North Cross Athletics Staff

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Administration

Jeremy Eubank
Director of Athletics
Ashford University–B.A.
Liberty University–M.A.
Appointed 2023
​- 2023 VIAAA Athletic Director of the Year - Independent Schools
- VISAA Cross Country Chair
- VIAAA Liaison to VISAA
- VIAAA Board of Directors
- VIAAA Mentorship Committee
- BRAC Treasurer/Secretary
- Former Director of Athletics at Chatham Hall 
 - Former Director of the soccer and track and field programs at Hargrave Military Academy

​Christopher Pollock
Assistant Director of Athletics
Head Coach Boys Varsity Lacrosse
Upper School Sports Business
Roanoke College—B.S. in Physical Education, concentration in Athletic Training
Appointed 2001
- Played Division III college Lacrosse
- Three-time All-ODAC, three-time All-American, four-time Top 10 National Team Ranking, 1986 - - - NCAA Division III Elite 8, 1988 NCAA Division III Final Four, and 2007 Inductee into the Roanoke College Hall of Fame
- Has been coaching lacrosse for nearly 29 years
- VISAA State Boys Lacrosse Champions in 2018, 2021, 2022 & 2023 and at least State Final Four every season since 2016
- Conference Champions in 2021 and Runner-up 2016-2019 and 2022
- National Interscholastic Lacrosse Coaches Association (NILCA) Coach of the Year in Virginia
- Four-time VISAA State Coach of the Year and one-time VIC Conference Coach of the Year
- Pollock's four children are all NCS graduates - Christopher '14, Hope '15, Gray '18, and Geist '21. Christopher played soccer at Dickenson College, Gray played lacrosse at Haverford College, and Geist plays lacrosse at Rhodes College.

Tracy Schaefer
Administrative Assistant for North Cross Athletics
Head Coach Coed MS/ Girls JV Tennis, Assistant Coach Girls Varsity Tennis
Wake Forest University—B.A.​
University of Georgia—M.Ed.
​Appointed 2013
- Played Division I college tennis, ranked top 3 in GA, top 15 in the South, and top 100 in the nation
- Olympic Tennis Training Site Supervisor for the 1996 Atlanta Summer Games
- Named Tennis Industry’s “Top 40 Under 40 Most Influential People in Tennis” in 1999
- Did graduate school internship with the Denver Broncos
- Started the first-ever Middle School tennis program at North Cross in 2015
- Won the Roanoke Valley Middle School Tennis League Championships in 2015, ‘16, ‘18 & ‘19 and in 2020 moved up to JV status 

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Athletic Trainer

Holly Marshall
Head Athletic Trainer- Covers all after school sports practices and events for both middle and upper school
Radford University--B.S. in Athletic Training
BOC Certified, Licensed through Virginia Board of Medicine, CPR/AED certified, First Aid certified
​Appointed in 2021
- Former athletic trainer at William Byrd High School (2018-2020)
- Worked with Division 1 College athletes in women’s lacrosse, women’s soccer, and track and field
- Played soccer, basketball, softball, and track and field in high school. Was passionate about sports from a young age and also enjoyed helping others. She put the two together, graduating top of her athletic training class and passing her national boards to officially become an athletic trainer.

​What is an athletic trainer? Athletic trainers are healthcare professionals who work with physicians to provide preventative care, emergency response, and rehabilitative care. They prevent, examine, diagnose, treat, and rehabilitate injuries of emergent, acute, or chronic state.

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Head Coaches

Jamiel Allen
Head Coach Boys Varsity Basketball
Assistant Director of Admissions
Roanoke College--B.S. in Exercise Science, Health and Human Performance
​Appointed 2022
​- Coach Allen is currently in his 18th year as a high school boys basketball coach and in his fifth year with the Raiders' program.
- Coached at Hidden Valley High School, Blacksburg High School, and The Steward School in Richmond, VA where he led his team to three state tournament appearances as Head Coach.
- As a player, Coach Allen helped lead his team at The Steward School to a state championship in 2002 and was an all-state player with the Spartans.
- Played at Roanoke College under Coach Page Moir from 2002-2006. 

Ashley Avila
Head Coach Girls Junior Varsity Volleyball
Virginia Tech--B.A. in French and History; VT Corps of Cadets​
Appointed 2024
- Coach Avila is a Roanoke native and graduated from Northside High School. 
- While at Northside, she earned 1st team All District and 1st team All Region honors
- Was recruited to play NCAA volleyball at Roanoke College for Coach Blair Calvert Trail '95. 
​- Before her senior year, Coach Avila transferred to Virginia Tech to complete her dual degrees, where she also joined the Corps of Cadets. 
- After graduation, she moved around as a military spouse and studied strength training and yoga, working as a personal trainer/group fitness coach for the last 15 years. 
- Has remained active in adult volleyball leagues, playing in leagues like USAV, beach co-ed, and grass doubles. 
​- Also played with exclusive women's and co-ed groups while living in south Florida that played in competitive women's and co-ed sixes tournaments at local universities.

