Tribe Coaching Tree has Deep NFL Roots

By Don Leypoldt ‘96

On the surface, it’s surprising- maybe even shocking- that an undersized, academically minded FCS school would produce three NFL head coaches or coordinators.

But given William & Mary’s sterling on-field legacy and off-the-gridiron propensity for teaching excellence, having three graduates in such lofty positions shouldn’t be so surprising.

Mike Tomlin ’94 receives the lion’s share of headlines- deservedly so.  As the head coach of the Pittsburgh Steelers, Tomlin won Super Bowl XLIII in 2009.

Meanwhile, Dan Henning ’64 and Sean McDermott ’97 spend many of their waking hours trying to stop Tomlin…or whichever opponent crosses their path.

Former William & Mary quarterback Henning coordinates the offense for the Miami Dolphins, ex-Tribe safety McDermott is defensive coordinator for the Philadelphia Eagles.

The two coordinators recently took a break from training camp to talk about their careers.

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Things didn’t go as planned for Sean McDermott.

The suburban Philadelphia native was originally going to use grappling to pay for college.

“I was really a two sport athlete in high school- football and wrestling.  From a wrestling standpoint, I was probably more recruited coming out of high school but I had made the decision to play football,” McDermott recalls.

“I took a trip in the spring with my Dad down to Campus and on the way out, we stopped at what used to be a gas station (now Wawa) on Richmond Road.  I just had a feeling that this was the place for me.  I made a phone call from that gas station to the wrestling coach at UVa and then when I got home I made calls to the wrestling coach at Penn State and the football coach at West Point.  I told them I was going to walk on (here).  They thought I was crazy.  But when you have the feeling on what is the right place for you, it is hard to ignore that gut instinct.”

McDermott helped lead the Tribe to a 1996 Yankee Conference title while earning an All-Conference nod as a safety in 1997.  He picked up two Academic All-Conference accolades, validating that gut instinct.

This background set him up perfectly for a job at….a Big Four accounting firm.

McDermott had some family connections to the Philadelphia Eagles’ front office and landed a summer internship with them after his junior year.  “I could live at home, train at the Eagles’ facility and get my foot in the door into the business side of sports,” he pointed out.  “At the time, I didn’t realize that not only was I learning all aspects of the business but, more importantly, building relationships.

“From there, I returned to campus in my senior season, interviewed with a couple of financial firms and accepted a job with them.”

Auditing and budgeting in Corporate America would have to wait.  Tribe coach Jimmye Laycock offered McDermott a graduate assistantship for the 1998 season; McDermott’s firm agreed to push back his start date.  “As the Good Lord would have it,” McDermott chuckles, “here I sit and I still haven’t worked a day for (that firm).”

Instead, McDermott has one of the most prestigious jobs in sports.  The Eagles ranked in the top dozen in total defense during his first year as defensive coordinator.

With his smarts, work ethic and communications skills, McDermott is a tremendous NFL head coaching prospect.

That’s a bummer that the plan didn’t work out, huh?

The Finance major used the aforementioned relationships to become an assistant to Eagle head coach Andy Reid.  McDermott’s responsibilities gradually increased from quality control coach, to the secondary and safeties coach from 2004 to 2006, to the linebackers coach in ’07 and running the secondary in 2008.  The fundamentals that he learned at William & Mary helped him make an impact in professional football.

“When I got to the NFL, I thought ‘Holy Smokes, I’m going to be coaching folks from Florida State, Nebraska, Notre Dame…the big name schools.’  I was very surprised at how much I knew in terms of fundamentals of the game,” said McDermott.  “That is what makes people successful: teaching fundamentals.”

“During a six year span from 2003 to 2008,” states the Eagles’ media guide, “one of (McDermott’s) position group’s players was the most productive player on the entire defense for five of those years.”

“In the NFL- at any level really- there are three important facets to being a coach,” believes McDermott.  “Number one is understanding your personnel, number two is being at the forefront of your scheme and the schemes that are going on in the NFL and number three is being fundamentally and technically sound in what you’re teaching.

“If you can do all three of those well, you’re on your way.  I find that the real challenge for all of us- myself included- is to be at the top in all three areas.”

Another challenge is the taxing lifestyle of NFL coaches.  “During the regular season, I sleep in the office probably 3 or 4 nights a week and when I’m not sleeping here, I’m keeping long hours,” McDermott stated.  “A lot of the credit obviously has to go to the sacrifices that my family makes in not seeing me.  They do a heck of a job in supporting me.”

