Inside HOKIE SPORTS | Vol. 13 No. 4 | March 2021

inside.hokiesports.com 27 THANKS TO DIRECTORS JON HAND AND NANCY BRITTLE The Board of Directors of the Virginia Tech Monogram Club is comprised of an all-volunteer staff of dedicated former student-athletes serving their sports. Recently, the Board had two members retire from their positions. Jon Hand (’99) served on the Board as Director of Baseball for many years and worked to provide opportunities to reunite former Hokie baseball players. Jon played baseball for the Hokies from 1995-98 under legendary coach Chuck Hartman . After being drafted by the St. Louis Cardinals, he spent four seasons in the minor leagues before hanging up his cleats. Nancy Brittle (’72) was the first Director for Spirit and laid a great foundation of success. Under her tenure, spirit alumni became one of the highest Club membership totals for all sports programs. Nancy was on the cheer squad from 1969-72 and lives in Blacksburg where she continues to be a strong supporter of all Hokie sports. The Monogram Club greatly thanks Jon and Nancy for their service to athlete alumni, the Club, the Athletic Department, and the University. Because of their work, they leave behind a strong alumni network of former student-athletes from their respective sports. SPIRIT DIRECTOR Mary-Catherine (Hutchens) Steigerwald joins the Board of Directors as the Director for Spirit Programs. Mary-Catherine Hutchens (Class of 2010, BA-Interdisciplinary Studies) was a member of the Virginia Tech HighTechs in 2006-10 and received her varsity letters in 2007-10. She competed with the Nationals Competition team all four years. While dancing at VT, she was voted as having “Best Attitude” by her peers 2007- 09, as well as being named the 2007 Rookie of the Year and the 2009 HighTech Strength and Conditioning Athlete. After graduating from VT, Mary-Catherine went on to receive her master’s degree from Liberty (’11). She has taught elementary education with Lynchburg City Schools, Charleston (S.C.) County Schools, and is currently a Kindergarten teacher with Bedford County Schools. She also serves as a dance teacher with Seven Hills Dance Studio in Lynchburg, Virginia. Mary-Catherine, her husband Craig, and their two dogs reside in their hometown of Lynchburg. She is very excited to be joining the MC Board, following Nancy Brittle, who passionately served as the spirit board member for the past five years. We will forever be grateful for Nancy’s hard work and dedication to the Monogram Club. Mary-Catherine wishes to continue to bring alumni together with a goal of working to grow membership, support current Spirit Program members, and maintain networking relationships. She encourages all Spirit alumni to reach out to her at mhutc06@vt.edu . MEN’S SOCCER While certainly a different type of season this fall, the Hokies rose to as high as No. 4 in the country. Fast forward to the MLS Draf t with both Daniel Pereira and Kristo Strickler getting drafted by Austin FC and the Houston Dynamo, respectively. Notably, Daniel Pereira adds himself to the Mount Rushmore of VT athletes selected with the first overall pick. The others you ask… just a couple names you may recognize— Bruce Smith and Michael Vick ! For those alumni who live in or near the following cities, if allowed by your state or county protocols given the pandemic, consider checking out the Hokies’ 2021 spring schedule. Visit hokiesports.com for the latest schedule information. As it relates to upcoming VTMS Alumni events, whether in Blacksburg or regionally, please make sure you are connected with your Monogram Club men’s soccer representative, Charlie Howe (’06). He can be reached at charlieh.howe@gmail.com . Given the current state of affairs, respectfully we will hold on hosting any events until there’s a safe environment to do so. To connect with former soccer alumni, please look for us on Facebook as we continue to grow our network and share past pictures and memories. Please search for “ Virginia Tech Men’s Soccer Players, Alumni, and Friends of the Program ”. FOOTBALL We have seen three Hokie Football alumni win Super Bowl LV in Tampa, Florida; and we have seen the head coach of the Super Bowl- winning Tampa Bay Buccaneers help to assemble, arguably, the most inclusive and diverse staff in the history of the NFL , much less to win the Super Bowl! VT football alumni give a shout-out to the three “Hokie Buccaneer Coaches” for their SB WIN: Bruce Arians (VT ’74)—Tampa Bay Head Coach - former VT QB in ’72-74 for the Coffey- and Sharpe- coached teams; Graduate Assistant in ’75 & ’76; & RB coach in ’77 for Sharpe; Cody Grimm (VT ’09)—Tampa Bay Assistant Coach - former VT walk-on; red-shirt in ’05; letterwinner as LB in ’06-09 on Beamer teams; and Nick Rapone (VT ’78)—Tampa Bay Assistant Coach - former VT DB; letterwinner ’74, ’77 & ’78 for Sharpe and Dooley teams. Coach Fuente hired another former Hokie football player to join his coaching staff in February. The football alumni welcome JC Price (’96) back to Blacksburg as co-defensive line coach & defensive recruiting coordinator. JC was a 4-year starter on D-line in fall seasons of 1992- 95 and was elected Team Captain for the ’95 season. He was 1st-team All Big East and 3rd-team AP All American in his senior season of ’95. He was then drafted in the third round by the Carolina Panthers in ’96 and played for Arizona Cardinals in ’96-’97. Following his time in NFL, Continued on page 28 price