Lort Botetourt Auction Still On For Tonight!

The Lord Botetourt Auction scheduled for tonight, February 5, 2010 at 6:30pm in the Alan B. Miller Hall Mason School of Business will go on as scheduled.

McDowell Assisting Off the Court

By Don Leypoldt

It was a magical year for William & Mary football.  Coach Laycock’s squad reached the national semi-finals and claimed the top ranked defense in all of the FCS.

Some of that pixie dust has apparently floated up the hill from Zable and into William & Mary Hall to infect coach Tony Shaver and the Tribe men’s basketball team.

Unlike H1N1, there is no desire to cure this special virus.

Through December 29th, the Tribe stood at 8-2, having rattled off the second longest win streak in W&M hoops history.  The have been receiving votes in the A.P. poll for the first time in 31 seasons.

Suspicions that this might not be an ordinary year started on opening night, when they scared the heck out of #11 UConn before falling by nine.  You remember UConn, right?  Two national titles in the last 11 years?  The Tribe played them to a standstill.

It then took triple overtime before Harvard- the team which blew out Boston College last season- nipped the Tribe by two.

Then the wins started…

The Tribe beat NCAA Tournament pest and arch-rival Richmond 78-71 on November 19^th.

Nine days later, they shocked Wake Forest 78-68.  This was the quadruple espresso which woke up the nation.  W&M became the first unranked, non-BCS opponent to ever win at Joel Coliseum.  They were the first team of any league to beat Wake at Joel in November.

Experts once thought the sun revolved around the earth too.

“I think it’s been building and we’ve been getting better,” believes Shaver.  “Two years ago, that senior class was the first recruiting class that our staff brought into W&M.  We got to the CAA championship game and did something we had never done before.  We were pretty disappointed with last year,” as the Tribe won only 10 games. 

“Should people be surprised?  If I were a fan, I’d probably be surprised.  I’d say that none of us would be surprised,” responded sophomore swing man Quinn McDowell. 

Three days before Christmas, the Tribe ran the win streak to eight.  They sunk 15 3-pointers in knocking off defending Big South champion Radford 70-68.

Record win streaks.  A.P. votes.  Marquee wins.  This is a special year in Kaplan Arena. 

“Obviously you have to have good players and the right pieces have to fit together,” McDowell assessed.  “I think we had a great offseason and a huge part of that- along with getting stronger and becoming more skilled- were the team chemistry and camaraderie.  That has been talked about a lot but that’s because it’s very true. 

“Last year, there was some sort of disconnect.  This year, guys believe in the system, believe in what we’re doing and really enjoy being around each other.  That just makes things a lot more fun.  On some level, it translates to the court.”

“We’re not completely surprised by what they’re doing and I think the key has been senior leadership,” echoed Shaver.  “Those four seniors- Schneider, McCurdy, Hess and Sumner- have just done a great job in leading our team on the court, off the court.  Their work ethic is so good.  We’re just playing really well together.  Over 66% of our field goals have been assisted, which is a pretty phenomenal stat.  But we have a team willing to make the extra pass.”

It’s nigh impossible then to single out one player.  Guard David Schneider paces the Tribe in scoring, averaging nearly 18 points per game.  Point guard Sean McCurdy- who played his prep ball at legendary St. Anthony’s in North Jersey- is the assist machine. 

6’10” Steven Hess is shooting 59% from the floor and comes off the bench to provide depth.

Forward Danny Sumner is the human iPhone, with a really cool app for everything.  He ranks second on the Tribe in blocks, third in scoring and third in rebounding.

Which brings us to McDowell.  It’s nigh impossible to single out one player.  But we’re going to try.

The suburban Cincinnatian’s 15 points per game are second on the team.  He was the Tribe’s game high scorer three times.

Statistics say that McDowell ranks a distant fourth on the Tribe in assists.  Statistics would be wrong.

Quinn McDowell likely leads the CAA- possibly even the nation- in assisting others. 

