Busy time of the year for Reddan siblings BY WAYNE WITKOWSKI Staff Writer You can always tell when it's Thanksgiving around the Reddan household. It's not only because Erin Reddan is back home from her sophomore year at Virginia Tech and Dan Reddan is home from Rowan University for the break. It's also the busiest time when Erin is wrapping up cross country and getting ready for indoor track and field, while Dan and younger brother Tim, are preparing for basketball season. "You can tell," agreed Erin. "Dan is a little more hyped up about his season that's started, and Tim is getting ready for the high school team, which should be pretty good." "It's good to see everyone doing something," said Dan. Erin is savoring a solid fall in helping the Hokies women's team to its best season ever - a No. 20 national ranking and an 18th-place finish in the NCAA championships out of 31 teams. She was the sixth finisher for her team in 24:25 in the 6K race for 209th place among team scorers, 246th overall. "I didn't do my best but it was my first big race," said Erin. "I started coming on late in the fall. In my first few races, it was not good but I worked hard and trained very hard. I was probably in the best shape for the fall that I've ever been in." And she helped the Hokies finish ahead of two teams ranked higher nationally, including No. 3 ranked and Atlantic Coast Conference rival North Carolina State. She now is preparing for the 3K and 5K races indoors. "It's mostly a time to get in condition and get ready for the spring," said Erin, who red-shirted last spring because of an injury. Dan, meanwhile, is picking up where he left off last season for the Profs. "It's going pretty good," said Dan, who said he has started the team's three games in a 2-1 start "because of injuries." It was similar to last season when Dan got the opportunity to play late in the season because of injuries and did well in many areas, especially in terms of shooting the ball better. That team finished 12-13, its first losing season in 20 years, but only two players graduated. "We're a lot better than last year," said Dan. "We're small like last year but we're looking well and starting to win the close games. And my playing a lot the last 10 games helped my confidence. That's when I knew I could play." Dan has done his part as the only forward at 6 feet 3 inches in a four-guard offense. He's averaging 4.7 points and 3.7 rebounds a game, where he says spending four days a week in the weight room helps. Rowan beat McMurray State, 68-63, in a tournament hosted by Johns Hopkins and lost to the host team, 70-68, and then beat Medgar Evers, 70-68. Dan says the key is that Rowan "is a lot quicker than the teams we play. We have so many shooters that teams have to play zone against us. Any guy can score and we have two of the best scorers in the conference." As for Tim, he's one of four starters back from last year's team that made the NJSIAA and Shore Conference tournaments in a 14-12 season and is looking for a strong showing in the Shore Conference A South. "Yeah, we were young last year but we've got almost everybody back and we're looking good right now," said Tim, a junior who has played on the varsity since his freshman year. He is joined in the starting lineup by powerful post player Tom Paterno, who has grown to 6 feet 7 inches, deft shooter Mike Gawronski and strong forward F.J. Lucchetti. As for his role on the team, Tim said he "is working on everything" to get ready for this season. And like his brother and sister, he no doubt worked very hard as well.