While McDermott has quickly risen through the coaching ranks on his own merit, he clearly has benefited from his exposure at William & Mary.

“Coach Laycock runs a very classy program down in W&M, very similar to many of the professional teams in terms of his approach to the game both on and off the field.  ’Student-athlete’ is exactly what it sounds like,” McDermott offered.  “There are no cutting corners.  He challenges you and the school challenges you to balance out the academics and the athletics at the same time.

“My transition to the NFL from a coaching standpoint was certainly helped by having been at William & Mary for five years as a player then one year as a coach.”

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His business card says “Offensive Coordinator” but at heart Dan Henning is- and always will be- a teacher.

Henning teaches football and has done so for over 40 years, 31 of them in the NFL.  He has been a head coach for the Atlanta Falcons, San Diego Chargers and Boston College.  He won two Super Bowls with Joe Gibbs as a Redskins assistant, and advanced to a third in 2003 as the Carolina Panthers’ offensive coordinator.  He was worked under Don Shula and Marv Levy, to name two other Canton-inducted bosses besides Gibbs.

Henning enters his third year as the Miami Dolphins’ offensive coordinator.  The Fish averaged over 345 yards of total offense- 12th in the NFL- in Henning’s inaugural 2008 season.  It was Miami’s highest ranking in over a decade.  That same year was also the first season since 1995 that the Dolphins sent multiple offensive players to the Pro Bowl.

While that resume might not sound the same as a professor's, the instruction and teaching elements in Henning's job are just as strong.

“I’ve always enjoyed the teaching and strategy of football.  What we have in football- whether it be at the high school, college or pro level- is we build our own syllabus.  We write our own book, we do our own teaching and we’re responsible for our own results,” Henning explained.

“I had one professor at a university- I won’t mention which one it was- ask me ‘How come the football coaches at this university get paid so much more than the professors?’  I said, ‘The difference is that when your students don’t do well, you flunk them and get rid of them.  When my students don’t do well, they flunk me and get rid of me.’  We are directly responsible for creating an effort and a result that is commiserate with the talent that we have.”

Henning continued, “You have all of the options open to you.  You’re not locked into a syllabus.  You determine how you’re going to implement it, how you’re going to practice it and you can move the chips around anywhere you want to.  It’s a very exciting chance to use the teaching skills and motivational skills that we learned when we were in school.”

The school that Henning first set foot on in September 1960 was a little different than the one between Richmond and Jamestown Roads now.  William & Mary had about 1,600 students and yet played a powerhouse Division 1 football schedule.

But the emphasis on teaching and academic standards hasn’t wavered since 1693.

“We still use all of the principles and all of the background that we learned in College,” as Henning cited staffers like Howard Smith and Joe Agee (“like the DI in Full Metal Jacket”, Henning recalled.  “He’d make you sweat bullets”) as strong personal influences.  “I went to William & Mary, got into Education and learned how to teach there with those men.

“Now that we’re on this level (NFL), we get these high priced players. But it doesn’t matter how much money they’re making, if they realize that you can help them they’re all ears.  They’ll show you respect for what you can do for them.  We still do that on a regular basis.”

Henning quarterbacked St. Francis, the largest parochial school in New York City at the time.  He originally accepted, then turned down, an appointment with the Naval Academy.  A high school teammate who went to William & Mary told the Indian coaches about Henning and they offered him a scholarship sight unseen.  Henning accepted without ever setting foot in Williamsburg.

Good thing too.  Henning would have had to battle a fellow named Roger Staubach for playing time at Annapolis.  "We always say in my family that he would have come a year later than me and he would have had a tough time," Henning laughed.  "I’ve talked to Roger about that over the years."

The father of five and grandfather of 11, Henning doesn’t play favorites…but daughter Mary K. is a member of the Class of 1983.

“When we go around to here, there and everywhere- and I have been all around the country in my profession,” Henning observed, “everybody thinks very highly of William & Mary when it comes up.  They love to go there.  They love to talk about the experiences they had when they played there.  The beauty of the stadium.  We get our dose of pride as we go through.

Henning has returned to campus for several Halls of Fame inductions.  Despite his arduous occupation, he keeps tabs on his alma mater.  “Jimmye has done a fabulous job.  He has had a number of coaches that have gone on to work for different places.  It makes you proud when people talk about William & Mary football as being an outstanding program on that level, and Jimmye had been responsible for that,” Henning feels.

