Class Notes for 2018
January 2018
1974
Wayne George is the new executive director of the Municipal Association of South Carolina. His background includes serving two terms as a state legislator. He also was a member of CCU’s board of trustees from 2006-2012.
1996
Spyros Charalambous is a member of the International Tennis Federation, where he was recently ranked No. 22 in the Over-40 category. He is the logistics manager at Ermes Department Stores in Greece.
CLASS NOTES
2001
Kevin Schnall, the associate head baseball coach at CCU, was recognized for the second time by Baseball America as a top 10 assistant coach with a bright future as a head coach. He is regarded as a top-flight recruiter and hitting coach.
2008
John Armbruster Jr. was promoted to the rank of corporal with the Lower Township (N.J.) Police Department.
2011
Cyprian Hedrick was re-signed by San Antonio FC for the 2018 United Soccer League season. He started 13 of the 14 games he played in for the club last season.
2012
Jennifer N. Hudson was named the 2017-2018 teacher of the year for the Georgetown County School District, where she is a fourth grade teacher at Pleasant Hill Elementary School. For the past two years, she has served as the “Acting School Principal” for the school’s United Way summer SAIL (science and inquiry learning) reading enrichment program.
Lauren McElroy and Alex Levy have announced their engagement. They live in Charleston, and plan to marry in August.
2014
Cameron Lentz is the teacher of the year at Ten Oaks Middle School, where he teaches English 1 and honors social studies.
2015
Sean McCarthy and Kelly Ryan Judge were married on Oct. 12 in Philadelphia. He is a principal fiscal analyst for the State of New Jersey.
February 2018
2004
Josh Rush has joined CresCom Bank as a new mortgage loan originator in the Myrtle Beach area. He will originate permanent FHA/VA and conventional residential mortgage loans as well as participate in related business development activities.
2008
Zebeth Fowler has joined CresCom Bank as a project manager. Fowler previously worked as a project manager at the Bank of North Carolina.
2009
Jason Wilkes is the new head football coach at Cary (N.C.) High School. He has been at the school since 2015 and previously served as the offensive coordinator, quarterbacks coach, associate head coach, and recruiting coordinator. He earned a master’s degree in sport and human performance from Delta State University in 2011.
2011
Keith Hessler has signed with the Colorado Rockies organization. Since 2015, the left-handed relief pitcher has split time between the Triple-A and MLB level with the Arizona Diamondbacks and San Diego Padres.
2012
Eileen O’Donnell has been named teacher of the year at Conway Elementary School. She teaches special education.
Robert Stetson and Meredith Gratton were married at Hidden Acres in Marion, S.C., on Jan. 20. They live in Conway. He is employed with the U.S. Postal Service while she works in costume design and vintage clothing curation.
2014
Rachel Bisesi is the coastal education coordinator at the North Carolina Coastal Federation. She joined the federation in 2013 after volunteering for several years. Bisesi earned a master’s degree in coastal marine and wetland studies from CCU.
Daniela Corona has announced her engagement to Justin Priddy. They live in Charleston, where she is a recruiter with Aerotek.
March 2018
1983
Chip Smith and his business partners have purchased Brunswick Plantation & Golf Resort in Calabash, N.C.
1995
Cedric King is running for the Georgia House District 167 seat. He is the manager for community relations at Pinova.
2010
Caroline Boineau and James Thomas have announced their engagement. A June wedding at Brookgreen Gardens is planned. She lives in Murrells Inlet and is a realtor with Tradd Residential.
2011
Paige Cribb has been elected as the first female president of the PGA Carolinas Section. She is the director of student support for CCU’s PGA Golf Management Program.
Michael Midgette, a PGA-certified teaching and coaching golf professional, recently played golf at the Boca Raton (Fla.) Municipal Golf Course from sunrise to sunset to raise money for St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital.
2012
Jessica Cinardo is the executive producer at WMBF News in Myrtle Beach. She began working at the station as a news content specialist immediately after graduating CCU.
2014
Don Goda and Taryn Smith have announced their engagement. Their wedding is planned for Oct. 20.
2017
Jeremy Razook is a digital marketing strategist at Fuel Travel Marketing. He previously served as an intern at Fuel and MyrtleBeach.com.
April 2018
1978
Carey Green recently finished his 19th year as the head women’s basketball coach at Liberty University, which won the 2017-18 Big South Conference title and advanced to the NCAA Tournament.
1999
Joe Powers is a candidate for Cabell County (W.Va.) Clerk. He works for an IT company that exclusively designs software for county clerks.
