CHARLESTON, W.Va. — A lengthy state Community and Technical College Council meeting Thursday included the approval of three new school presidents across the state.

The council unanimously approved Dr. Chris Treadway as the fourth president of BridgeValley Community and Technical College. Treadway had been serving as vice chancellor with the West Virginia Higher Education Policy Commission.

Treadway, a Kanawha County native, was chosen by the BridgeValley Board of Governors last week following an interview process that included eleven remote candidate interviews, and three finalists visiting campus for in-person interviews.

Treadway was appointed to be BridgeValley president on a one-year contract. He’ll begin in the role July 1 and serve through June 30, 2027. His base salary was set for $192,500 annually, in addition to some benefits.

BridgeValley Community and Technical College is based in South Charleston that has a second location in Montgomery.

The council approved Dr. Michael Waide as the full-time president of Pierpont Community and Technical College as well. A former provost at the school, Waide had been serving as interim president since March 2025 following the resignation of Dr. Milan Howard. Pierpont elected to remove the interim tag from Waide’s title this March.

Waide was given a two-year contract, with options to extend for three additional years. Waide’s base salary will be $185,000 per year. Pierpont’s main campus location is in Fairmont.

West Virginia Northern Community College also received council approval for its new president, Andrew Lengehr. Lengehr’s base salary was set for $215,000 annually with an $8,000 deferred compensation at the conclusion of each fiscal year. Lengehr comes to WVNCC from St. Louis Community College in Missouri after 25 years there.

Lengehr is set to begin on August 17 and serve an approximately two-year term through June 30, 2028.

WVNCC has three locations: Wheeling, Weirton, and New Martinsville.

There was an added wrinkle to the WVNCC presidential appointment. The council approved an extension to outgoing president Dr. Daniel Mosser’s contract, allowing him to continue serving in the role for the time being. The move was made to smooth out the transition period until Lengehr assumes the position.

The CTC council also rubber-stamped presidential compensation contracts at four other institutions:
– Blue Ridge Community and Technical College President Dr. Peter Checkovich’s new term from July 1 of this year through June 30, 2031.
– Eastern West Virginia Community and Technical College President Dr. Thomas Striplin’s six-percent contract increase, around $10,000 per year.
– Mountwest Community and Technical College President Dr. Joshua Baker’s three-year contract from July 1 of this year through June 30, 2029.
– New River Community and Technical College President Dr. Bonny Copenhaver’s five-year contract, with evaluations and renewal after each year, starting July 1, 2026.

The council approved individual school budgets for the next fiscal year during their three-and-a-half hour meeting.

SOUTH CHARLESTON, W.Va. — Keyser opponents face a tough decision in deciding whether or not to pitch to one of the most feared and productive hitters across West Virginia in Riley ‘Bibs’ Felton.

Class AAA No. 6 PikeView elected not to and intentionally walked Felton to start the bottom of the seventh inning with an elimination matchup tied at 3.

That move backfired when Brielle Root followed by belting a double to deep right field that allowed Felton to easily score the winning run as Keyser prolonged its season at least another game with a 4-3 win at The Rock Field B at Little Creek Park.

“I had the feeling she was getting walked again, but that’s exactly why we have Brielle behind her,” Golden Tornado coach Cody Spotts said. “If you don’t throw to Bibs, you have to throw to Brielle. That’s a tough one-two.”

KHS (25-7) will next face Herbert Hoover late Wednesday in another elimination game.

Root’s winning knock came off PikeView (23-9) pitcher Shelby Maddox, who threw every inning of all three Panther state tournament contests.

“We wanted to show everybody that we belong here our first time here,” Panthers’ coach Steve Compton said. “We had a solid tournament. I’m proud of them. We did well and represented our school well.”

Felton singled and scored to give the Golden Tornado the first run.

PikeView countered in the top of the second to get even, but fell behind again in that inning following back-to-back singles 

The Golden Tornado started freshman Sophie Lambka at pitcher, but she was lifted in the third in favor of Leighton Johnson after Maddox hit a line drive that deflected off Lambka’s foot.

“Leighton is our upperclassman and our ace, but Sophie has been fantastic this year as a freshman,” Spotts said. “Unfortunately she caught one right off the foot. Her status for tonight’s game is to be determined. We have the confidence her, but we were trying to save Leighton’s arm a little bit for innings tonight, so we’ll just have to adjust.”

Despite PHS scoring twice in an inning highlighted by Emma Compton’s double, Johnson settled in as her outing progressed. With PikeView in front 3-2 in the fourth, Johnson got out of a jam by striking out Emma Weiss.

“A lot of times, it’s about who gets a timely hit or makes that costly error,” Compton said.

That set the stage for Felton, who led off the fifth with a triple and scored on a productive out from Root to knot the affair at 3.

Johnson retired the side in order in the sixth and overcame an error to keep PikeView from scoring in the seventh, allowing the Golden Tornado to then rely on the heart of their order to deliver, which is precisely what it did.

“We’ve been in a lot of close games against good competition,” Spotts said, “and that’s what’s prepped us for this moment.”