Thomas Bass
Head Coach Girls Middle School Lacrosse
Randolph Macon College--B.A.
Appointed 2023
- Played Division III college lacrosse
- Coached in the Roanoke Valley for RVLLA and Valley Select since 2019. 
​- Enjoys growing the sport of girls' lacrosse, especially with his two daughters playing.

Stephen Belderes
Head Coach Girls Varsity Lacrosse
​Director of Student Life, Upper School Multivariable Calculus and AP BC Calculus
St. Andrews University--B.A. in both Mathematics and Religious Studies
James Madison University--M.Ed. in Mathematics
​Appointed 2006
- Played Division II college lacrosse
- Captain, All Deep South Honors, along with four-time Top 10 National Team Ranking and 2002 NCAA Division II Final Four.
- Coached Boys North Cross team to the VISAA Division II Boys Lacrosse State Championship in 2010. 
- Three-time VIC Conference Coach of the Year and one-time VISAA State Coach of the Year. 
- Began coaching our Girls Varsity Lacrosse program in the Spring of 2025.

James Brown
Head Coach Boys Varsity Soccer and Girls Varsity Soccer
Lower School P.E.
​Roanoke College—B.S.​​
​Appointed 2004
- Played Division III college soccer
- VISAA State Boys Soccer Champions 2012, 2014, 2018, 2021 and qualified for State tournament 14 out of 14 years
- Conference Champions 2012, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2021, 2022
- Four-time VISAA Coach of the Year, two-time Conference Coach of the Year​
- 2012 United Soccer Coaches of Virginia Private School Coach of the Year
​- 2012 MaxPreps Army National Guard National Team Ranking of #13 (team was 24-0)
- BRC Girls Soccer Champions 2015 and 2022, three-time qualifier VISAA Final Four, qualified for State tournament 11 out of 15 years

Julia Brown '19
Head Coach Middle School Field Hockey, Assistant Coach Varsity Field Hockey, Assistant Coach Girls Middle School Soccer
​Middle School P.E.
Roanoke College--B.A.
Appointed 2024
- Played Division III college field hockey

Jennifer Camp
​Head Coach Middle School Swimming
Davidson College--B.A. in Spanish
Virginia Commonwealth University School of Medicine--MD
Appointed 2020
- Jen comes from a family of swimmers and began swimming at age 5.  She participated in club swimming in Williamsburg, VA, high school swimming at Hampton Roads Academy and Division I swimming at Davidson College.  
- At Davidson, the women’s team won their Southern States Conference Championship meet all four years that she was in attendance.  
- Her favorite events were the 100 and 200 butterfly and backstroke.  
- Recently returned to the sport of swimming as a member of Masters Swimming with the Marlins swim team.  She also competes for the Hunting Hills Hound Dog swim team during the summer with her three daughters.  
- Has coached the middle school swim team at North Cross since 2020. 

Andrea Carter
Head Coach Girls Varsity Field Hockey
Virginia Tech--B.S. in Biology​
Appointed 2023
- Served as a volunteer assistant coach for the North Cross Field Hockey team in 2022 before becoming the Head Coach in 2023.  - During her first season as head coach, the team competed in the Conference championship game. 
- Prior to North Cross, Andrea served as a JV Field Hockey Coach,  as well as an Assistant Varsity Track and Field Coach at Collegiate School in Richmond. 
- In addition to coaching and teaching at Collegiate, Andrea coached for the Tallyho Youth Field Hockey Club and was a Level 1 coach for the National Futures (now Nexus) Field Hockey program.

Ryan Cook '93
Head Coach Boys and Girls Middle School Soccer
Upper School History
Radford University—B.A.​​
​Appointed 2011
- Played Division I college soccer
- Has coached soccer for 25 years (VBR Star, Valley AFC, Hidden Valley, NCS) 
- His Middle School teams are always very competitive and some have gone undefeated
​- Currently still plays “old man” league soccer

