a 2015-16 GCAA President’s Special Recognition honor, given to Division I programs that maintain a collective grade-point average of 3.50 or higher throughout the academic year. Head coach Kevin Fillman’s squad was among 24 Division I programs to hit that mark, earning the award for the first time in program history.

_{Lotanna Nwogbo ’16}

Former Lancers sign pro basketball contracts

Four former Longwood men’s basketball standouts have signed professional contracts to play internationally, including recent graduates Shaquille Johnson ’16 and Lotanna Nwogbo ’16.

Johnson signed with the Canadian-based Halifax Hurricanes of the National Basketball League, while Nwogbo inked his first pro deal with the Argentine-based GECR Indalo in the Liga Nacional de Básquet. Those two were among the first Longwood signees for fourthyear head coach Jayson Gee and give the program four former Lancers who have signed pro contracts in Gee’s tenure.

Nwogbo’s signing comes after the 6-foot-8, 260-pound big man earned All-Big South first team honors last season, becoming the first Longwood player to receive that first-team honor. Johnson, meanwhile, earned Big South All-Tournament Team honors in both of his seasons in Farmville.

Nwogbo and Johnson join Quincy Taylor ’15 and Tristan Carey ’14 as Gee products who are currently playing professionally. Taylor, an All-Big South second team selection, signed with the Surrey Scorchers of the United Kingdom, while Carey is now with the Lugano Tigers of Switzerland. Additionally, former Lancers Aaron Mitchell ’11 (DSG, Tunisia), Jan van der Kooij ’12 (Leeuwarden, Holland) and Kirk Williams (Windsor, Canada) are also continuing their pro careers in 2016.