Henning also keeps tabs on a number of Tribe classmates.  “You look back and you see people that you went to school with who moved on and became efficient, effective, consistent people in the community,” he noted.  “You feel a sense of pride both with them and the education that we got there.”

 

Celebration of Women's Athletics a Success

Click HERE for photos and video from the weekend.

The Celebration of Women’s Athletics was held on May 1, 2010 on the campus of William and Mary.  Many former coaches and female athletes, members of the community, and supporters of William and Mary’s women’s sport programs were invited to attend the inaugural three-day event. A welcome reception was held on Friday evening at McCormack-Nagelsen Tennis Center and a special recognition brunch honoring Millie West was hosted at Alan B. Miller Hall, in William and Mary’s Mason School of Business. Over 200 guests, including Joseph Plumeri of New York and Betsy Nagelsen McCormack of Florida, attended the brunch to honor the former Assistant Athletic Director, curator of the ITA, and current Director of Special Projects  and to thank Millie  for her 50 years of service to William and Mary Athletics.

The event culminated with the presentation of an endowment established in Millie’s name to support all Olympic Sport Coaches and changing the name of the outdoor tennis facilities on campus to The Millie B. West Tennis Complex.  Currently, this endowment has raised over $500,000 to help financially support salaries of all coaches at WM. Those interested in contributing to this endowment need to contact Jean Beall at WM Tribe Club office at (757) 221-1335.

On Saturday evening, a fun filled Casino Night capped off the weekend celebration.  Along with a D.J. and dance floor, attendees played poker, blackjack and craps to raise support for William and Mary women’s athletic programs and for the chance to win prizes donated by the teams.  

The Celebration of Women’s Athletics will be held next year on April 29 and 30.

 

Talkin' Baseball

Ever since his July 2004 debut, Harris has not only stuck but been a strong contributor at the Major League level. Hopefully Guez, Stampone and other Tribe farmhands join him soon. In the meantime, take time out this summer to cheer them on and follow their journey.

Four fulfill their promise as players, people

by Jim Ducibella | May 10, 2010

William & Mary athletics redefined success in 2009-2010.

The football team finished third nationally and produced two All-Americans, both drafted into the NFL. Basketball enjoyed its best season in 50 years, while golf produced its finest finish in 25 years. Thanks to All-American Jon Grey, cross-country finished a best-ever fifth in the NCAA championship. Soccer produced All-American Andrew Hoxie, the 37th player taken in the Major League Soccer draft. Men gymnasts won nine All-American honors at the national championships and produced an all-around national champion in Derek Gygax.

Women’s cross-country won a seventh consecutive Colonial Athletic Association title behind All-American Emily Anderson. Golfer Morgan Stepanek set a school record for strokes per round. Gymnast Teenie Beck tied for second in all-around at the USAG Collegiate Nationals. All-American Emily Johnson led lacrosse into the nation’s top 20. Swimmer Katie Radloff finished her career with 19 CAA championships and two swimmer-of-the-year awards.

Team by team, the list of accomplishments could go on and on. But, at William & Mary, wins and losses never tell the whole story of the athletics program. There is another important piece to what makes a Tribe athlete so unique in the world of big-time college athletics.

A record 76 athletes earned Provost Awards, which require freshmen to compile a 3.75 grade-point average in their first semester, and sophomores, juniors and seniors to carry at least a 3.5. The graduation rate among scholarship athletes continues at 95 percent, 16 points above the national average.

“This just proves that you can have a good academic institution that’s fulfilling its mission and you can have a good athletic program without selling your soul,” Director of Athletics Terry Driscoll said. “We are a very strong academic institution . . . . Unlike a lot of other schools, people know who we are. There’s a segment of the (high school student) population that this program attracts from the get-go. If we did not have the high quality of excellent academics, balanced by exciting, successful, competitive athletics, we would not attract them.”

Four students stand out among the many who truly epitomize the slogan “William & Mary: Where athletes are scholars.” They embody the College’s commitment to diversity, local and international civic engagement, and producing graduates who step into the real world and immediately make their mark. In short, they are what separates the W&M student-athlete from all the rest.

