Dear Friends of W&M Athletics,

Love is a wonderful thing!  Of course in tennis parlance, love means "zero," so I'm stretching the definition.  But when our Women's Tennis team beats Delaware 4-0 in the finals of the CAA Championship for their third championship in a row, it's a whole lot of love!
 
Since the inaugural CAA women's championship in 1985, William & Mary has won 29 of the 39 events, including 15 of the first 16 and seven of the last nine. Since Head Coach Jessica Giuggioli's first season in 2022, the Tribe has gone 25-1 (counting tournament matches) against CAA opponents. Congratulations to a great team and coach for a dominant showing!   
And they aren't done yet! The CAA Championship earned the Tribe (18-5) a ticket to the NCAA tournament where they will open against the University of Wisconsin (18-6) Friday at 3 p.m. in Chapel Hill, N.C. You can follow the match by clicking HERE.

A Silver Anniversary
On May 10 we will celebrate the 25th anniversary of the opening of Plumeri Park, home of Tribe Baseball.  We are honored that the ballpark's namesake and his wife, Joe and Susan Plumeri (pictured below), will be on hand for the festivities.  Join us for the fun, nab a commemorative cup and t-shirt and then watch the Green & Gold take on Towson at 6 p.m.
 
Notable

• Alexander Karman of Men's Tennis received the CAA Cares Community Award at the 2024 CAA Men's Tennis Championships. The CAA created the Cares Community Award to recognize individuals who have made a positive impact within their community or on their campus. 
• Megan Heidebrecht's record-setting performance highlighted William & Mary's Track & Field performance at the Virginia High-Performance meet in Charlottesville.  She set a program record in the triple jump. Melissa Cunningham grabbed an event win for the Tribe in the women's 200m, winning by less than 0.2 seconds.
• Liv Cantby (pictured below), had a week to remember! She was the CAA Field Athlete of the Week, had the second-best javelin mark in W&M history and the best javelin mark in the CAA this season.

• Men's Gymnastics concluded their 2024 season at the NCAA Championships hosted by Ohio State. Tribe standouts Niko Greenly and Sam Lee competed in the finals on rings and parallel bars, respectively.  Niko finished tied for 17th and Sam 35th.
• Right-handed pitcher Nathan Knowles was named to the 2024 National Pitcher of the Year award watch list. Over 15 starts, he posted a team-best 83 strikeouts in just 56.1 innings of work. His 2.08 ERA, is second on the squad and 13th nationally.  
• Football's Nate Lynn (pictured below) an All-American defensive lineman, signed a free agent contract with the Detroit Lions, where Tribe alum Cody Sorsdal played as a rookie last year. Teammate and fellow graduate, Ryan Poole, also will get an opportunity to chase his NFL dreams, as he accepted an invite to a rookie mini-camp with the San Francisco 49ers.

Thanks to all who joined us for the dedication of Jill Ellis Field and the 1987 Women's Soccer Team Training Center. We had a fantastic time welcoming back 21 members of the 1987 team, including Jill. See below for a photo of the team in 1987 and one from the dedication. That's what I call Tribe Pride!
 
Awards and More
Earlier this week Athletics held the annual Griffy Awards Ceremony. It's a wonderful occasion to celebrate our student-athletes for their efforts on the field, in the classroom and in the community. Kaplan Arena was packed as Alek Kuzmenchuk from Men's Gymnastics, (pictured below) received the inaugural Peel Hawthorne Award, Field Hockey's Pyper Friedman won the Martha Barksdale Award and Golfer Logan Hunter won the Bruce Davidson Award. The last two awards are given to a rising senior student-athlete in a women's and men's Olympic sport who has reached the highest levels of academic and athletic achievement. We also named our finalist for the Senior Student-Athletes of the Year, which will be announced once all our sports have completed competitions for the year.
 
On the Calendar
In just two weeks, the university will hold its annual commencement ceremony on May 17 and 137 of our student-athletes will celebrate the end one phase of their lives and begin the next. Whether they are continuing their academic careers or starting their professions, I know that William & Mary has prepared them well. We are holding a special send-off for our graduating student-athletes and their parents where I'm looking forward to thanking them for all they have given to the Tribe.

If you are interested in some coach speak of the best kind, join us at the Willow Oaks Country Club in Richmond from 5:30-7:30 p.m. on May 21 to hear from Women's Soccer Head Coach Julie Shackford, Football Head Coach Mike London, Men's Basketball Head Coach Brian Earl, Women's Tennis Head Coach Jessica Giuggioli and Women's Field Hockey Head Coach Tess Ellis. More information is here.

By looking at our online calendar, you can see the semester is truly winding down. Track & Field was at the Liberty Twilight Qualifier yesterday and will head to the CAA Track & Field Championships May 10-11 at Elon. Baseball has three weekend series before the CAA Championship at the end of the month. Don't forget you can be part of the action either in person or online, so let's finish the year with cheering on the Green & Gold.

Go, Tribe!

Brian D. Mann
Director of Athletics