Ed Dickenson
Head Coach Coed Middle School and Varsity Cross Country and Track & Field
Middle School French and English
​Hampden Sydney College—B.A.​​
​Universite de Paris-Sorbonne—M.A.​​
​Appointed 1989
- Ran Division III college cross country and track
- Boys Cross Country Conference Champions 1996, 2000, 2015, 2022, 2023
​- Boys Cross Country VISAA Division II State Champions 2023
- Girls Cross Country Conference Champions 2010, 2016
- Started the first-ever North Cross Track and Field program in 2018
- Conference Track and Field Champions 2022, 2023
- VISAA Division II Track and Field State Champions 2023
- Currently part of the Roanoke Elite Running Team (nine-time winner of the Mountain Junkies Trail Running Series, finished second in the 2009 National Duathlon Championships) and a member of the VMI Marathon Training Team and Marine Corps PFT Team​

Emily Gaston
Head Coach Girls Varsity Volleyball
CrossWalk Teacher
Roanoke College—B. A. in Psychology 
​Appointed in 2021
- Emily grew up in Hopkinton, MA and played at the Varsity level, as well as at the club level.
- Has experience playing women's and co-ed sixes, quads, and doubles and still plays volleyball several times a week in the year-round Roanoke Valley Volleyball Association (RVVA) adult league. 
- Has coached with Next Revolution Volleyball (NRV, a local club) for 8 years at the 14s, 15s, and 17s levels.  
- From 2015 to 2021, Emily coached for Roanoke Catholic School, at the Middle School (head coach), JV (assistant and head coach), and varsity (assistant coach) levels before joining the North Cross staff in the Fall of 2021.  

Briona Hurt
Head Coach Girls Middle School Basketball
Ferrum College--B.S.​
Appointed 2024
- Played Division III college Basketball
- Grew up in Roanoke and went to William Byrd High School. 
​- After graduating from Ferrum College, she coached two years back at William Byrd High School.

Chris Pollock
Head Coach Boys Varsity Lacrosse
Assistant Athletic Director
Upper School Sports Business
Roanoke College—B.S. in Physical Education, concentration in Athletic Training
Appointed 2001
- Played Division III college Lacrosse
- Three-time All-ODAC, three-time All-American, four-time Top 10 National Team Ranking, 1986 NCAA Div III Elite 8, 1988 NCAA Div III Final Four, and 2007 Inductee into the Roanoke College Hall of Fame
- Has been coaching lacrosse for nearly 30 years
- VISAA State Boys Lacrosse Champions in 2018, 2021, 2022 and 2023 and at least State Final Four every season since 2016
- Conference Champions in 2021 and Runner-up 2016-2019 and 2022
- Three-time VISAA State Coach of the Year and One-time VIC Conference Coach of the Year
- Pollock's four children are all NCS graduates - Christopher '14, Hope '15, Gray '18, and Geist '21. Christopher played soccer at Dickenson College, Gray played lacrosse at Haverford College, and Geist plays lacrosse at Rhodes College.

Dwayne Priest
Head Coach Boys Varsity Football
Eastern Michigan University- B.A in Criminology​
Liberty University- Masters in Human Services and Counseling
Appointed 2024
- Coach Priest is a William Fleming High School graduate, Class of 2006 and was inducted into the William Fleming Hall of Fame in 2021. 
- After high school graduation, Priest spent one prep year at Fork Union Military Academy and then went on to play football at Eastern Michigan University as a running back from 2007-2011. 
- Upon college graduation, Priest played football overseas for two years
- Assistant Football Coach for North Cross from 2014-2020;
​- Coached at Virginia Prep Sports Academy in 2021 and took over as Head Football Coach for Virginia University-Lynchburg in 2022. 
- Coach Priest is excited to be at back North Cross as Head Coach where he plans to build a culture that is built on family, playing together and hard work.

Anthony Reed
Head Coach Girls Varsity Basketball, Running Backs Coach for Varsity Football
​Appointed 2024, 2023
- Coach Reed first came to North Cross in 2023 as an assistant coach for our varsity football team and was hired to be the Girls Varsity Basketball Coach Head Coach in 2024.
- Owner/ Coach of DRE4M CHASERS BASKETBALL, LLC, a travel basketball organization for middle and high school age boys and girls. 
- Fresh off a 2023 VISAA Division II State Championship in Football with the Raiders and a 2024 National Runner-up at the NTBA Girls National Basketball Championships in the JV Division, Coach Reed is ready to bring that Championship mindset  to both programs here at North Cross.

