Dear Friends of Tribe Athletics,
 
I'm back in the office after a few great days in New York and Connecticut where I had the pleasure of meeting with W&M alumni and friends, plus fellow athletics directors at one of our country's greatest institutions—the United States Military Academy at West Point.

It happened that One Tribe One Day fell on the Tuesday during my trip, and what a rush it was to see how people who love the university came together during that day to show their dedication and support for our university. By the way, sound the trumpets!  While the final count is not yet completed, we are confident in saying we have surpassed last year's dollar amount ($571,862) and look to be on pace to establish a record-total for the day of giving!

My meeting at the Academy was outstanding for several reasons.  The trip to this storied place brought out the history major in me and I was fascinated by the importance of West Point's strategic location during the American Revolution.  Also, it was a great opportunity to meet and talk with ADs from all over the country about everyday issues facing collegiate athletics.  Discussions ranged from the transfer portal to NIL to how important self-care is for all of us, from student-athletes to administrators.  I left the conference inspired by what I learned.  My chief takeaway is that we all need to be relentless in our commitment to our core values and operational efficiency and I know the Tribe is on the right path in both.
 
Last Saturday, I was invited to speak at an event during the Day for Admitted Students.  As I looked out at the Class of 2027 and their families, I felt a real sense of pride because I know what a great community these young men and women are joining, and the awesome experiences and friendships that are ahead for them.  I also felt a little kinship with the families since my own mom was in the audience. I wish I could say she came just for my speech, but it was my son Russell's second birthday and he trumps me every time!

  During the past couple of weeks, we've had some great performances and honors:
·      Baseball grabbed a series victory over league-leading Elon that featured two walk-off one-run victories.  The Tribe has now won five series in a row and faces conference foe North Carolina A&T this weekend.

·      Outfielder Tank Yaghoubi (pictured above) recorded seven hits in 14 at-bats last week and was named the Colonial Athletics Association (CAA) Rookie of the Week. 
·      Freshman Grace Lu fired the second-best round in the CAA Championship history leading William & Mary to its best 18-hole score in league tournament history. 
·      Jackson Cooley set a pair of meet and school records in the 100m (10.49) and 200m (21.12) at High Point University's Meet of Champions.
·      The 4x100 quartet of Amaya Johnson, Lizzy Gregory, Anna Kessler, and Melissa Cunningham topped their own program mark in the event, posting the first-ever sub-46 second finish at the Meet of Champions.  In all, W&M track athletes set three school records, posted multiple PRs and plenty of season-best numbers.
·      Tribe golf graduate student Sarah Houle and baseball graduate student Cole Ragone were recently honored by the CAA as Scholar-Athlete of the Year finalists. The program recognizes one male and one female honoree from each of the 13 league institutions for outstanding athletic and academic contributions.
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·      After excelling on the field and in the classroom, football defensive standouts Zyquan Bessant and Carl Fowler were selected to the National Football Foundation & College Hall of Fame 2023 Hampshire Honor Society. The honorees are standout college football players from all divisions who completed their final year of eligibility and maintained a cumulative 3.2 GPA or better throughout their college career.

·    William & Mary senior Jillian O'Toole was named a recipient of the College Player Award of Distinction from the United Soccer Coaches for one or more of the following criteria:  performance, leadership, character and contributions to the program and community.
·    A pair of William & Mary student-athletes – Caroline Donovan (lacrosse) and Conor Sokolowsky (swimming) – were recently selected as initiates to the prestigious Phi Beta Kappa Society!

Alumni and volunteers are critical when it comes to supporting the Tribe and many thanks go to Ronde and Claudia Barber, and Mike Tomlin '95, whose stellar efforts brought us the terrific 2^nd Annual Women's Lacrosse Golf Tournament, which raised nearly $100,000, doubling last year's total.  It was a great event and we're already looking forward to next year!

I'm ending the week with tennis on my mind.  Our women's team is the #1 seed in the CAA Championship (for the 18th time in the last 25 tournaments) and is the defending champs.  We are hosting the tournament at the Mackesy Tennis Center at the Millie West Courts and as I complete this newsletter, I am thrilled to report we opened up our title defense with a resounding, 4-0, quarterfinal win. They will be back in action in tomorrow morning's semi-final match against fourth-seeded Elon. I hope you can make it out in person to support the team, but if not, you can follow all the action on social or by going to TribeAthletics.com. 

Go Tribe!