The sight-unseen foreigner

At age 18, Nat Baako, ’11, had a difficult decision to make. He could stay home and play professional soccer in Ghana, or say goodbye to the game and go to college. Then his youth soccer coach told him there was another solution: Attend college in the United States and do both.

Without benefit of preparation, Baako took the Scholastic Aptitude Test (SAT), and did so well that when his coach phoned Tribe soccer coach Chris Norris, Baako already had the academic credentials to get in. Norris took him sight-unseen.

“I’m here because of somebody else’s trust in me,” Baako said.

He justified that trust. In three seasons, Baako has twice been named first-team All-Colonial Athletic Association. While leaving home for a country where he knew no one wasn’t easy, Baako says the coaches and teammates did all they could to help with the transition.

“I remember our first dinner after practice my first day,” he said. “We went out to dinner and they were cracking jokes and laughing. I was just there. The humor wasn’t there for me. Then and there, they decided to tell me ‘This is why this is funny.’ I got the basics of what they were saying . . . .  Some seniors sat me down to tell me what was going on. I was aware from Day 1 what to expect.

“I’m most proud of the adjustments that I had to make . . . from professors’ accents, which for me were accents because I’m not from here, to social life, soccer, the pace of it, and I had just about a week to do all of that. . . I kept my head up and kept going.”

Named his high school’s best Business Accounting and mathematics student from 2003-2005, Baako is a Finance major at W&M. He spent the spring, 2010, semester studying at the University of Manchester Business School in England – not coincidentally, the home of his favorite soccer team, Manchester United.

“The whole trip has been one of the best times of my life,” he wrote from England. “I have had a lot of time to reflect on my life . . . It has been great, especially having the opportunity to fit all of this experience in my four-year program at W&M.”

Baako has no trouble expressing what makes athletics at W&M unique among all colleges.

“Once you get into any program, you automatically become part of a family,” he said. “You compete for as many years as you have, but when you leave, you’re still part of the family. . .

“It’s very different. I thought I’d be here for four years and then go on. (But) I have come to know a lot of alumni, not only through soccer, but through the other programs. I e-mail them, and they are friends to me . . . . The program never leaves you, and hopefully, you never leave the program.”

The sports agent of the future

Ragini Acharya, ’10, entered William & Mary as a 5-star tennis recruit. The United States Tennis Association ranked her fourth nationally among under-18 players. Georgia Tech, Northwestern, the University of Virginia, and Georgetown fought the College for her services.

Four years after coming to Williamsburg, Acharya has crafted a legacy superior in every way. Selected first-team All-CAA three times, and second team once, Acharya finished her career with 102 victories, ninth-most in school history. As the conference freshman of the year, she won 87 percent of her matches, including 27 straight singles titles, and finished Number 1 among Eastern Region tennis players.

The College named her the 2009 Barksdale Award winner, which goes to the female student-athlete who carries a minimum 3.25 grade-point average. Acharya’s fluctuated between 3.6 and 3.8. Those figures, combined with her athletic achievements, made her selection easy to justify.

But Acharya also took advantage of one of the myriad opportunities offered by W&M, and wound up with an internship with international marketing giant Octagon Sports between her junior and senior years. It’s helped convince her to become a sports attorney.

“I found a program called ‘University of Dreams’ through the Career Center,” she recalled. “They help you find internships throughout the country . . . (At Octagon), I worked in the tennis division. I did presentations for potential athletes, presentations for current clients we wanted to present to Adidas or Nike, I worked with other interns, and did a lot of research on who we should recruit, up and coming players. I also got to look at contract negotiations, and I love the idea of going into the law and sports.”

Acharya, who received a B.A. in Economics, has been fully involved in the W&M lifestyle. She served as a member of the student-athletic advisory committee, which regularly pulls together athletes from all different sports to discuss public service projects such as food drives for the hungry at Thanksgiving and Easter, clothing collections for earthquake victims, and a wheelchair tennis tournament to benefit a foundation for wheelchair bound.

The involvement from athletes in every sport is one of countless attributes that make W&M unique.

“You’re going to compete for an institution that is one of the finest in the nation,” Acharya said. “You’re getting to meet other athletes just as serious about their athletics as they are about their academics. You’re getting to meet first-rate coaches, and a first-rate athletic support system in W&M Hall that is so helpful in every aspect of your life, whether it’s choosing classes or choosing equipment or anything. There’s no reason why they can’t succeed athletically and academically.”

