Former Standouts Hartwell, Morgan To Be Inducted Into RU Athletics Hall of Fame

RADFORD, Va.--Former Radford cross country standout Mitzi Hartwell and baseball star Travis Morgan will be inducted into the University’s Athletic Hall of Fame Thursday evening at the annual RU Hall of Fame Banquet, beginning at 6:30 pm.

One of the most dominating performers in the history of the Big South Conference, Hartwell was undefeated in league competition as a junior and a senior, capturing the conference’s first women’s championship at the 1986 meet, and leading Radford to the first recognized team title that season. She was the Big South’s first women’s cross country Runner of the Year. The previous season as a junior, she also won the league title and led RU to the championship though the sport hadn’t officially become recognized by the conference. Hartwell, a native of Radford, emerged as the team’s top runner as a sophomore, setting a work ethic that would later propel the entire squad to those championships. Competing in the Division II National Championships in 1983 as a freshman, Hartwell finished seventh in a field of over 110 runners.

A cornerstone of the baseball program’s early years, Morgan (’93) was on his way to becoming one of the greatest athletes that the university had ever produced when a back injury slowed him late in his sophomore season. A first-team all-conference catcher in 1988 and 1989, Morgan was also named VaSID all-state in 1989, when he hit .431 and had eight home runs and 40 RBI before the injury. He still holds the school record for slugging percentage, set that season with a .748 mark, and his three home runs and 10 RBI in a 1988 game against UNC Asheville are also still school milestones. A four-year starter, Morgan ranks among the team’s alltime leaders in career average (.335), RBI (139) and home runs (23), and the Lynchburg native remains one of the most popular figures to ever don a Highlander uniform.

Former University of North Carolina player and assistant coach Phil Ford will be the guest speaker for the banquet, which will be held on campus.