Dear Friends of Tribe Athletics, 

Last weekend, 134 of our student-athletes took part in graduation ceremonies in front of proud families and friends. Hearing so many wonderful stories from parents, siblings, and grandparents made it impossible not to beam with pride as our graduates received their diplomas.

It's always a bittersweet moment when it's time to say goodbye to these tremendous young women and men as they finish one phase of their lives and get ready for their next chapters, but I know the University has prepared them well and I can't wait to see what terrific things they accomplish! 
 
Speaking Academically 
As we were getting ready for all of the Commencement festivities, the NCAA released its annual compilation of Academic Progress Rates (APR) for Division I schools. It's a point of pride that the Tribe usually does exceptionally well, and that trend continued this year.  We ranked second nationally among NCAA Division I public schools in both perfect APR scores and NCAA Public Recognition Awards and among the top 12 nationally overall. The Tribe's total awards trailed only the University of Michigan among public schools.  If you'd like to dig a little deeper into the details, click here to see just how well we did! 

Call to the Hall!
Just today, we were excited to announce our 10-member Athletics Hall of Fame Class of 2026.  As usual, it contains the "Best of our Best", recognizing two longtime administrators and eight former student-athletes representing seven programs. 

The honorees include Nat Baako (men's soccer), Steve Cole (administrator), Bobby Dwyer (administrator), Michael Katz (baseball), Emily Anderson Melnick (women's cross country/track & field), Tim Pemberton (men's golf), Angie Evans Romano (women's basketball), Mallory Schaffer (women's soccer), Tiffany Stone (women's basketball), and Marcus Thornton (men's basketball).
This group represents a wide range of excellence in Tribe Athletics history, highlighted by All-Americans, conference Players of the Year, record holders, and transformative leaders on and off the field, as well as administrators whose contributions helped shape the department's growth and long-term success.

The class will be formally inducted during a ceremony in Williamsburg in late winter or early spring of 2027. More information on the event will be shared when available.

Record-Breaking 
While our student-athletes were getting it done in the classroom, our alumni, friends and fans were winning the day with their incredible response to One Tribe One Day (OTOD). For the first time, Tribe programs and Athletics designations generated over $1.1 million , with more than 3,000 people worldwide making a gift over the 24 hours.  Both numbers shattered the previous OTOD records of $797,479 from last year and 2,549 donors from 2023. Kudos also go to the winners of our Leaderboard challenge, with Swimming grabbing the top spot for most dollars and most donors, and Volleyball taking the honors for the most improvement in dollars and donors.
 
This outpouring of love and support is both humbling and energizing.  We know there are many worthwhile organizations deserving your support, and the fact that you chose W&M means the world to us.  Every person in Tribe Athletics, from student-athletes to coaches to staff, joins me in thanking you! 

A New Member of the Tribe 
I am so happy to introduce you to Lisa Liotta, who is the new Deputy Director of Athletics. Lisa is joining us from Canisius University, where she has similar responsibilities.  At W&M she will be a member of our senior management team with an extensive portfolio including oversight of student-athlete development, sports medicine, compliance and academic support, among other areas. 
 
During her career in athletics administration, Lisa has garnered wide-ranging experience at the university, conference and NCAA levels, which will be of great benefit to our department. At Canisius, she is the Senior Woman Administrator (SWA), a role she will once again hold at William & Mary, and is the sport administrator for seven varsity programs. 
 
Notable

• Track & Field won five titles and had multiple podium finishes at the 2026 CAA Outdoor Championships, with the men finishing third in the final team standings and the women placing fifth. 
• Elizabeth Strobach won the CAA title in the pole vault, Amelia Bawcombe (pictured below) snared the title in the hammer throw, Leighton McGee won the men's pole vault title, Uriah Harris won the title in the shot put and Hayes Trapp captured the men's 5,000m title.

• Talon Dingledine, pictured below, is the first W&M men's golfer to be named CAA Rookie of the Year.  He was also named to the All-CAA Second Team.  

• Men's Golf will play in the national postseason at the Golfweek National Golf Invitational, May 22-24, in Maricopa, Arizona.  It's the team's first trip to the national postseason since 2002. 
• Sia Chaudry, Francesca Davis and Yaelle Vaissaud of Women's Tennis were selected to the College Sports Communicators Academic All-District Team. 
• Men's Tennis was represented on the College Sports Communicators Academic All-District Team by Nikita Bortnichek and Albert Hansen. 
• Kennedy Reynolds, pictured below, was named the Co-CAA Women's Track Athlete of the Week earlier this month.  She had a historic performance at the Duke Twilight where she broke the W&M record in women's 400m hurdles and she became the first athlete in program history to break the one-minute barrier with a time of 59.26. 

• William & Mary distance runners picked up two event victories at the Hill City Twilight. Kelly Ann Sutterfield won the women's 1500m, and Nolan Yeagle won the men's 3,000m steeplechase Invite. 
• Sophomore infielder Jamie Laskofski was named the 2026 CAA Player of the Year , becoming the sixth player in program history to earn the honor and marking back-to-back seasons with a Tribe winner (Ben Parker earned the honor in 2025). He delivered a standout campaign, batting .355 with 65 runs, 72 hits, 13 home runs, and 45 RBI, while ranking among the league leaders in multiple categories and placing nationally in stolen bases and triples.  Also, it is worth noting that his mother and father, Clare and Mike Laskofski, are Tribe alumni, with his father being a former all-conference performer himself on the diamond. 
• In addition to Laskofski (pictured below), five other Tribe players earned postseason recognition. Matthew Kosuda, Louie Bartletti, and Jack Weight received All-CAA Second Team honors, while Kosuda and Sam Kaczmarek were named to the All-Rookie Team.

• Men's Tennis standouts Nikita Bortnichek, Oliver Hague and Gur Trakhtenberg received All-CAA postseason honors.  Gur was a first-team selection in singles, and in doubles with partner Oliver Hague, who was named to the second team in singles.  Nikita earned third team honors in singles. 
• Women's Tennis won a slew of All-CAA honors, with Rebeka Svabikova, pictured below, named Rookie of the Year.  In singles, Francesca Davis was All-CAA first team; Sia Chaudry was All-CAA second team and Mira Kernagis was All-CAA third team.  In doubles, Tilda Larsson and Francesca Davis were All-CAA second team, as were the duo of Alexia Gonzalez-Galino and Mira Kernagis.   

Auction Anyone? 
I wanted to circle back to some previous information we shared about the Lord Botetourt Affair (LBA), which you know is the premier fundraising event for our student-athletes.  The event will take place on Friday, Sept. 18 , which coincides with Family weekend.  Plus, the next day is our home football game against Patriot League foe Fordham.  I'm excited, too, that we're holding the event in our brand new Mackesy Sports Performance Center, which is state-of-the-art and an awesome showcase for the momentum of Tribe Athletics.  As soon as we have more details, you'll see them here! 

Did You Know… 
That we have some great social media accounts at W&M that will keep you up to date as well as entertained with information about your favorite teams.  Check out this little nugget from Men's Basketball and you'll see what I mean!
 
Go Tribe!




Brian D. Mann
Director of Athletics