2001
Dale Long, who has more than 27 years of law enforcement experience, has been named Conway’s police chief. He has been with the Conway Police Department since 2010, most recently serving as detective sergeant.
2000
Shanda Poston has been named the principal at Scranton Elementary STEAM Academy in Florence County. She previously served as assistant principal at Scranton Elementary since 2014.
2003
M.J. Huggins III has served as the Carolina Financial’s executive vice president since 2010 and secretary since 2012. Prior to joining the company and assisting in the founding of Crescent Bank, he served as area executive and senior vice president of Carolina First Bank, responsible for commercial and retail operations from Georgetown to Myrtle Beach. He attended the Graduate School of Banking at Louisiana State University.
2011
Nina Oates and her family own The Hideout on 47, a restaurant in Parkersburg, W.Va., which has become a stopping place for touring nationally known comics.
May 2018
1986
Connie Roberts has been named the new principal at Townsend Elementary School in Townsend, Tenn. She previously served as assistant principal at Carpenters Elementary School.
1997
Jody Jenerette has been named head football coach at West Florence High School. He most recently served as head football coach at Aynor High School.
2001
Matt Daly has been promoted to director of golf operations at Founders Group International, which owns 22 Grand Strand golf courses. Daly, the 2017 Carolinas PGA Merchandiser of the Year, was promoted in 2017 to regional operations manager for FGI's south end courses. He has been head golf professional at FGI courses TPC Myrtle Beach, the Grande Dunes Resort Course, Myrtlewood Golf Club and Pine Lakes Country Club.
2000
Tyler McCart has been named a regional manager at Haskell, a furniture manufacturing company. His territory includes Alabama, Florida and Georgia. He most recently served as a vertical business development manager at Office Depot.
2005
Michael Hitch and Meredith Johnson announced their engagement. They plan to marry June 16 in Hartsville. He is employed with Belton Middle School in Anderson School District Two.
2006
Travis Dannelly has been named chief operating officer of the United Way of Horry County. He previously worked in the banking industry.
2007
Kotie Kimble has been hired as an assistant men’s basketball coach with the Charlotte 49ers.
Jessica Lowery, a teaching associate in CCU’s public health department, recently opened The Power of Elderberries. Learn more at facebook.com/thepowerofelderberries.
2008
Greg Johnson has been named athletic director at West Florence High School. He previously served as assistant principal at Darlington High School.
2010
Maranie Rae Staab recently exhibited her photography at Penn State New Kensington. Her work has been published in Esquire, Huffington Post, Mashable and on CNN.
2012
Matthew McCoy is the founder and artistic director of Bay Area Musicals in San Francisco. He previously served as the casting director and associate artistic director at Berkeley Playhouse, where he still works as a guest director, choreographer and teaching artist.
2014
Alex Ross has signed with the Winnipeg Bombers. He previously played quarterback with the British Columbia Lions.
June 2018
1991
Nancy Opalko has announced her retirement as children’s librarian from the Lafayette County and Oxford Public Library in Oxford, Miss. She worked at the library for 25 years.
1998
Tom Gwyer, a 25-year veteran of the Myrtle Beach Fire Department, has been named the department’s new fire chief. He had served as deputy fire chief since April 2016.
2003
Tyler Hasbrouck was recently named vice president of e-services at Credit Union 1 in Alaska. He has worked at the credit union for more than 14 years.
2005
Josh Spivey has been named athletic director at Aynor High School. He began teaching at the school since 2006.
2007
Bryan Bender is a fourth-generation farmer with Bender Potatoes in Chambersburg, Pa.
2008
Michael Abraham, PGA Head Golf Professional at Hidden Valley Country Club in Salem, Va., has earned PGA Master Professional status-the highest educational designation that can be obtained by a PGA member.
2012
Sydney Hough and Aaron Fann announced their engagement. They plan to get married on July 21, 2018, in Granite Falls, N.C. She is a drama teacher at Rawlinson Road Middle School in Rock Hill, S.C.
2013
John Johnson is the assistant equipment manager for the University of Maryland, Baltimore County Retrievers, who became the first-ever No. 16 seed to defeat a No. 1 seed in NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament history.
2014
Brantay Cohens was recently named the teacher of the year at Myrtle Beach’s Ocean Bay Middle School, where he teaches 8th grade mathematics. He also was a top 10 semifinalist for Horry County Schools’ teacher of the year.
Alison McQuarrie has graduated with honors from the Master of Health Administration program at the University of Scranton.
Lorenzo Taliaferro has signed with the Hamilton Tiger-Cats of the Canadian Football League. He previously played with the NFL’s Baltimore Ravens.
