Virginia
Virginia Tech fans react to James Franklin hire
BLACKBURG, Va. (WDBJ) – The James Franklin era at Virginia Tech has begun, and expectations couldn’t be higher.
“VT football is saved. I’m excited,“ a Virginia Tech fan said.
“I mean, I think he’s gonna bring a lot to the future,” said another.
“We are so back! I was afraid it’s gonna be a long four years here. Not anymore. It’s gonna be great.”
At Penn State, Franklin led the Nittany Lions to 104 wins, a 2016 Big Ten Championship, and a 2024 College Football Playoff semi-finals appearance.
All of those accomplishments are injecting hope into Virginia Tech fans who have only seen one 10 win season since legendary coach Frank Beamer retired after the 2015 season.
“I’m hoping that he just brings everything that he had once before brings us a winning program gets us what we want maybe a natty,” Freshman Colin Hebeo said.
Franklin replaces Brent Pry who was his defensive coordinator at Penn State from 2016 until he left to become the Hokies head coach in 2022.
After starting the season 0-3, Pry was relieved of his duties, now that Franklin is taking over, fans expect him to turn back the clock to when Virginia Tech was a national powerhouse.
“I want him to bring back what the old Virginia Tech football is like, That’s just straight hype and then like everybody is always got the energy going and we’re winning games make crazy plays, I just want to see that happen again,” Freshman JD Kwitkwoksi said.
Franklin is the most high profile coach the Hokies have had since Frank Beamer, and fans are hoping the big name will bring respect to a team who used to dominate the college world.
“I like it cause it’ll at least make us like not a laughingstock Like we’re not gonna we’re not just gonna go into every game thing. We’re gonna lose like we actually have a chance now,” Freshman Jake Woodworth said.
Franklin will have the backing of the university as the board of visitors approved $229.2 million to the university’s athletic funding over the next four years.
Copyright 2025 WDBJ. All rights reserved.
Virginia
Obituary for Virginia (Haines) James | Ronald V. Hall Funeral Home
Virginia Haines James, age 85, of Vidalia, who’s sunrise was October 13, 1940 and sunset was Friday, March 20, 2026, at Appling Healthcare in Baxley after an extended illness. She as a native of Montgomery County, growing up in Mt. Vernon and was a 1958 graduate of Montgomery County High School. She married her married her husband in 1958, he was in the Army, and as a military family they lived in several places, including Okinawa, Japan, France, and Germany. Upon his retirement, they moved to Vidalia where she lived the rest of her life. She joined the Mt. Vernon Methodist Church on December 14, 1951 and later was a member of the First Baptist Church of Vidalia and where she sang in the choir. She was Bethany Home Administrator for more than twenty years. She enjoyed sewing, the outdoors, yard work, gospel music, singing, collecting ladybugs, genealogy, and traveling to cemeteries all over south Georgia. She loved buying Bibles and giving them to her family and friends.
She is preceded in death by the love of her life, Roscoe James; parents, William Elijah Haines and Mary Elizabeth Byrd Haines; one brother, William Haines; and two sisters, Sarah Haines Bishop and Ann Haines.
She is survived by two children, Roscoe David James and wife Lorie of Baxley, and Virginia Beth James Smith of Wilmington Island; four grandchildren, Jessica James and Drew James of the Center Community, Levi James (USN) of Charleston, South Carolina, and Connor Smith and wife Hannah of Rincon; one brother, James “Jimmy” Haines and wife Daisy of Treutlen County; one sister, Naomi Jean Haines Duckworth and husband Bruce of Mt. Vernon; and several nieces and nephews.
The funeral service will be held on Wednesday, March 25th, 2026, at 3:00 in the chapel of Ronald V. Hall Funeral Home with her nephew, Pastor Daniel Caraway officiating. Interment will follow at the Long Pond Cemetery.
The family will receive friends at the funeral home on Wednesday afternoon from 2:00 until just prior to the service.
Flowers are accepted, or those desiring can help continue her legacy by donating to The Gideons International, PO Box 156, Vidalia, GA 30475.
The family would like to express their appreciation and gratitude to the nurses and staff of Appling Nursing and Rehab Pavilion for their loving care and support.
Ronald V. Hall Funeral Home of Vidalia is in charge of arrangements.
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Virginia
NCAA women’s swimming and diving: Virginia wins record sixth straight NCAA title
Virginia has done it again, securing a sixth consecutive NCAA title in women’s swimming and diving.
The Cavaliers now hold the longest streak of national championships in Division I women’s swimming history. The exclamation point was an NCAA record in the 400 freestyle relay to close the meet, breaking their own mark set last month at the ACC championships.
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The Hoos were dominant all week and head coach Todd DeSorbo has built one of the greatest dynasties in women’s swimming history.
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Virginia won all five relays, a multitude of individual titles, and overwhelmed the rest of the field with elite depth. The Cavaliers show no signs of slowing down, and will return a plethora of talent in 2027.
Stanford and Texas battled to the end, with the Cardinal passing the Longhorns on the final day to secure national runners-up. Stanford picked up key event wins to stay in the 200 IM and 100 freestyle, defeating Texas by four points.
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After having a relay disqualified on Wednesday night, California continued to fight all week and secured a top-four finish. The Golden Bears squeezed past Tennessee by a point and a half while the Lady Vols secured fifth by 5 1/2 points over Michigan.
