RADFORD, Va., July 23 -- Radford University issued the following news release:

Her dark green waders dripping wet from the waist down, Lillian MacNamara stepped out of the New River and walked over to a small group of her fellow students standing along the river bank.

"Is the water cold?" one of the students asked.

"A little," MacNamara replied. She paused, smiled and added, "but it's kind of like getting a big hug."

But when she recalled walking into the river's current, "It was really rough," MacNamara said. "That's something I've never experienced before."

Radford Associate Professor of Chemistry Kristina Stefaniak (right) gives instructions to Summer Bridge students before they collect water samples from the New River.

It was Tues...