“He is a guy with very strong moral fiber.  He has great character.  He is involved with wonderful things outside of school life,” Shaver observed about his Buckeye swingman.  “But there is a toughness about this kid that makes him a special athlete as well.  That is a very rare combination.  You put him on the basketball floor and he doesn’t back down from anybody. 

“He is just a great combination as a person.  He is so involved with the Williamsburg Community Chapel and a Tuesday night Bible study that some of our players are involved in.  With FCA.  He has his hands in everything.” 

Let McDowell, a strong Christian who has taken three mission trips to held the needy in both Mexico and the Gulf Coast, tell his story: 

“My high school gave me a great interest in doing service work.  They really make that a big priority so I was able to get plugged in with that.  I started off with them and became involved just through different opportunities that I have come across such as my church back home or the one I am involved with here.  I’ve really been able to pursue those opportunities because it is in line with what I believe and my faith.  I really believe that that is what I am supposed to be doing.

“We went down to Mexico a couple of years ago.  I went down there twice with my church back home.  There is already a mission in place there so we were going down to serve them…the widows and orphans already at the mission.” 

After going to the Gulf to help repair Katrina damage during his junior year of high school, McDowell became involved with Back2Back Ministries.  According to Back2Back’s mission statement “(we) serve internationally by caring and providing for orphan children and needy people in Monterrey, Mexico…We serve locally through our Impact Ministry, which partners with local churches to equip students to be capable and effective leaders serving their campuses, communities, and the world.”  

McDowell continued, “They have a whole complex on which they run their things through.  They really focus on getting kids out of the cycle of poverty by sending them to school and giving them opportunities that they wouldn’t other wise have.  We were trying to serve them in any way possible whether it is repairing buildings that they house kids in or helping them with the upkeep of their facilities. 

“It got me interested in sustainability and how to help people escape from the position that they have been put in.”

“Quite honestly, it (character) was the most attractive thing about Quinn in the recruiting process,” Shaver commented.  “Yes, we thought he would be a good player.  But the thing that impressed me were his qualities as a person.  I think he is absolutely one of the strongest leaders that I have coached in 30 odd years.

“Playing a college sport doesn’t always allow for the most flexible schedule in terms of being involved with (mission work) but I have been blessed to be able to find some time to fit that work in,” McDowell noted.  “I would like to do a little bit more of it.”

“Honestly, character is a difficult thing to judge sometimes,” confesses Shaver, citing rules and regulations that limit contact with recruits.  “But Quinn is a stellar person.  There isn’t a thing that he doesn’t do well right now.”

Such as converting teammates’ assists on the court.  And piling them off of it.

Tribe to Induct Hall of Fame Class For 2010

The College of William and Mary’s Athletics Department will induct a six-member class to its Hall of Fame in a ceremony-taking place on March 27th, 2010 at the Lexington George Washington Inn and Conference Center.  

    The College’s Class of 2010 includes:  Wade Barrett (men’s soccer), Anders Christiansen (track and field/cross country), Mike Cook (football), Steve Swift (track and field/cross country), Erica Walsh (women’s soccer) and Brant Weidner (men’s basketball).

    For more information on the event and/or ticket information, please contact Christine Braig (757) 221-1599, ctbraig@wm.edu, the College’s Director of Athletics Special Events.

    The following is a brief biographical sketch of the six inductees:

Wade Barrett, Men’s Soccer
    Barrett played at the College from 1994-97 and led the Tribe to an impressive 70-18-4 record to go along with a pair of CAA Championships and three NCAA Tournament appearances. In 1996, he was a starter for the Tribe as the program amassed a school record 20-3-1 record and advanced to the quarterfinals of the NCAA Tournament.
    As a senior in 1997, Barrett garnered First-Team All-America honors and was named the CAA Player of the Year. He was a four-time First-Team All-CAA selection and a four-time all-state honoree. As a freshman in 1994, he garnered freshman All-America honors from Soccer America. Barrett was also a three-time NSCAA All-South Atlantic Region choice. He capped his career as one of only six Tribe players to amass over 100 career points, finishing with 102. He played in 88 games over his Tribe career, making 84 starts, both numbers rank among the top 10 in school history. He also ranked among the program’s best in career goals (38), assists (26) and game-winning goals (12).
    Wade Barrett is in his ninth season in Major League Soccer (MLS) season and his 11th as a professional, overall. As the captain of the Houston Dynamo has been part of three MLS Cup titles during his career.  He has started more than 240 games in his MLS career and played more than 20,800 minutes. A first round pick (12th overall) of the San Jose Earthquake in 1998, Barrett was named to the MLS All-Star team, the MLS Best XI and was a finalist for MLS Defender of the Year in 2002. He has also spent time training and competing with the United States Men’s National Team, and garnered International caps for the squad in both 2005 and 2007.

