Dear Friends of W&M Athletics,

Wth the calendar's help, we are writing to you today on All Hallows Eve. Happy Halloween, everyone! 
 
Our student-athletes took a quick break and had fun with Trick or Tribe yesterday in Kaplan Arena. We hosted the children of our staff for the event, which the Social Heritage Committee sponsored in collaboration with our Student-Athlete Advisory Committee (SAAC). I was impressed with the creativity of the costumes, highlighted by our field hockey team's impressive showing, pictured below, as well as the delicious treats.
 
For the Fans
The clock is ticking on the start of basketball season, with our women's team playing its first game at Norfolk State on Nov. 4 and our men's team tipping off vs. Dickinson also on Nov. 4. Those attending the men's game will be among the first to experience Kaplan's many significant enhancements.  
We've worked hard to make the game atmosphere more enjoyable, so the list of what's new is very long, but here are some highlights:

• Wi-fi expansion, with 111 new access points for a better digital experience
• Season ticket member express lanes at concession areas
• Beer sales throughout Kaplan
• The Baseline Club—an exclusive ticketed suite area for private groups up to 100
• More parking choices in the Kaplan, Black, Green and Gold lots
• Women's basketball courtside seating

 Notable

• Congratulations to Coach Erin Dickerson Davis for her recent recognition from Omicron Delta Kappa, a National Leadership Honor Society! It's so well-deserved and reflects both her outstanding personal and professional qualities. 
• Men's and Women's Cross Country are in Elon, NC tomorrow as they race for their respective CAA titles. The teams have some nice momentum as they finished their last few races with solid results. A good primer for the races can be found here.  
• Speaking of Cross Country, our Tribe Scribe, Dave Johnson gives you a great read on the relentless effort senior harrier, Kyra Holland has put in to overcome multiple setbacks to put herself in position to compete with her teammates at CAAs.
• Peyton Costello of Women's Soccer has earned CAA All-Rookie honors!  Her teammate Ivey Crain, for the third straight year, has earned All-CAA honors, making this year's Second Team.
• Volleyball's setter Amy Schwem became the seventh player in program history to reach 2,000 assists. A ruptured Achilles tendon put a question mark on her senior season; read how she overcame that hurdle.

 

• Swimming won 25 of 28 events in sweeping Johns Hopkins last weekend. The week before, swimmers Lindsay Juhlin and Aiden Bond were named the CAA Swimmers of the Week.
• Men's Soccer's Tre Barrett was ranked No. 66 in Top Drawer Soccer's Midseason Top 100 Freshman.
• Men's Golf tied for second at the Lehigh Invitation, the last match of the fall.

His Majesty the Oak
I highly recommend a story by our Tribe Scribe Dave Johnson about a majestic oak in York River State Park that strongly connects to the 2009 Cross-Country team inducted into the W&M Athletics Hall of Fame last month. The tree was a sapling in the mid-18th century when Thomas Jefferson came to William & Mary. About 15 years ago, the team was so impressed by its presence and longevity that they made it part of the team.

"We treated it like it had mythical powers," said Lewis Woodard '10, part of the 2009 team. "We said we were paying our respects to His Majesty the Oak. We went on the Majestic Oak Trail and touched the majestic oak on our runs." Each member of the team felt that way, including Ben Massam '10. After he died of cancer in 2019 at 31, a plan was set in motion to build a park bench by the tree in his honor. Read how the team overcame some challenges to make that bench a reality.
 
 Flying High
One of the highlights of this year's Homecoming and Reunion festivities was the flyover before our football game vs. Campbell, which the Tribe won 35-28. We thank Tribe football alum Commander Ian "Slick" Kemp '03, who sported a W&M t-shirt as part of his pilot's uniform! (see photo below) Overall, it was a great day, and you can get a flavor of it by checking out the recap here . By the way, our next home football match vs. Elon is our Military Appreciation game. You can buy tickets here.
 
True Blue!
The Los Angeles Dodgers finished a compelling World Series last evening with an exciting 7-6 comeback win.  The victory is the franchise's second world title in five seasons, and we have a pair of alumni who were undoubtedly in on the celebration.  Starting with Todd Boehly '96, part of the Dodgers ownership group, and extending to Will Rhymes '05, the team's Vice President of Player Development.   Each has played a significant role in the Dodger's continued success and is a great ambassador of the Green and Gold!

Full Circle
I started today's Mannuscript talking about our student-athletes and their Halloween festivities. If you indulge me, my boys Russell and Henry (pictured below) joined the fun at their school yesterday, and they were thrilled to have the opportunity to dress up.  Here's hoping everyone has fun today and tonight, safely and responsibly!
   
Go, Tribe!

Brian D. Mann
Director of Athletics