By Dave Johnson
W&M Athletics
 
To say the fall semester at William & Mary was abnormal would be a massive understatement. With restrictions in place because of the pandemic, there was little normal about it.
 
Yet the athletic department shared some good news last week. For the fall semester, the Tribe's student-athletes compiled an overall grade-point average of 3.55. That was more than three-tenths of a point higher than last fall's average of 3.20.
 
"Given all the challenges of the fall semester, our student-athletes' academic performance is particularly remarkable," W&M interim athletics director Jeremy P. Martin said. "The university is very proud.
 
"It also speaks to the work of William & Mary's faculty creating quality learning environments for all our students during the pandemic and the effort of Lynaye Stone and her team in supporting all William & Mary student-athletes' academic success."
 
Stone, who is Director of Student-Athlete Services, credited teamwork and the W&M culture for the successful fall.
 
"Our Director of Student Services left for another position in late September, so our Student-Athlete Services team was short-staffed with everything going on," she said. "Kris (Marshall), who is our assistant compliance director, ended up assisting me by taking over some teams. Our team, coaches and student-athletes really stepped in.
 
William & Mary is a very special place and everybody rallied together. They knew we were down a person and were unable to be on campus this semester in our effort to help de-densify campus. But they rose to the challenge, and the coaches were great."

Of the 23 varsity teams, 20 posted an average of 3.5 or better. Women's gymnastics had the highest score at 3.8669 with four athletes posting a 4.0. Over 60% of Tribe student-athletes (or a total of 362) achieved a 3.5 or better for the fall semester, including 46 with a perfect 4.0.
 
"It's completely amazing," women's gymnastics coach Kelsey Hinton said. "Honestly, on my part, it's effortless. It's the type of student-athletes we recruit. We have the expectation that they will come in and they will succeed. Those expectations are laid out so they know what they're coming into.
 
"That's why once they are here at William & Mary, it's completely effortless on the coaches' side. These women want to excel after college, and they prove every day in the classroom and out of the classroom that they can do that."
 
Hinton admired how her athletes handled the unusual fall semester.
 
"As coaches, we had check-in meetings with our athletes just to make sure that they were doing OK," she said. "Some of the responses we received was that the fall semester was a little more challenging obviously with COVID and them not being able to be on campus fully.
 
"Actually, their workload increased in the fall. They definitely tackled that the best they could."
 
Other programs with strong fall semesters include men's tennis (3.79), volleyball (3.73), women's lacrosse (3.73), women's tennis (3.70) and men's cross country (3.71).
 
The football team had one of its best fall semesters with an average of 3.19. That was nearly half a point higher than last fall's average of 2.75.
 
Sixty-nine of it's student-athletes had at least a 3.0 GPA. Thirty-two had had a 3.5 or better.
 
"I'm extremely proud of the student-athletes we have here," Tribe coach Mike London said. "At a school like William & Mary, to continue making strides in the classroom is what we're all about. They're here to get a world-class education and also compete for championships.
 
"(Assistant coach) Gordie Sammis is our liaison with academics with the support staff. We prioritized mandatory freshman study halls and our coaches meet with freshmen every Monday and every Thursday so we're on the same page and when things are due. Lynaye is a strong advocate. She's our right-hand person when it comes to that."
 
London added that his players understand what is expected of them.
 
"There is no missing class because 'I've got practice,'" he said. "I've left players who thought they were going to travel at home for missing classes during the week. The message is being driven home that the student athlete is exactly what you are."