High school notes

Coaches step down

Basketball coaching vacancies have opened at Hermitage and Mills Godwin. Health is a factor in both situations.

Joe Coulter has resigned as the Hermitage boys coach after a seven-year run. The Panthers compiled a 113-60 record during his tenure. The Panthers won three Colonial District titles, and Coulter was district coach of the year three times.

Coulter will continue in his teaching position.

"I'll spend more time with family [he has children involved in sports] and work on being healthy," he said.

Mark Seidenberg is stepping down as the Mills Godwin girls coach. The Eagles were 26-2 in Seidenberg's return to the sidelines this season. He was the Godwin boys coach from 1991 to 2002.

"Basketball took a lot out of me physically by the end of the season," Seidenberg said. "I had a great time coaching the girls. They worked so hard and really listened, and I'll miss coaching them."

Seidenberg continues to coach the girls tennis team, which has played in the state team final the past seven years and has won five state championships. The Eagles have won the past two state crowns and are in the hunt again.

Honors for Stratton

Hanover High activities director Bob Stratton has been selected the Group AAA athletic director of the year by the Virginia Interscholastic Athletic Administrators Association.

He's also been selected as the winner of the state Award of Merit. They are the VIAAA's highest awards. Rarely does the same person win both in the same year.

Stratton will be honored at the VIAAA banquet in Roanoke tomorrow.

Stratton has been Hanover's activities director since the school opened in 2003. During his career, he has helped open one middle school and three high schools as a coach or AD. He is chairman of the Central Region and Capital District athletic administrators and is president elect (2010-11) of the VIAAA and will serve his term in 2010-11.

Saints' Freeman changes uniforms

Nomination forms for The Times-Dispatch/Sports Backers Scholar-Athlete of the Year program will be sent to area schools at the end of April. St. Christopher's has an excellent candidate for the honor in Jackson Freeman.

Freeman is a true, three-sport standout in this day of sports specialization. He was all-Prep League as a running back and honorable mention all-VIS in football. He was all-Prep League and an All-American (sixth place as a heavyweight) in the just concluded wrestling season. Freeman jumped right into baseball and had two hits in a road victory over Trinity Episcopal last weekend. He belted a walk-off, two-run home run to beat St. Anne's-Belfield on Tuesday. He was academic all-state in baseball last spring.

Freeman carries a 4.0 GPA. He will be playing football in the non-athletic scholarship arena of the Ivy League at Brown University in Providence, R.I., in the fall.

Short takes

• Five players on the Midlothian boys soccer team will be playing on college teams next year. Defender Josh Rice is headed to the University of North Carolina. Midfielder Peter Lee is going north to play at Ohio State. Midfielder Andre Graham and defender Joe Schultz will attend Hampden-Sydney. Top scorer Evan Jones previously has been reported as a Longwood signee.

St. Catherine's pitcher Stephanie Fort is one the best in the area. She helped her cause at the plate Tuesday against St. Anne's-Belfield by driving in the game-winning run. - Arthur Utley