Dear Friends of W&M Athletics,

We all know history is an integral part of William & Mary and our hometown of Williamsburg, which makes it cool to see the thread of history connecting our past and present student-athletes. Who could imagine that alumnus Bernard "Tut" Bartzen, born during the excavation process of King Tut's tomb, would send his granddaughter, Sara Bartzen, off to play field hockey at W&M more than seven decades later? 

Our Tribe Scribe Dave Johnson wrote a fascinating article about Sara (#18 pictured below) and "Papa Tut," who was part of the Tribe's national championship tennis team in 1947 and '48, before a storied coaching career at TCU. Check out the story and learn more about the path that brought Sara to W&M. It's a great read!

Round ball Awaits
If you are as excited about basketball season as I am, please join us for our Men's and Women's Basketball Tip-Off Banquet on Friday, Nov. 1 at the Alumni House. It's a great chance to mingle and chat with the players and coaches from both teams.
 
We've been getting ready for the season for months and there are a couple of updates. First, we've got several new parking enhancements. The Kaplan Arena lot will be cleared this season before Tribe men's basketball home games to allow more parking on game day. Fans can purchase single-game parking in the Kaplan lot for $5 via the Passport app. For more information about this, and parking in the Black, Green or Gold lots, click here.
Also, don't forget to purchase your tickets now! We've worked hard to develop a variety of ticket plans, including full season tickets, mini plans, and flex vouchers that allow you to purchase ten tickets at a great rate and use them all at once or one at a time for ten games, or any combination that works for you.
 
Notable

• Kudos to Tom Duffy, director of operations for Men's Soccer, who reached a tremendous milestone—1,000 matches coached during his coaching career!
• Top Drawer Soccer announced its Top 100 Freshman list and Women's Soccer's Peyton Costello (pictured below) is on the list at #64!

• Following W&M's 2-1 win over CAA foe Delaware last week, Field Hockey's outstanding goalie, Maddie George, earned her second CAA Defensive Player of the Week honor. Teammate Kellen Richbourg earned CAA Co-Offensive Player of the Week after scoring both goals in the victory over the Blue Hens.
• Men's Cross Country is ranked #12 and Women's Cross Country is #15 in the latest regional rankings from the U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association.
• Women's Cross Country is the champion of the Pirate XC Invite at East Carolina, with three runners in the top five and five in the top 10!
• Volleyball's Lindsay Kahren was named the CAA Volleyball Defensive Player of the Week for the second time this season. The Tribe libero helped lead the Tribe to a weekend sweep of defending CAA Champion Delaware.\

• W&M swept the CAA Swimmer of the Week awards this week. Lindsay Juhlin and Aiden Bond earned the accolades following three wins each at the Navy Tri-Meet over the weekend.
• Oliver Hague of Men's Tennis won his opening match in the ITA Atlantic Regional Championships. The reigning CAA Rookie of the Year's run in the event came to an end in the round of 16 at the hands of 2024 BIG EAST Player of the Year, Jake Fellows.

Break Out Your Green & Gold
It's here – Homecoming and Reunion Weekend. I can't wait to shake a few hundred hands and make new friends! A great series of events is planned, so please make the most of your time on campus. 
 
Don't forget our football matchup vs. Campbell on Saturday at 3:30 p.m., where we'd love to see all of you. Those attending will see a special Navy flyover by Cmdr. Ian Kemp '03 in honor of W&M's new Naval ROTC, which is part of the Hampton Roads Naval ROTC Consortium! Check out the photo below at the Tribe football game vs. Hampton.
  "Buffalo Brotherhood"
Apologies to the W&M Alumni Magazine for "borrowing" this title, but what a great article about a quartet of Tribe football alums who are now coaches for the NFL's Buffalo Bills.  Sean McDermott '98 is the head coach, and Joe Brady '13, DJ Mangas '12 and Christian Taylor '07, are members of his staff.  The coaches talk about their invaluable experience with the Tribe and why that shared knowledge and culture has brought them together in upstate New York at one of the NFL's most beloved franchises.

Go, Tribe!

Brian D. Mann
Director of Athletics