Anders Christiansen, Track and Field/Cross Country
Christiansen graduated as one of the greatest middle distance runners in the Tribe’s history, as he ended as a three-time All-American at 800m.  His best NCAA finish came as a runner-up at the 1997 outdoor championships.  He also placed 11th at the 1999 NCAA Outdoor Championships. Christiansen also earned an indoor All-American certificate, by placing sixth at the 1999 event.
 He claimed a pair of CAA Championships at the 800m distance, winning the event in both 1998 and 1999.  He finished his career having earned three All-East and three All-CAA honors. His runner-up performance during the 1997 NCAA Outdoor competition earned him the league’s Track Athlete of the Year award.
An Olympic Trials qualifier at 800m in 2000, Christiansen holds the College’s record for 800m both indoors and outdoors and also was part of the record-holding 4x400m relay both indoors and outdoors.   Indoor-best of 1:47.19 was the ninth-best for a U.S.-born collegiate all-time as of 1999, while his outdoor standard of 1:46.66 ranked ninth on the U.S. list in 1997.
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Mike Cook, Football
    Cook ended his career as one of the school’s most successful quarterbacks, as he finished with a career record of 21-7 as a starter, including a 12-5 lifetime mark in conference play.
    He was a two-time first-team all-conference performer (1996 and 1998) and was an All-American in 1998.  That same year, Cook was also a finalist for the Payton Award, which annually honors the FCS (then Division I-AA) Offensive Player of the Year.    
    He was at the controls during the team’s 1996 season, which saw the College win the Atlantic 10 title and advance to the national quarterfinal round of the NCAA Playoffs.  The squad fashioned a then-school record tying 10 wins (vs. 3 losses) and won the Tribe’s second NCAA Playoff game (a 45-6 home win over Jackson State).
    In the record books, Cook graduated first in career touchdown passes (62 – now second); second in all-time passing yards (7,295 – now fourth); second in total offense (7,245 – now fourth); and second in completion percentage (62.1 – now third).
    He still owns two of the top four single best single season passing efforts (3,166 in 1996, third; 3,028 in 1998, fourth).  He threw for 26 TDs in both 1996 and 1998, which ties him for the second best single season effort in school history.
    His career marks would undoubtedly be even more impressive if he hadn’t missed the majority of nine games in his junior season to a major knee injury (an injury he sustained in the season’s second game and returned to play in the finale against Richmond).


Steve Swift, Track and Field/Cross Country
    One of the College’s more consistently outstanding runners, Swift was recently named as one of the 25 greatest cross country runners in the 25-year history of the Colonial Athletic Association.
    Swift earned a pair of All-American honors, with the first coming at the 1991 cross-country championships and the second coming at the 1994 track championships (at the 10,000m distance).
    Swift was recognized as the CAA Athlete of the Year in cross-country two times in his career and was the conference cross-country champion in 1993.   ... During the 1994 season, he also claimed the CAA’s 5,000m title at the league’s outdoor championships.
    Swift continued to pursue distance running after graduation and competed at the 1999 world track championships in the marathon and was a U.S. Olympic Trials qualifier in the marathon in both 1996 and 2000.