2015
Andrew Dorn recently competed in the PGA Tour’s Memorial Tournament, where he finished tied for 62nd place.
Brittany Hoffnagle is an environmental scientist and GIS specialist with Woods Hole Group, an international environmental, scientific and engineering consulting organization in Falmouth, Mass. She graduated with a master’s in Coastal Marine and Wetland Studies from CCU.
2016
Brandan Albee has been promoted to second assistant manager at Spyglass Hill Golf Course in Pebble Beach, Calif.
Hailey Gilbert has joined Frampton Construction Co. as an administrative assistant based in its Charleston office.
2018
Jake Freedman has been named a public relations associate at The Brandon Agency in Myrtle Beach. He previously served as an intern at the agency.
Nikko Smith has landed a role on “Queen Sugar,” which airs on the Oprah Winfrey Network. She plays the character, Asha.
July 2018
1985
Johnny Gardner has been elected chair of the Horry County Council. He also serves as the principal lawyer and namesake of his law group in Conway.
1998
Chadwick Hardee is running for the Orange County School Board District 2 in Orlando. His background includes a career in the hospitality industry, where he has worked at Ritz-Carlton and Waldorf Astoria locations.
2000
Amy Hall is the president of The Barber Shop Marketing, a full-service marketing and advertising agency based near Dallas, Texas.
Tonya Prentice was presented the Presidential Award for Excellence in Mathematics and Science Teaching from the National Science Foundation on June 25 at the White House. It’s the nation’s highest honor for teachers of science, technology, engineering and mathematics. She is a fifth-grade teacher at Woodstock Elementary School in Bryant Pond, Maine.
Kelley Weiss has been named the new principal at Alpine Crest Elementary School, which is part of Hamilton County Schools in Chattanooga, Tenn. She previously served as the assistant superintendent in Enfield, Maine, as well as a principal and assistant principal for more than seven years.
2002
Stephen Bismarck received the University of South Carolina Upstate’s Excellence in Teaching and Advising Award for the 2017-18 academic year. He was also promoted to associate professor with tenure in the School of Education.
2011
Aaron Ludgatis and Kara Buffington were married at Creek Club at I’On in Mount Pleasant, S.C., on April 7. He is a regional sales manager at Magic Tilt Inc. of Clearwater, Fla. The couple lives in Charleston.
Derek Murphy is the director of development and stewardship for the Phi Gamma Delta Educational Foundation in Lexington, Ky. He regularly participates in Out of the Darkness community walks in memory of his friend and CCU alumnus, Patrick Ziegler, who committed suicide.
2014
Maeve Snyder is the new coastal training program coordinator at the North Inlet-Winyah Bay National Estuarine Research Reserve in Georgetown. She recently earned a master’s degree in biological sciences from the University of South Carolina.
2015
Christina Davis is the new area coordinator with the housing and residence life team at Emory & Henry College in Virginia. She earned a master’s degree in student affairs in higher education from Missouri State University.
Ruby Durham is a member of the NBC Charlotte News team. She previously worked in Myrtle Beach at WMBF and WBTW.
2016
Brianna Tramutolo has been named an environmental scientist intern at EWMA, an employee-owned environmental consulting and remediation firm in New Jersey.
2017
Benjamin Rutherford is an admissions and community outreach coordinator at CCU.
August 2018
1996
Shane Hubbard is serving a four-year term on the Conway City Council. He and his wife, Becky (Bradham) ’89, ’96, chair of the early care and education department at Horry-Georgetown Technical College, live in Conway.
1999
Jordan (Roberts) Teich recently moved from New Orleans, La., back to Charleston, S.C., with her husband, David, and 11-year-old son, Sam. She is a civil litigation lawyer who focuses on maritime, environmental and commercial matters.
2002
Jabrina Berry has been named an assistant property manager with Colliers International’s Real Estate Management Services division in Columbia, S.C. She has 11 years of property management experience in South Carolina.
Paige Bird, a licensed broker and realtor with RE/MAX Southern Shores in Myrtle Beach, ranks No. 76 nationally on RE/MAX’s latest Top 100 list for residential real estate sales during January-April. She has been named South Carolina’s number one RE/MAX agent five times – 2010, 2011, 2014, 2015 and 2016.
Kristin Kerns has been named teacher of the year at Cyber Academy of South Carolina, where she teaches fifth-grade English language arts. She is one of eight finalists from across South Carolina for the Charter Institute at Erskine’s Teacher of the Year award.
2004
Jake Foutz is the owner of Fitness Xperts, which was recently voted the No. 1 personal training gym in Orlando, Fla., by the Orlando A-List.
