Flagler coaches John Lynch and Taylor Mott have achieved big success since making the jump to the NCAA and Peach Belt Conference

Vreeland bucks media trends by making Atlanta magazine a success

Despite many news outlets claiming that print media and magazines are dying, there are certainly success stories. Talk to industry insiders and they’ll tell you the magazines that will succeed are ones that are smart, creative, niche-based and personal to their readers. One of them is the Atlanta-based Occasions Magazine, founded by 2002 Flagler graduate Heather Vreeland in early 2009.

Occasions was originally a web-only idea by the communication major, who previously served as a director of marketing for a spa company and a bridal consultant for David’s Bridal. Vreeland wanted to focus solely on weddings before she discovered that there was a craving for events of all kinds by local residents. She also noticed a hole in resources for the Atlanta area.

The next step for 2009 graduate and standout cross-country runner Ryan MacManus may be a career as an FBI profiler

For spring 2009 graduate Ryan MacManus, the past four years has had its lows – like being diagnosed with the debilitating Crohn’s disease that nearly ended his cross country running career.

’89 grad flies Coast Guard choppers to head off drug traffickers

Eighty-five miles off the Colombian coast, in the eastern Pacific Ocean, a small boat speeds through international waters headed north. Loaded with illegal narcotics like marijuana and cocaine, the boat is more than likely headed for U.S. soil, where the “runners” on board will sell the drugs for a higher premium to a buyer on the mainland.

The runners may make $10,000 each on this one mission — a typical day in the international drug trade. Unless they encounter HITRON and Flagler graduate Matt Rother.

When speaking about Clemson University’s new head tennis coach Chuck McCuen, Peter Scott talks like a proud father. His body perks up, his voice raises an octave, and the 2004 Flagler Athletic Hall of Fame inductee is almost at a loss for words.

“Chuck was such a hard worker, and God, he hated to lose,” recalls Scott, who was Flagler’s first head tennis coach from 1974-1989. “What do I recall about Chuck? You know what the biggest thing is? There are guys on every team that are natural-born leaders. Chuck was pretty much always that guy.”