Called to be a professional

The man on the other end of the phone said he worked for the Indianapolis Colts, National Football League powerhouse and participant in Super Bowl XLIV last February.

Was David Caldwell interested in joining the organization?

Caldwell signed a free-agent contract with the defending AFC champion, the fifth member of the Class of 2010 wooed into professional football.

At 5-11, 212 pounds, he fits the Colts’ profile for the safety position, a spot that Caldwell played with distinction for the Tribe. A 2009 first-team all-conference selection, Caldwell led the Tribe in tackles his last two seasons, and his 288 total tackles ranked among the top-50 of all active college football players.

But Caldwell, who received a B.B.A. in Finance, will tell you that he received as much as he gave at W&M, sometimes from unexpected sources.

Todd Mooradian, an associate professor in the School of Business, sent a “blind” e-mail to the Chief Executive Officer of Smithfield Foods recommending Caldwell for a summer internship.

Within a day, Smithfield e-mailed Caldwell asking him to come to their offices. He thought he was going for an interview. He was wrong.

“They basically said, ‘No, you have the job, let us know when you can start work,’ ” Caldwell said. “It was great.”

Following high school in New Jersey, Caldwell attended a year of prep school. It wasn’t to hone his grades, but to polish his football resume a bit. The more he heard about W&M, the more it appealed to him.

“I wanted to challenge myself academically and athletically,” he said. “I feel like William & Mary is one of the few schools that can do both.”

Four years later, Caldwell has been an integral part of a football team that advanced to the NCAA national semifinals, and is regularly ranked in the top 20. It also has an established pipeline to the NFL in coaches Mike Tomlin of the Pittsburgh Steelers, Colts defensive backs coach Alan Williams, Philadelphia Eagles defensive coordinator Sean McDermott, Miami Dolphins offensive coordinator Dan Henning, and players like Darren Sharper, Derek Cox and others.

“That’s what makes these William & Mary athletes unique,” Caldwell said. “We can get it done in the classroom with a rigorous class schedule. A lot of other schools, I talk to their guys and they’re not necessarily doing all of the things that we’re doing every day. They’re not studying for tests, heading to the library and then competing for national championship on the field.

“We’re doing it – and not just for football. We’ve been highly competitive in a lot of sports.”

The Renaissance Woman

Brielle Paolini, ’10, has always wanted to experience it all.

In four years at William & Mary, she came close.

She was a member of the women’s golf team, and the first National Golf Coaches Association Scholar All-American in school history. She helped in the campus fight against cancer and AIDS. She was a Monroe Scholar who studied digital photography one summer in Italy. A certified yoga instructor. Goldwater Scholar. Hospital volunteer. Phi Beta Kappa. Provost Award winner.

Of which is she most proud?

“I’m most proud of being able to do all of those things,” she said, “and most proud of being able to balance high-level academics with a very hectic golf schedule. There’s a fine line between both of those.”

Paolini, from Virginia Beach, didn’t just belong to the golf team. She competed in 85 percent of the Tribe’s matches, twice finished in the top-20 of tournaments, shot a career-low 75, and seemed to relish the physical and mental grind that college golf often becomes.

“No question, it’s been tough; golf is a very difficult sport,” she said. “When you play 18 holes (with round-trip travel, warm-ups, etc.), it can easily take up nine hours. We end up putting in a lot more time than other people. Golf is also at the top of the physical pyramid. You have to have strength, you have to have endurance, you have to have flexibility, and you have to be good at all of those things in order to compete at the top. You need to do that training outside of the course. It becomes pretty difficult not only to balance your physical training and your golf training, but schoolwork, too.”

Having achieved a B.S. in Neuroscience, Paolini is headed to Wake Forest for graduate school. She’ll miss the golf competition within the team and within the CAA, which was everything she could have asked for.

“We don’t just have five strong players; we have 10,” she said. “It’s a great team. The girls on the team are my best friends, and I’ve been completely blessed to have them. There are other students on campus with whom I have fun, artsy relationships with, ones that have grown over the years. I’ve been really blessed that friendships have fallen into my lap so I didn’t have to necessarily go out and seek them out.”

Despite spending inordinate amounts of time on school and golf, Paolini also immersed herself in the community spirit that pervades W&M. After her father was diagnosed with thyroid cancer (he is in remission), she joined the campus Relay for Life as a committee chairperson.

