- "Exercise and recreation ... are as necessary as reading; I will say rather more necessary, because health is worth more than learning. A strong body makes the mind strong."
*Thomas Jefferson, W&M Class of 1762
Athletic Excellence
William & Mary became the first school in the Colonial Athletic Association to reach 100 CAA titles in the fall of 2010, sweeping the men's fall sports to bring its total to 101 conference championships since 1983-84. The Tribe currently has 140 CAA titles, far and away the most in league history.
W&M has been a member of the NCAA since 1936-37, and has appeared in the national tournaments or bowl games 256 times.
Since the Learfield Director Cup standings began in 1993-94, W&M has place among the top 100 on 14 occasions. The Tribe led the CAA on 12 occasions and ranked among the top three in the state of Virginia 13 times. The Tribe's best finish came in 1997 at No. 42.
Academic Success
The Tribe's athletic accomplishments do not come at the expense of its student-athlete's academic responsibilities, as William & Mary had nine teams rank in the top 10 percent of their sport for Academic Progress Rates among all Division I programs and received a Public Recognition Award by the NCAA in 2018. W&M's nine awards ranked third nationally among public universities, trailing only North Carolina (10) and Michigan (10). The Tribe was one of only 22 programs (out of 312) in the country to have at least nine teams earn the honor, which led all schools in the state of Virginia and ranked tied for first in the CAA.
W&M ranked among the top 3 percent of NCAA institutions for the cohort that began college in 2009-10 in the NCAA Graduation Success Rate (GSR) and the Federal Graduation Rate (FGR). Tribe Athletics had an overall Federal rate of 86 percent, matching its best-ever, while the NCAA rate was 91 percent. The Tribe ranked 11th among all Division I institutions in the FGR, its best rank since 2011-12, and its 12th-straight year out of 12 that the NCAA has been tracking the figure that W&M has ranked among the top 5% of all colleges and universities. W&M was once again the nation's best public university athletic department for graduating its athletes, a distinction that W&M has earned every year since 2004-05.
W&M Student-Athletes posted a record cumulative GPA of 3.25 in 2017-18 and 20 of the Tribe's 21 programs (indoor and outdoor track and field are combined), posted team GPAs of 3.0 or better.
Through the 2017-18 academic year 187 student-athletes have been elected to Phi Beta Kappa, while four Rhodes Scholars were W&M student-athletes.
In 2002-03, the CAA created a Scholar-Athlete of the Year Award in each of its sports, and not surprisingly, W&M has set the pace with 76 winners through the 2017-18 academic year.
William & Mary - A College of Champions
All-Time Academic All-Americans
All-Time Men's All-Americans
All-Time Women's All-Americans
NCAA Championships (2)
Men's Tennis (2) 1947, 1948
AIAW Championships (1)
Women's Golf (1) 1981
NAIA Championships (1)
Women's Gymnastics (1) 1983
USA Gymnastics Collegiate Championships (13)
Men's Gymnastics (13) 1994, 1995, 1996, 1997, 1999, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009
CGCA National Academic Team Champions (5)
Men's Gymnastics (5) 1991, 1992, 2002, 2008, 2012
CAA Championships (140)
Baseball (3) 2001, 2014, 2016
Men's Basketball (1) 2015
Men's Cross Country (25) 1990, 1991, 1993, 1994, 1995, 1996, 1997, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017
Women's Cross Country (22) 1987, 1988, 1990, 1991, 1992, 1993, 1994, 1996, 1997, 1998, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016
Football (5) 1996, 2001, 2004, 2010, 2015
Men's Golf (1) 1985
Women's Lacrosse (1) 1992
Men's Soccer (8) 1983, 1987, 1995, 1996, 1999, 2000, 2010, 2017
Women's Soccer (13) 1993, 1994, 1996, 1997, 1998, 1999, 2000, 2001, 2003, 2011, 2012, 2015
Men's Swimming and Diving (4) 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018
Women's Swimming and Diving (3) 2007, 2016, 2017
Men's Tennis (4) 1988, 1990, 2005, 2015
Women's Tennis (26) 1986, 1987, 1988, 1989, 1990, 1991, 1992, 1993, 1994, 1995, 1996, 1997, 1998, 1999, 2000, 2002, 2004, 2005, 2007, 2008, 2011, 2013, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018
Men's Track and Field (5) 1992, 1993, 2003, 2004, 2013
Women's Track and Field (11) 1999, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2013
Volleyball (8) 1985, 1986, 1987, 1988, 1989, 1990, 1991, 2001
ECAC Championships (12)
Men's Gymnastics (4) 1992, 1994, 2006, 2014, 2017
Women's Gymnastics (6) 1999, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2014, 2015
Men's Cross Country (1) 2006
Southern Conference Championships (48)
Men's Cross Country (15) 1955, 1956, 1957, 1963, 1964, 1966, 1967, 1968, 1969, 1970, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1974, 1975
Football (4) 1942, 1947, 1966, 1970
Men's Soccer (1) 1976
Men's Indoor Track and Field (11) 1957, 1966, 1967, 1968, 1969, 1970, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1974, 1975
Men's Outdoor Track and Field (12) 1957, 1958, 1966, 1967, 1968, 1969, 1970, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1974, 1975
Wrestling (5) 1968, 1969, 1970, 1971, 1977
*The CAA began recognizing regular-season champions in 2011-12.