Dear Friends of Tribe Athletics,
Let me start with a huge thank you to everyone who reads the Mannuscript. I know you have multiple demands on your time, and when you devote some of those precious minutes to learning a little more about Tribe Athletics and our student-athletes, it is deeply appreciated.
We began sending the Mannuscript when I arrived almost five years ago and have achieved an impressive open rate of about 55-60% out of the roughly 14,000 recipients! We are excited and thankful for your interest and support, and we always welcome your feedback, which you can share by simply replying to this message!
OTOD + You!
On April 29, W&M alumni and friends from around the world will come together to celebrate one of the most spirited days of giving on the University calendar — One Tribe One Day! This year, the Athletics Leaderboard Challenge offers all programs a chance to earn extra bonus dollars, with awards for the most dollars raised, most donors, and the most improved dollars and donors from last year. Watch the video below as our student-athletes share the impact of OTOD.
Notable
- After helping lead Women's Lacrosse to victories against UMBC and Monmouth, Nora Begley, pictured below, was selected as the CAA Co-Rookie of the Week for the second time this season. The program has now won four of its last five games and will travel to Elon this weekend with a 7-4 record.
- Track & Field turned in a strong all-around performance at the Dan Stimson Memorial Invitational . Field victories were notched by Uriah Harris in both the shot put and discus and Amelia Bawcombe in women's discus; Jolie Brassell won the women's javelin; Katriel Amoyaw won the high jump; Raina Fitzwater won the women's pole vault and Leighton McGee took first in the men's pole vault; and Talia Anderson won the women's hammer throw. On the track side, Kelly Ann Sutterfield and Lydia Wallis finished 1-2 in the women's 800m, and Kennedy Reynolds won the women's 400m hurdles.
- After his double victory in shot put and discus at the Dan Stimson Memorial, Uriah Harris was honored as the CAA Field Athlete of the Week.
- Sophia Heilen of Swimming and Matthias Oettl of Track & Field were recently honored by the CAA as Institutional Scholar-Athletes of the Year . Sophia is a six-time CAA Champion who helped lead the Tribe to the CAA team title this year. She will earn her degree in data science from W&M in May. Matthias finished fourth in the javelin and fifth in the decathlon at the 2025 CAA Outdoor Championships. He will earn his degree in finance from the Raymond A. Mason School of Business in May. Oettl, left, and Heilen, right, are pictured below.
- For the second consecutive season, Luke Tully earned regular-season All-America honors in the all-around by the College Gymnastics Association (CGA). He ranked fourth nationally in all-around with a four-score average of 75.950. He also earned USA Gymnastics Collegiate All-America honors.
- After placing sixth in their events at the USA Gymnastics Collegiate National Championship, Jonathan Irwin (rings, 12.85), Niko Greenly (parallel bars, 12.65) and Evan Wilkins (high bar, 12.9) all earned All-America honors.
- Three women's gymnasts — Hannah Burke, Ashley Ruedy and Sophia Summers — earned regular season all-league honors from the Gymnastics East Conference (GEC). Hannah earned first-team honors on floor (9.815), while Ashley (9.780) and Sophia (9.765) garnered second-team accolades on floor and beam, respectively.
- Kate Peebles earned first-team all-conference honors on bars at the Gymnastics East Conference Championship by placing third with a career-high 9.800. Ascha Laird also garnered all-conference honors on bars.
- Men's Golf fired a three-round total of 2-under-par to win the Golden Horseshoe Intercollegiate at the Gold Course. The score ranks as the second-best in tournament history and marks the program's first win at the event since 2005, when current head coach and Director of Golf Tim Pemberton was a senior on the team.
I'm delighted to announce that we have
hired Lindsey Brinza as our new Associate Athletics Director for Sports Medicine. She is wrapping up her duties at West Virginia University and will be joining us on May 10.
Lindsey has extensive experience in sports medicine, which will be crucial as we launch a new model of care following the restructuring of our Sports Medicine department. Her previous stops include the University of Wisconsin from 2016-20 where she worked with a variety of sports and stints at Lincoln Memorial University, Appalachian State University and Miami University (Ohio).
Lindsey is a former student-athlete (ice hockey and soccer) which will only add valuable dimension to how she prepares our student-athletes for competition and life beyond sports. Please join me in welcoming her, husband Billy and daughter Jersey to the Tribe!
Weekend Happenings
If you're looking for outdoor fun this weekend, Tribe Baseball is hosting a three-game series against Campbell at Plumeri Park, starting tonight through Saturday. The Colonial Relays also begin this afternoon and "runs" (throws and jumps!) until Saturday. For tennis fans, the women's team will host Elon in Mackesy Tennis Center at the Millie West Courts on Friday, while the men will play Drexel on Saturday. See the complete calendar of events
HERE
Go Tribe!
Brian D. Mann
Director of Athletics
