Dear Friends of Tribe Athletics,

First, a heartfelt thank you to everyone who participated in One Tribe One Day on April 2. When the counting was finished, we received the great news that 2,401 donors had contributed more than $797,000 to the Tribe!
 
Athletics also received $5,000 from the Gerdelman School & Unit Challenge, sponsored by Sue Hanna Gerdelman '76, P '07, P '13, and the late John Gerdelman '75, L.H.D. '19, P '07, P '13. Athletics, along with fellow recipients Student Affairs and Arts & Sciences, was awarded the funds from the Challenge based on exceeding our donor goals.
Overall, we received $135,000 in matches and challenges (16 different matches and challenges) for the community to double the impact of their gifts, and every single one was met! The passion and support the Tribe community provides our student-athletes continues to inspire me and our entire department!

Notable

• The Women's Tennis program will head to Elon, N.C., this weekend to defend its CAA Championship!  Head coach Jessica Giuggioli takes the squad into the Championship as the No. 2 overall seed and will be looking to capture its fourth-straight title and CAA best-29th overall.
• The Tribe's no. 1 player, and reigning two-time CAA Player of the Year, Hedda Gurholt, recently became the 14th player in program history with 90-plus career singles wins. Her two CAA Player of the Year honors ties her for third most in school history.

• The 12th-ranked William & Mary Men's Gymnastics team concluded its season at the 2025 NCAA Championships hosted by the University of Michigan last weekend.  A school-record five standouts competed in seven events:  Evan Wilkins, Sam Lee, Luke Tully, Connor Barrow and Niko Greenly.  Congratulations!  Click on the graphic below to see a video recap.

• Tribe Baseball is our version of the comeback kids, as they took two of three games in the series vs. Campbell last weekend, returning from multi-run deficits in both wins.  The never-say-die spirit was on best display as the team battled to a remarkable 15-14 victory in 10 innings in the series clincher!  
• The Tribe baseball team sits second in the CAA with a 9-6 conference mark, they will head into this weekend's CAA showdown at Stony Brook on a three-game winning streak after beating the Naval Academy earlier this week.
• Infielder Jamie Laskofski was a catalyst in the series win over Campbell, hitting.500 (7-for-14) with three doubles, five RBI, and his first career home run. He also added three walks and stole a base. As a result, he is the CAA Rookie of the Week.

• Baseball alumnus Ben Williamson '23 made his MLB debut for the Seattle Mariners last week in memorable fashion. In the first plate appearance of his MLB career, Williamson hit a two-out single against Cincinnati Reds left-hander Nick Lodolo. A four-year starter for the Tribe, Ben posted a .327 batting average and .504 slugging percentage for his career, racking up 200 hits and 89 RBI.
• Five Football standouts were selected to the National Football Foundation & College Hall of Fame (NFF) 2025 Hampshire Honor Society. The impressive group includes wide receiver Matthew Akuchie, linebacker Jonathan Hammond, linebacker John Kearney, kicker Josh McCormick and offensive lineman Ryan McKenna (pictured below).

• Four games against Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) opponents Virginia (2027), Duke (2026), Wisconsin (2028) and Stanford (2030) highlight future football schedules, as well as a five-year extension to the Tribe's long-standing Capital Cup rivalry with Richmond.
• Track & Field athletes headed to the Wake Forest Invitational last Thursday and Friday, as well as to the Virginia Challenge in Charlottesville on Friday and Saturday. Avery Glidden stole the show for the Tribe at the UVA Challenge when she won the 400m hurdles. Austin Rice set a W&M record in the men's 400m, crossing the line with a time of 47.32. Catherine Garrison set a W&M program record in the 3000m steeplechase at Wake Forest.  She crossed the line with a time of 10:07.00, the 30th-best time in Division I this year. Next up are the Penn Relays, starting today.
• Men's Golf finished its season earlier this week, finishing sixth in the 11-team field at the CAA Championships in Cape May Court House, NJ.
• Women's Golf completed its season at the CAA Championships on Sunday afternoon at the St. James Plantation's Reserve Club, finishing sixth in the 10-team field.

A Legendary Dinner
Tomorrow (April 25) is the last day to purchase your tickets for the Hall of Fame Spring Induction Ceremony for celebrated coaches John Daly (women's soccer), Cliff Gauthier (men's gymnastics) and Jimmye Laycock (football).  I can't wait for the evening's festivities and to talk with these men who are Tribe Athletics personified!  You can purchase tickets here. Please join us!
 
Go, Tribe!

Brian D. Mann
Director of Athletics