Debbie (Wright) Wingfield as promoted to manager for the Manatee Protection Program and Marine Mammal Stranding Team of Volusia County, Fla.
2006
Joseph Farry has been promoted to manager of parcel transportation at DSW Inc. in Columbus, Ohio.
2008
Kelly (Jenack) and Jack Leasure ’08 celebrated their 10-year wedding anniversary on July 20, 2018. They live in Canandaigua, N.Y., with their three boys: Oscar 6, Arlo 4 and Beauden 1.
Joanna Vrancart and Sean O’Mara welcomed their first child, Rylee Morgan Vrancart O’Mara, on March 23, 2018.
2009
Zack Byrd has been named the assistant women’s golf coach at Colorado State University in Fort Collins, Colo. Highlights of his professional playing career include reaching the final stage of the PGA Tour Qualifying Tournament and playing in the 2011 U.S. Open.
Kim Wysong has been named a sixth-grade teacher at North Myrtle Beach Middle School. She most recently worked in North Carolina as an instructional technology facilitator in the Durham and Chapel Hill schools.
2010
Tegan Hinaman served as an athletic trainer at the Shrine Maple Sugar Bowl, an all-star high school football game between New Hampshire and Vermont held Aug. 4. She is an assistant athletic trainer at Castleton University in Vermont.
2011
Roosevelt Board is the franchise owner of the new Chick-fil-A Staten Island Mall in New York. He has worked with the company for more than seven years, including serving as general manager of the Chick-fil-A in Murrells Inlet and as the grand opening supervisor for restaurants across the country.
2012
Kyle Finnerson has opened Studio Fitness in Rutland, Vt. He is a certified personal trainer.
2014
Daniel Baker participated in Miami University’s earth expeditions global field course in Belize. He studied coral reefs, manatees, howler monkeys, jaguars and other wildlife while learning the methods communities are using to sustain them in Belize. Baker, a zoo keeper at Houston Zoo, lives in Houston, Texas, and is a graduate student in Miami’s Global Field Program.
Joe and Ashley (Baker) ’15 Griswold celebrated their one-year wedding anniversary on July 15, 2018.
2015
Felicia Butler has been named teacher of the year at Coastal Leadership Academy, where she teaches social studies and math. She is one of eight finalists from across South Carolina for the Charter Institute at Erskine’s Teacher of the Year award.
Connor Romito participated in Miami University’s earth expeditions global field course in Belize. He studied coral reefs, manatees, howler monkeys, jaguars and other wildlife while learning the methods communities are using to sustain them in Belize. Romito, an associate animal trainer at Discovery Cove, lives in Orlando, Fla., and is a graduate student in Miami’s Global Field Program.
2016
Kelsey Dominik, a former CCU softball standout, was selected in the third round of the inaugural American Softball Association Draft in June.
2017
Martin Melchor has been named the head men’s and women’s soccer coach at Jacksonville College in Texas.
September 2018
1989
Cindy Parker is the new executive director of the South Carolina Council of Teachers of Mathematics. She recently retired from Alice Drive Middle School in Sumter, where she taught mathematics for 29 years.
2001
Christopher St. John recently earned a Ph.D. in financial and retirement planning from The American College of Financial Services. He also earned an MBA from CCU and a master’s degree in financial services from The American College. In addition, he has earned more than nine key financial designations including: Certified Financial Planner™, Chartered Financial Consultant®, Certified Divorce Financial Analyst™, Chartered Advisor for Senior Living™, Chartered Life Underwriter®, Certified Fraud Examiner, Accredited Estate Planner®, and Chartered Advisor of Philanthropy. Christopher also serves on the Coastal Educational Foundation board of directors, Wall College of Business board of visitors, Chanticleer Athletic Foundation board of directors, and chairs of the Department of Finance and Economics advisory board.
2006
Ashleigh Branham Dixon has been promoted to DNA serologist with the Richland County Sheriff’s Department in Columbia, S.C.
2011
Kristen Lang has relocated from Chicago to her hometown of Baltimore, Md., where she works as a marketing project analyst at M&T Bank’s Mid-Atlantic headquarters.
2015
Ali Rogers Huggins has been named teacher of the year at East Elementary School in Dillon.
2017
Theresa Calabrese has been hired as a graphic designer at Jack Porter, a multidisciplinary design group in Greenville. She previously worked at T2H Advertising in Myrtle Beach.
2018
Matthew Perdue is an economics teacher at Carolina Forest High School.
October-November 2018
1985
Tim Perkins has retired from coaching after spending 33 years as an assistant football coach at Marion High School. His background includes serving as the athletic director for Marion School District One. Tim also serves as the Marion County School District transportation supervisor.
