Dear Friends of W&M Athletics,

Pardon my puns, but in the last couple of weeks, the Tribe has been right on track and in the swim of things as our indoor track and swimming teams had some golden moments at their recent CAA Championships.
   
Freshman Brian Walsh (pictured below) won the CAA heptathlon title to highlight the Tribe's performance at the 2024 CAA Indoor Track & Field Championships. Needing to overcome a 40-point deficit to take the lead heading into the final event, Walsh rose to the occasion and raced to victory in the 1,000m. The win not only earned him the gold, but helped Walsh set CAA, meet and school records by totaling 5,173 points over the seven events. Fifth-year Keeley Suzenski and senior Megan Heidebrecht earned silver medals in the shot put and triple jump, respectively, while sophomore Jonathan Kumer won bronze in the 800m.
 
 I was lucky to be at the CAA Swimming Championship in Hampton, VA, where Tribe swimmers snared 13 medals, including three gold medals while setting three program records and three freshman records. The Tribe women's 400 medley team of Kat Vanbourgondien, Ellie Scherer, Lindsay Juhlin and Caroline Burgeson won gold. Scherer became the first Tribe women's swimmer to earn the CAA title in the 200 IM since 2007 and she also won a gold medal in the 100 Breaststroke. On the men's side, freshman Aiden Bond took home a silver medal in the 50 Free. The enthusiasm of the men and women in our program is outstanding, and made the event even more enjoyable for the spectators, especially me!
 
Honoring Tribe Standouts

Thanks to the generosity of Jennifer Tepper Mackesy '91, D. Scott Mackesy '91 and John Goodenow "Goody" Tyler II HON '11 Athletics and Campus Recreation are upgrading campus facilities. A new turf field named Jill Ellis Field  will be installed in the 1987 Women's Soccer Team Training Center, including a new scoreboard and lights, making night practices and games possible. The varsity lacrosse and soccer programs, as well as campus recreation and club sports, will all benefit from the facilities.
 
Jill Ellis '88, L.H.D.'16, is a W&M legend.  She was the head coach for the U.S. National Women's Soccer Team, which won back-to-back FIFA World Cups in 2015 and 2019. She is currently the team president for San Diego Wave FC. Already a member of the U.S. Soccer Hall of Fame, Jill will be inducted into the Virginia Hall of Fame next month.  She was captain of the 1987 women's soccer team that put W&M on the soccer map by making a run to the Elite Eight in the NCAA tournament and finished in the top 5 in the country.
Notable!

• Sam Lee and Ricky Pizem (pictured below) of men's gymnastics won titles on parallel bars (13.55) and high bar (13.0), respectively, in a dual meet at Greenville.  In a tri-meet at the University of Illinois, Gavin Zborowski highlighted W&M's performances by placing second in all-around with a career-high 76.95.

• On a day on which William & Mary honored its men's basketball senior class, it was junior Gabe Dorsey who stole the headlines. The sharpshooting guard knocked down five of W&M's 15 3-pointers and in the process broke Marcus Thornton's school record for treys in a season, leading the Tribe to an 85-73 win over Hampton in the regular season finale.  The team heads to the CAA Championship where they will play North Carolina A&T in the first round tomorrow.  If you are coming to the game, we encourage you to join us as we send our student-athletes off from the team hotel (Courtyard & Residence Inn by Marriott - Washington Downtown Convention Center) at noon!
• Former Tribe quarterback Ted Hefter '21 (pictured below), who went from walk-on to team captain, is returning to coach quarterbacks for Coach Mike London, and Perry Jones, who played for Coach London at UVA, will join the staff to coach running backs.  Plus, offensive line coach Mario Acitelli has been promoted to offensive coordinator.  Reminder, football's spring game is at 1 p.m. Saturday in Zable. 

• The women's basketball game vs. Northeastern planned for tonight was forfeited by Northeastern due to its limited roster availability, but there is one more opportunity to cheer on the team.  Please join us on Saturday at 1 p.m. when the team plays Stony Brook in the season finale before heading to the CAA Championships March 13-17 in Washington, D.C. 

Did You Know?
Did you know that in addition to supporting things like scholarships, capital projects, or your favorite team, you can also direct your gifts to things like sports information, sports medicine, etc.? If you enjoy tribeathletics.com, any of our social media accounts, and reading about our teams and student-athletes, it is due to the work of the folks on our communications team. Much of that work is supported by an endowment funded by the great Rene A. Henry.  We are very grateful for this type of support, which is a wonderful way to supplement our finances and to hire and retain quality employees.  In fact, the next time you make a gift to Athletics for any purpose, you can add $1 for the sports information endowment. Our W&M community is such a tremendous source of support it is impossible to imagine where we would be without you. Thank you, as always!
 
One Tribe One Day
Over the last decade One Tribe One Day  (OTOD) has become one of the premier events on the university's calendar. This year OTOD will be held on Tuesday, March 26. No matter where in the world you are, you will have a chance to participate in OTOD, either virtually or in person. Last year Athletics reached over 160% of our donor targets and we had the most new donors of any unit in the university! This is a great opportunity to support the sport you love, or anything else in our department, since all gifts to Athletics count toward the OTOD total.  I'm confident that, with your help, this year will be another great one for the Tribe!

Go Tribe!

Brian D. Mann
Director of Athletics