[Wednesday Recap | Thursday Recap | Friday Recap]
Here’s how the final night of finals unfolded:
Lucy Bell closes out her senior NCAAs with a second title
Senior Lucy Bell continued her standout meet with a victory in the 200 IM, touching in 1:52.09. Bell helped lead the Cardinal past Texas on the final day of competition.
California freshman Teagan O’Dell finished second, just ahead of her teammate Mia West, who took third. The two Golden Bears helped Cal jump into the top four.
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Louisville sophomore Anastasia Gorbenko placed fourth, followed by Texas sophomore Campbell Chase in fifth.
Virginia placed two swimmers in the championship final, with Aimee Canny finishing sixth and Leah Hayes placing seventh. UCLA senior Rosie Murphy rounded out the field in eighth.
Torri Huske goes 3-for-3, bests Moesch in 100 free
Stanford senior and three-time Olympic gold medalist Torri Huske powered to another NCAA title winning the 100 freestyle in 45.17. In one of the most anticipated races of the year, Huske defeated the loaded field in pool record fashion.
A pair of Cavaliers followed as Anna Moesch placed second in 45.54 and Sara Curtis third in 45.77. Indiana freshman Liberty Clark finished fourth in 46.11, just ahead of Camille Spink (Tennessee) in fifth at 46.28.
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Mary-Ambre Moluh (California) took sixth in 46.30, followed by Cadence Vincent (Alabama) in seventh.
Julia Dennis (Louisville) finished eighth.
Stoll wins 200 butterfly title
Texas’ Campbell Stoll claimed the 200 butterfly title in 1:50.26, holding off a tight field down the stretch. The race was closely contested, but it was Stoll who got to the wall first ahead of Indiana freshman Alex Shackell and Michigan junior Hannah Bellard. Stoll out-touched Shackell by less than two tenths of a second on the final stroke.
Virginia’s Tess Howley placed fourth in 1:51.69, followed by Stanford’s Caroline Bricker, who secured fifth.
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Tennessee scored crucial points in the event as two Lady Vols competed in the championship final. Sophomores Emily Brown and Ella Jansen finished sixth and seventh respectively. Cal’s Lilou Ressencourt rounded out the top eight finishers.
Claire Curzan sweeps NCAA backstroke titles
Virginia junior Claire Curzan completed an impressive backstroke double, winning the 200 back this evening in 1:46.10. Curzan closed her week in meet record fashion, one hundredth shy of her own NCAA record.
Wisconsin’s Maggie Wanezek finished second in 1:47.73, while NC State’s Erika Pelaez took third in 1:49.08.
Claire Jansen (Pittsburgh) placed fourth, with Michigan’s Bella Sims dropping down to fifth. Teagan O’Dell completed her Saturday double with a sixth place finish and Pelaez’s teammate Leah Shackley secured seventh. Indiana’s Miranda Grana closed out the championship final.
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Stanford freshman Ellie Cole wins platform diving with meet record score
Stanford freshman Ellie Cole delivered a meet-record performance to win platform diving with 399.80.
US Olympian Daryn Wright finished second representing Purdue. She was followed by Florida State’s Kayleigh Clark in third.
Minnesota’s Viviana Del Angel placed fourth, while Texas’ Bayleigh Cranford finished fifth.
Sofia Knight (North Carolina), Mia Prusiecki (Ohio State), and Camyla Monroy (Florida) rounded out the top eight.
Virginia completes relay sweep in NCAA record
Virginia closed the meet with a statement performance, winning the 400 freestyle relay in an NCAA-record 3:05.26.
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The team of Madi Mintenko, Curzan, Moesch and Curtis re-broke the fastest time in history, closing out the meet with yet another NCAA title. Moesch had a standout 45.61 split to vault the Cavaliers to a new record.
Stanford finished second while Texas took third in 3:07.02. California’s fourth-place finish was the reason the Golden Bears finished in the top four, while Indiana placed fifth in a tightly contested final.
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Georgia vs Virginia predictions, picks, odds for NCAA Tournament First Round
The First Round of the women’s 2026 NCAA Tournament continues Saturday with a slate featuring No. 7 Georgia vs. No. 10 Virginia on the 16-game schedule.
Here is the latest on Saturday’s March Madness matchup, including expert picks from reporters across the USA TODAY Sports Network.
USA TODAY Sports has a team of journalists covering the women’s NCAA Tournament to keep you up to date with every point scored, rebound grabbed and game won in the 68-team tournament.
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No. 7 Georgia vs No. 10 Virginia prediction
- Heather Burns: Virginia
- Mitchell Northam: Georgia
- Nancy Armour: Virginia
- Cydney Henderson: Georgia
- Meghan Hall: Georgia
No. 7 Georgia vs No. 10 Virginia odds
- Opening Moneyline: Georgia (-125)
- Opening Spread: Georgia (-1.5)
- Opening Total: 131.5
How to Watch Georgia vs Virginia on Saturday
No. 7 Georgia takes on No. 10 Virginia at Carver-Hawkeye Arena in Iowa City on at 1:30 p.m. (ET). The game is airing on ESPN2.
Stream March Madness on Fubo
2026 Women’s NCAA Tournament full schedule
- March 18-19: First Four
- March 20-21: First Round
- March 22-23: Second Round
- March 27-28: Sweet 16
- March 29-30: Elite 8
- April 3: Final Four
- April 5: National Championship
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