“I came back to campus and I wanted to do something to give back to the cancer community,” she explained. “Honestly, it was really fun. I put together the opening and closing ceremonies, the music, the speakers, the survivors who had come to speak (about their experiences) and set the tone for the evening.”

With W&M being such a large part of the relatively small Williamsburg community, Paolini says that getting students involved with matters outside the campus is a priority, and one of the many things she treasures about the College.

“All of my friends do something for the community, give back in some sort of way,” she said. “It’s very much a part of campus life.”

Athletes, in particular, feel the calling.

“I know that the baseball team and the football team get together and go out into the community on weekends together,” she said. “We’re very tied to Williamsburg. We have a huge quest to give back. When everyone’s doing it, it becomes kind of peer pressure -- but in a wonderful way. You want to get involved and be part of it.”

The traditional goal of a liberal arts university such as W&M is to help students prepare to live worthy lives as humans and as citizens, as distinct from preparing them for careers or professions or positions. Paolini is convinced that the College meets that goal brilliantly.

“William & Mary provides an environment for us to be able to pursue many interests,” she said. “We’re not just athletes. We’re not just students. We’re able to go out into the community and give back, while being able to pursue things like art and photography. William & Mary makes it possible for us to do all of these things at a very, very high level. We can really pursue everything we’re interested in as passionately as we want. I think that makes us different.”

Originally posted here at WM.EDU.

Green, Gold…and Grey

By Don Leypoldt ‘96

“Every silver lining’s got a touch of Grey,” - Jerry Garcia.

Or in the case of William & Mary track, a gold lining.  Or bronze lining.

Quite simply, the Tribe harriers are in the midst of one of its greatest seasons ever - a bold statement seeing as the program has a decorated history at the College.  Current Tribe Head Men’s Track and Field and Cross Country Coach, Alex Gibby, has done yeomen’s work in maintaining this great tradition; his charges had accumulated five All-American honors in his previous six years at the helm of the program entering this season.

It will be at least nine when the 2010 track season is in the books - thanks in large part to the efforts of senior distance ace Jon Grey.

A Lancaster, Pa., native, Grey started his career as a promising distance runner for Oklahoma.  But he decided that he’d “Sooner” leave the Big 12 for Williamsburg and something closer to home.  Grey transferred after his sophomore year.  OU released the kinesiology major from his scholarship so Grey could start to compete immediately for the Tribe.

Last year, Grey earned All-East honors after finishing second in the prestigious IC4A meet with a sub-14:16 Indoor 5,000 meters.  The efforts were just a warm up act for the Outdoor season.  Grey became the first athlete to ever win both the 5,000m and the 10,000m at the CAA Championships.  His 10,000m time of 30:06.17 set a CAA record while his 14:11.91 “only” clocked the second best time in conference history.

The times helped him earn an invite to the NCAA Championships, where he finished 20th in the 10,000m.

“Training under Coach Gibby was a huge part of the improvement,” Grey believes.  “Once I came in during the fall of my junior year, I had some growing up (to do).  I had to grow into the program.  I was going to a new school.”

The transition “wasn’t as smooth as I hoped for,” Grey remembers, but once he got adjusted to life just off of D.O.G Street, “I was built more into the program.  I got used to the mileage because it is a much more high mileage program here.  That has been the whole driving force - it has been a long term plan by Coach Gibby.”

“Jon’s improvements at W&M have been impressive,” Gibby observed, “and can be placed on both his tremendous work ethic and the priority he places on his running.”

Their plan paid dividends.  Grey’s - and the Tribe’s - 2009-10 seasons have been remarkable.

Starting in late November, Grey and his cross country teammates Patterson Wilhelm and Colin Leak all placed in the top 40 at the NCAA Cross-Country Championship meet in Terre Haute, Ind., thus earning All-American certificates.  Grey headlined the Tribe’s stellar fifth-place team finish by placing 17th overall as an individual.

Moving to the indoor season, Grey ran a blistering 13:46.12, good enough for fifth place in the NCAA 5,000m Championships.  The time earned Grey his second All-American nod in four months - and stands as the second fastest indoor 5,000m mark recorded at the College.

While Grey already has the 5,000m All-American certificate in his pocket for this year, the 10,000m may well prove to be his better event.  At the recent Mt. SAC Relays, Grey won the 10,000m title in a career-best 28:40.33, the third fastest time in Tribe history.  He won the race by over 12 seconds; the time currently ranks fourth in the nation and second in the East region.  Another return trip to the NCAAs seems to be a safe bet.