Jim Schaefer
Head Coach Boys Varsity Tennis
​State University of New York at Cortland—B.S.
Appointed 2017
- Played Division III college tennis and track and field teams 
- Played professional tennis on the French Federation and USTA Pro Circuits as well as for a German Club in Neutraubling
- Has been a tennis teaching pro for over 45 years, coached either at the collegiate or high school level for over 15 years and has been the North Cross Boys Head Coach since 2017
- Won the Jantzen Fast Serve Contest in 1984-85 with a 133mph serve
- Ranked #1 in the nation in Men’s 40’s Doubles in 1997 and 1998
- Currently still competes in National USTA tournaments; player for the 5-time Atlantic Coast Cup Champion Mid-Atlantic team and Dohan Intersectional Cup
- Conference Champions in 2021, 2022. 2023, 2024
- State Runner-up 2021
- State Champions 2022, 2023, 2024

Tracy Schaefer
Administrative Assistant for North Cross Athletics
Head Coach Coed MS/ Girls JV Tennis, Assistant Coach Girls Varsity Tennis
Wake Forest University—B.A.​
University of Georgia—M.Ed.
​Appointed 2013
- Played Division I college tennis, ranked top 3 in GA, top 15 in the South, and top 100 in the nation
- Olympic Tennis Training Site Supervisor for the 1996 Atlanta Summer Games
- Named Tennis Industry’s “Top 40 Under 40 Most Influential People in Tennis” in 1999
- Did graduate school internship with the Denver Broncos
- Started the first-ever Middle School tennis program at North Cross in 2015
- Won the Roanoke Valley Middle School Tennis League Championships in 2015, ‘16, ‘18 & ‘19 and in 2020 moved up to JV status ​

Ryan Schlachter
Head Coach Girls Varsity Tennis, Assistant Coach Boys Varsity Tennis
Associate Director of Information Technology, Student Technology Contact
US Army 2009-2014
Virginia Western Community College--AAS - IT
CompTIA A+
CompTIA Network+
​Appointed 2018
- Played on the Cedar Hill High School tennis team in Cedar Hill, TX before joining the US Army. 
- Became the Assistant Tennis Coach for the North Cross Boys Varsity Tennis Team in 2020, where he actively helped them win four Conference Championship titles (2021, 2022, 2023, 2024) and three State Championship titles (2022, 2023, 2024). 

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Rodney Spradlin
Head Coach Boys Varsity Baseball
Carson Newman University​
Appointed 2024
- Played Division II Baseball
- Grew up in Roanoke and played baseball at both William Byrd High School and Carson Newman University. 
- Was the Head Coach at William Byrd 1992-1997 and won the State Championship in 1997. 
- Spent over 34 years with the Virginia Commonwealth Games and was the Head Coach for the West team. 
- Was an Associate Scout for Major League Baseball with the Toronto Blue Jays and has been a Regional Scout and run player development events all over the country with Baseball Factory. 
- Was inducted into the Salem-Roanoke Baseball Hall of Fame in 2019. 

Emily Votta
Head Coach Varsity Swimming
​Early Childhood Program - Junior Kindergarten-4
University of Mary Washington—B.A.​​ with a certificate to teach NK-6
Hollins University- working on completion of M.E.
Appointed 2014
- Began swimming as a toddler taking swim lessons at the YMCA in Waynesboro and then later swam year round for the Shenandoah Marlins Aquatic Club and other area summer league teams throughout high school. 
- In college, she swam all four years for the UMW Eagles. 
- Was a national level swimmer in both high school and college and her specialties were long distance free and butterfly. 
- She enjoyed giving swim lessons and coaching summer league swim teams during her high school and college days.

Kendra Wert
Head Coach Girls Middle School Volleyball
Lower School/Middle School Art Teacher
Bowling Green State University—B.F.A
Appointed 2021
- Grew up in Toledo, Ohio and played a few years in the High School Level.
- Joined the local Roanoke Valley Volleyball Association (RVVA) and has been playing co-ed sixes.
- Has coached and been a part of multiple athletic teams over the years, and she is excited to be a part of the North Cross Coaching Staff. 

Scott Wilde
Head Coach Boys Varsity Golf
Upper School Math
Bowling Green State University—B.S.
Liberty University—M.S.
Appointed 2012
- Played Division III college basketball and club volleyball
- Coached numerous sports over the years, including basketball for 20+ years, volleyball for 10+ years, and has been the golf coach at North Cross from 2017 to present.
- Coached multiple players that have gone on to play either basketball, volleyball, or golf in college.

Ezra Zigarwi '14
Assistant Coach for Boys and Girls Varsity and Middle School Soccer
Lower School P.E.
Roanoke College—B.S. in Sports Management
American National University--Masters in Business Administration with Information Technology Specialization
​Appointed 2019
- Played division III college soccer at Roanoke College
- Played at North Cross and was on the 2012 North Cross team that won both the VISAA State Boys Soccer and the VIC Conference Championships and finished the year ranked 13th in the Nation by MaxPreps Army National Guard, going undefeated that year (24-0)!
- As coach: Boys Soccer VIC Conference Champions 2021, 2022 and VISAA State Champions in 2021; Girls Soccer BRC Champions in 2022