1994
Chris Thomas is a psychology instructor at Florence-Darlington Technical College in Hartsville, S.C.
1999
Benjamin Hill, an associate professor of clinical neuropsychology at the University of South Alabama, is a fellow at the National Academy of Neuropsychology (NAN), where he was elected to the board of directors. In 2017, he earned the NAN’s Early Career Award, which is given to someone who has made substantial scholarly contributions to the field of neuropsychology within 10 years of receiving their doctoral degree. Benjamin earned a Ph.D. in clinical psychology from Louisiana State University in 2008.
2002
Meredith Sherman Delcamp has been named a partner at Shutts & Bowen LLP, a full-service business law firm with offices throughout Florida. She works in the business litigation practice group in its Tampa office. Delcamp earned a certificate in environmental law from Tulane University Law School, where she also earned a juris doctorate.
2003
Tom Griffin is a special education teacher and the varsity baseball coach at Conway High School. He also is the director of the Griffstrong Foundation Golf Tournament, which financially supports local charities as well as families fighting cancer.
2007
Staff Sgt. Claudia Witte McNally represented Fort Bragg when she ran in the 2018 Army Ten-Miler on Oct. 7 in Washington, D.C. The psychological operations specialist was recently accepted in the Army’s Officer Candidate School.
2014
Kara Metzner and Nicholas Ciaston ’16 were married in CCU’s Lackey Chapel on Oct. 27, 2018. Kara, who also earned a master’s degree in educational leadership from CCU in 2016, is a first-grade teacher at Carolina Forest Elementary School, and Nicholas is an engineer at the Sheraton Myrtle Beach Convention Center Hotel. The couple lives in Conway.
2015
Megan Gooch works for First Command Financial Services in Highland Falls, N.Y.
De’Angelo Henderson has signed with the NFL’s New York Jets. He played last year with the Denver Broncos, who draft him in the sixth-round of 2017 NFL Draft.
Tonisha Lee is pursuing a master’s degree at Winthrop University.
2016
Samantha McKenzie is pursuing a master’s degree in social work at the University of South Carolina. She is doing her field placement at Three Rivers Behavioral Health in the crisis unit.
Erica Robles is a senior registered behavior technician at SOS Health Care, where she works with special needs children.
2017
Nathaniel Marshall is the interim chief personnel officer for Florence Public School District One in Florence, S.C., where he leads the district’s human resources department. Nathaniel earned a master’s degree in educational leadership from CCU.
Casey Schroeder has opened Clean Eatz Café in Columbus, Ohio. He is also is a catcher for the Birmingham Barons, the Double-A affiliate of the Chicago White Sox.
December 2018
1996
Mike Chambers has been promoted to executive vice president, chief banking officer, at Partners Bank of California. A founding employee and investor of Partners Bank, he has worked at the bank for 11 years, most recently as senior vice president.
2000
Eric Bennett has accepted an analyst position with the Idaho Department of Environmental Quality in the Underground Storage Tank/Leaking Underground Storage Tank program. He previously was the acting minerals administrator for the U.S. Forest Service on the Boise National Forest working out of the Idaho City Ranger District.
2010
Ciera Young has published her first book, Cheers to Him, which reveals the journey of a 29-year-old female who spent years of getting relationships wrong and dealing with the consequences. Young also is the owner of fanCEE, a photography and visual content business.
2011
Matthew Tremaine is the new installation manager at IZON Golf, a leader in GPS technology for the golf industry. Before joining IZON Golf, he was a project manager at Clear Channel Outdoor. Tremaine lives in Scottsdale, Ariz., and is also pursuing a master’s degree in software engineering at Arizona State University.
2012
Gloria Kleich is an accounts payable accountant at The Brandon Agency, a leading brand strategist agency based in Myrtle Beach.
2013
Kevin Colyer and Kristen Vanneman were married at Atalaya Castle at Huntington Beach State Park in Murrells Inlet on July 13, 2018. Their reception was held at The Hall at St. John’s. They live in The Market Common in Myrtle Beach.
Sebastian Soderberg will be playing on the European Tour in 2019. He finished fifth on the European Challenge Tour’s order of merit, to be one of 15 players to graduate to Europe’s top circuit. Soderberg is No. 219 in the Official World Golf Ranking.
2016
Dana Radford and Eric Bennett were married Sept. 1 in Marion, S.C. She is a health and fitness coordinator at Verizon in Wilmington, N.C., where the couple lives. She also is pursuing a master’s degree from New York Chiropractic College, and previously served in the U.S. Army from 2005-12.