Grey compared the three different track seasons.  “Cross Country and Outdoor track are definitely my two favorites and the bigger focus of our program.  Indoor is more of a placeholder for Outdoors.

“In Cross Country, we use our own course that we have out at Eastern State.  We do almost all of our training exclusively out there.  Once we switch over to Outdoor track, we’re on the track the whole time.  There are a variety of training differences between the two.”

An academic senior, Grey has one more year of indoor and outdoor track eligibility remaining.  It gives him another season to try and accomplish some lofty- yet reachable- goals.

“I probably won’t run at the IC4A outdoors in May, so we can build a better training block before heading into Regionals, Nationals and then USAs,” Grey offered, “which we’re hoping to run assuming I’m still moving forward.

“I’ve already outlined some goals for next year assuming I don’t get them this year, such as trying to rewrite some of the record books,” he continued.  “I’ve just missed a couple of them.  Indoors, I just missed the 5K and I think I have a legitimate shot at the 3K if I were in the right race.

“And in Outdoors, definitely get the 10,000 meter if I don’t get it this year.  That is one thing I’d really like to get before I graduate,” Grey concluded.

Those records may be in jeopardy as Grey adds another year of strength and conditioning.

“I’ll focus on trying to duplicate this season again and then eventually- hopefully- taking a shot at the Olympic Trials, and see where it goes from there,” Grey noted.  “Definitely professional running would, hopefully, be in my future assuming the right cards fall into place.”

“Whatever Jon has done so far is merely the tip of iceberg,” Gibby believes.  “While his performances have been steadily improving, the background work that he has established over the last 20 months will only continue to allow him to progress to even greater heights.

“Jon is on the verge of becoming not just another All-American, but an outstanding collegiate and national-level distance runner.”

Fortunately, the Green and Gold get one more season of Grey before the professional possibilities open up.  If things keep progressing, rival CAA runners may not be singing Jerry Garcia but rather Billy Joel - “Shades of Grey are All that I Find”- as they look at the winner’s podium.



A Tip of the Mortarboard:

William & Mary salutes two special athletes who will graduate in early May.  Katie Radloff (Swimming) and Derek Gygax (Gymnastics) may not have participated in the Tribe’s highest profile sports, but they leave Williamsburg as two of the best in school history.

Radloff, a freestylist and back stroker, already accumulated a stellar prep resume at Yorktown High in Arlington, VA.  She held the Virginia state record in the 200 free relay and earned four All-American nods.

It didn’t take long to make her CAA competitors take notice.  As a freshman Radloff was selected as the CAA Swimmer of the Year and named to the CollegeSwimming.com Mid-Major All-America team.  Radloff qualified for the NCAA Championships in three individual free events, becoming just the second Tribe swimmer invited to the NCAAs.

The next year, Radloff became the first swimmer in school history compete in the United States Olympic Trials.

As a junior, Radloff finished in the top 25 in the 100 freestyle.  She won six golds at the CAA Championships, where here times in the 50 (22.30), 100 (48.48) and 200 frees (1:47.21) were new CAA records.

Radloff ends her career with five all-conference selections as a senior and top 30 finishes in the NCAA Championships 50 and 100 free.  In addition to her degree in kinesiology, Radloff leaves William & Mary with four individual school records, six CAA records and more victories (96) than any swimmer in Tribe history.

The Tribe’s gymnastic squad ended the regular season ranked 14th nationally, thanks to co-captain Gygax’s efforts.  The biology major finished in the top 20 in the All-Around at the NCAA Championships, missing All-American status by just a few slots.

But Gygax snared his share of All-American accolades during his Tribe career.  As a junior, he won all around title at last year’s USA Gymnastics Collegiate Championships, the same venue where he also snagged All-American honors on pommel horse, vaulting and high bar.

At the Navy Open, which kicked off the 2010 season, Gygax earned the Eastern Intercollegiate Gymnastics League (EIGL) Gymnast of the Week.

Gygax will end his career as one of just six gymnasts in Tribe history to be named a finalist for the Nissen-Emery award, which is given to the nation’s top senior male gymnast.

The Tribe Club heartily congratulates Katie, Derek and all of their classmates for their outstanding contributions to the Green and Gold in the sporting arena, and their diligence in earning a William & Mary diploma while in the classroom!