Erica Walsh, Women’s Soccer
    Erica played soccer at the College from 1993-96 and her defense helped lead the Tribe to a record of 57-25-2.  During her years on the team, the College made four NCAA tournament appearances, including making the Elite Eight in 1994.  The Tribe also captured three CAA-titles during Erica’s tenure.
    Erica was named to the All-CAA First Team in both 1995 and 1996, and was also named All-Region in 1996.
    Erica Walsh is currently the head coach of the Penn State women’s soccer team.  Entering her third season this year, Erica has already guided the Nittany Lions to two Big Ten titles and two NCAA appearances.  In January of 2008, Walsh was named as an assistant coach by Pia Sundhage for the U.S. National Team. With Walsh's help and guidance the U.S. team completed its historic run with a gold medal at the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing, China. Even sweeter was that Walsh's main responsibility was the U.S. Team's defense, which held fellow world power Brazil scoreless in the gold medal game.    

Brant Weidner, 1980-83, Men’s Basketball
    Weidner played on the squad from the 1980-83 seasons and finished his career ranked ninth on the W&M single season block shot list with 31 in 1983, seventh on the W&M career block shot list with 76, and eighth on the W&M career average block shot list with 0.68 per game. He led the Tribe in rebounding in 1982 (4.9 per game) and 1983 (6.2 per game), led in block shots in 1980 (0.6 per game and 15 total), 1982 (0.9 average and 24 total) and 1983 (1.1 average and 31 total).
    He made First-Team All-ECAC South in 1983, where he helped the team to a first-place 9-0 record in the ECAC South. This 1983 season was the first and only postseason appearance in the National Invitational Tournament. The team that year went 20-9 overall, one of just five teams in school history to amass 20 or more wins.
    Weidner finished his career with 483 rebounds and 773 points in 111 games, averaged 7.0 points and 4.4 rebounds over his career, and boasted a career-high 11.8 points per game as a senior in 1983. The team combined for a 64-48 (.571) record during his career. Weidner was drafted with the 20th pick of the fourth round (90th overall) in the 1983 NBA Draft by the San Antonio Spurs and played for one season with the team.

Da(i)ly Wins Add Up to Yearly Excellence for Tribe Soccer

By Don Leypoldt ‘96

No rational baseball fan would argue that Len Barker was a better pitcher than Greg Maddux.

With over 350 wins and four Cy Young Awards, Maddux takes his rightful place as one of the greatest pitchers in baseball history.

Len Barker on the other hand retired with a sub-.500 record, a career ERA much worse than Maddux’s and barely one-quarter of Maddux’s lifetime strikeouts.  But in May 1981, Barker threw a perfect game…something Maddux never did.

Why is Maddux considered “excellent” while Barker is considered pedestrian- despite Barker’s gem?  That’s easy.  There is an element of sustainability that factors into “excellence.”  One perfect game- one flash in the pan- does not qualify as excellence.

The women’s soccer program at William & Mary qualifies as “excellence.”  The program first played in 1981.  The 1982 side earned a record of 8-5-3.  Every year since 1982, the Tribe women footballers have had a winning record.  The 2009 side added to the legacy by turning in a more than respectable 12-7 mark.

28 straight winning seasons.

Wow.  Think about that.

How long ago was 1982?  Olivia Newton-John recorded the number one song in 1982.  The Commodore 64 was released in 1982.  Landon Donovan- arguably the biggest American-born soccer star alive today- was a newborn baby in 1982.  The Dow Jones stood at 880 and there was absolutely no way Ronald Reagan would be re-elected due to the recession crippling the United States.

Now think through every year since.  Through Olivia’s oblivion, Macs, Reagan’s landslide win, cell phones, cable then satellite TV, VCRs then DVDs, the Berlin Wall falling, the Spice Girls, two different Gulf Wars, Benifer, the deaths of NASL and WUSA to the births of Major League Soccer and Women’s’ Pro Soccer (WPS), the Tribe won.  28 straight seasons obviously stands as an NCAA record. 

Head coach John Daly keeps winning.  And winning.  And winning.  To the tune of 357 wins or ties in his 487 matches during his 23 seasons guiding the Tribe side. 

“There is a continuity element in that the incoming freshmen take the lead, especially from the seniors and juniors.  They want to carry on where those juniors and seniors have left off,” explained Daly.  “The different teams certainly have different identities but there is a common theme there and that is the player who comes to William & Mary knows that she is going to have to work. 

“To work to get the kind of grades that she wants; she also knows that she needs to transfer that to soccer excellence as well.”

Daly’s statistically poorest record came in 2001, when the Tribe went 11-9-1.  They still won the CAA championship- one of nine the Tribe has earned since 1993- and won a game in the NCAA Tournament.

“To be honest, I expect more than a winning record,” Daly stated.  “Only two schools have been in more NCAA tournaments than W&M and we didn’t make it this year.  That really disappoints me.  The winning season, I kind of expect, but my goal is always to make the NCAA tournament and progress in it.” 

The Tribe has made it to the NCAAs in 19 of Daly’s 23 years.  Five of the Tribe’s trips to the NCAAs ended in Elite Eight appearances.     When the Tournament becomes the primary aim “there is a trickle down with setting that goal and then accomplishing winning seasons,” Daly finished.

The program has had 13 different girls honored as All-Americans by the NSCAA.  Any team can ride one hot player or recruiting class to success.  But every college coach faces the challenge of a complete, 100% roster turnover every four years. 

Moreover, Daly faces the additional blessed challenge of W&M’s difficult academic standards.  Not every prep star who wants to come to William & Mary can academically qualify.

“I think that recruiting is the lifeblood of the team.  We have disadvantages but we also have advantages in recruiting in that we have a great school, a College with a tremendous reputation, and a beautiful campus.  Those factors come into play when it comes to recruiting the kinds of players that are going to keep us competitive,” Daly assessed. 

“Whereas we will lose three or four because we can’t get them in, we’re going to get that one special player who wants that combination of academics and athletics.”

So what makes the program continue to blossom year over year?  Dogmatically sticking to a system?  Flexing that system to the personnel?  Both?

Daly elucidated, “The problem with the former is that if you can’t get the players, then you can’t go with the system.  So it’s a bit of a combination.  I know what kind of formation that I would like to play.

“The freshmen are an unknown quantity in the sense that I have seen them play at one level but now they have to perform at a higher level.  The big question is: can they perform at that higher level?  So there is a degree of wait and see.  Let’s try and if it doesn’t work, we can try something else.” 

Daly has now been around long enough to see some of those freshmen not only work out to become stars, but eventually into winning coaches of their own.  Consider:

• All-American Jill Ellis ’88 is the head coach at UCLA and owner of an astounding 215-36-12 record and three NCAA Finals appearances during her decade at the Bruins’ helm.  UCLA went 20-2-1 this season and advanced to the NCAA Elite Eight as of press time
• Classmate and fellow All-American Julie Cunningham Shackford ’88 is the winningest soccer coach- for either gender- in Princeton’s history.  Shackford’s sides have advanced to the NCAA Tournament seven times; she has a 160-83-19 mark in her 15 years as a head coach.
• Erica Walsh ’97 has been at Penn State for three years and has won three Big 10 championships, compiling a 47-18-4 mark in her time leading the Lady Lions

“Some of them appeared to me- when they were playing here- that they were real thinkers about the game,” Daly offered.  “I think that the person who goes on to choose coaching and become successful is someone who, when they were playing, was more of a cerebral player than an athletic player.”

Daly points out that Carrie Moore O’Keeffe ’00 and Maren Rojas ‘94 skipper the programs at Hollins University and Bowdoin College respectively.  A deep love of the game, and their obvious William & Mary diplomas, connect the quintet.  But not coincidentally, all five were also heavily decorated on the Williamsburg pitch.

That may be Daly’s recipe in a nutshell- smart, passionate people who work hard and are committed to excellence.  In that regard, Tribe soccer players aren’t much different than “ordinary” William & Mary students.  But just like those “ordinary” students on DoG Street, they make the extraordinary happen, well, Da(i)ly.

Tribe-UConn Televised Regionally on MASN