It's Cookie Baking Time of Year (and exams!)

The Annual Track Team Christmas Party at the Hawthorne's was on Sunday. As is tradition, a number of team members went to the Hawthornes to bake cookies on Friday and Saturday! Take a look at the action:

Only 9 Days Left -- Hawthorne Challenge

We are in the final stretch run for the Hawthorne Challenge, and you still have the opportunity to make a big impact on your Tribe XC/T&F programs!!! Here is what the current numbers look like:

• Men's almuni participation sits at 22.7% -- need 22 more donors before 11:59PM on June 30th
• Women's alumni participation is currently 22.9% -- need just 9 more donors before 11:59PM on June 30th

Remember, each additional percentage of participation will be matched by Randy and Shelby to the tune of $1000! So 22 more men will mean an additional $2000+, and 9 more women will mean another $2000+. Gifts of any size count, and this is a great opportunity to make a HUGE impact with your gift.

Latest Hawthorne Challenge Numbers

Time is running out!! The College's fiscal year ends June 30th, which means we are down to the final month of giving toward the Hawthorne Challenge.

• Men are at 21.3% participation -- Need 36 alums to give in June to hit 25% matching goal!
• Women are at 21% participation -- Need 18 alums to give in June to hit the 25% matching goal!

Hawthorne Challenge Update

In an effort to increase alumni giving participation for the Tribe XC/Track & Field programs, Randy and Shelby Hawthorne have issued a challenge this year. The Hawthorne Challenge has a percentage participation component that we are close to reaching! For each percentage point of men's AND women's alumni giving participation, Randy and Shelby will donate $1,000 to each program (up to 25%). Here is how the participation challenge currently stands:

• Men: current participation rate of 19.9% - 50 more donors to reach 25% challenge!
• Women: current participation rate of 20.4% - just 21 more donors to reach 25% challenge!

If you have yet to give, please consider a donation to either program -- gifts must be received by June 30, 2016 to count toward the challenge.

More information on the Hawthorne Challenge

Daniels-Elder Wins Lifetime Award

Jeri Daniels '82 a member of the William and Mary Hall of Fame has been honored as "Tribe Champion for Life" award.  She was the national AIAW champion in the discus at W&M. She also was a long time coach at Penn State and a coach on several world and Olympic teams. 

Malone and Mattis Shine

Certainly if one heard that "Malone and Mattis" had a great weekend, you'd think you were back in 1984.  But this past weekend, John Malone's sone, Ben won the Colonial Relays 1500 meters exactly thirty years after John won the same race.   Ben won in 3:45.73.  Above is a great picture showing both of the Malones.

But outshining even Ben's performance was Sam Mattis (son of Marlon '85) who, two weeks ago, set the Ivy League discus record, a performance that also was the second fastest NCAA ever and an American collegiate record.  The throw, 221'3," also was an Olympic Games "A" standard throw.   Watch the throw below. 

Randy Hawthorne Inducted into the Peninsula Running Hall of Fame

Rarely do you get to read such a comprehensive overview of Randy's accomplishments, but then the write, Rick Platt, has been watching from closeup for four decades.  Here is the great article. 

W&M Soars at XC Team Championships

William and Mary alums had a banner day at the USA Team XC Championships.  Sonja Friend-Uhl, as she seems to do in every championship, won the women's master's race (a week after she ran a 4:57 mile).   Jonathan Grey finished second (and you can see in the image above) in the senior men's division while Elaina Boularis was 17th in the women's race.  Am I missing anyone?  

Three School Records to Open Indoor Season at CNU

Brian Waterfield breaks his own weight throw record by over 5 feet!



Leia Mistowski breaks the women's weight throw record by over a foot!



Derek O'Connell improves his indoor pole vault school record by 2 inches!

Cookie Baking at the Hawthornes!

Per tradition, members of the XC/TF teams prepared for the annual Hawthorne Christmas Party by baking cookies on Friday evening and Saturday morning. Dozens upon dozens were baked and enjoyed by the W&M XC/TF Family at Sunday's party!

Regan Rome 24th

Regan Rome just finished 24th in 20:17 meaning she just earned her first All-American title.   My teammate, Todd Lindsley's ('85) daughter, Greta Lindsley also was at the NCAA meet finishing 224th.  John Kellogg's ('84) son was 86th in the Div III men's race. 

Rome Qualifies for the NCAA Meet

Sophomore Regan Rome just found that she has officially qualified for the NCAA meet off of her 5th place in the Southeast Region meet.  

Stites and Rome Ranked in Top 20 in US

Reagan Rome and Emily Stites have just been ranked by Flotrack 17th and 15th respectively.  

Interview with Emily Stites

Here is an interview with Emily Stites.

CAA XC Championships on Halloween

The CAA XC Championships will take place tomorrow, October 31st, hosted by the College of Charleston. The women will race at 10am and the men will begin at 11am. You can find live results from the link below.

CAA XC Men’s & Women’s Live Results

Here are a few pictures from today's pre-meet activity in Charleston:

Women's team pausing for a pre-meet team photo

Instructions on the team bus coming straight from the horse's mouth...HAPPY HALLOWEEN!

Grey 5th at USA 10 Mile Champs

Jonathan Grey was 5th in 47.12 at the USA 10 Mile Championships.  

Lets Run Thinks Stites Can Be 10 10 NCAA

Letsrun.com has said that W&M #1 Emily Stites can possibly finish in the top ten in the US echoing the thoughts of Coach Walsh and others. 

Meet Dave Barney

I got to meet Dave Barney a few weeks ago.  He is the team's best 1500 meter runner and is also running XC. 

Flotrack Picks Stites for Top Ten

Watch more videos on Flotrack
If you talk to Coach Walsh, he believes that Emily Stites is an easy top ten, if not top five.  Flotrack agrees selecting her to be in the top ten at the NCAA meet. 

Article on Brent Colburn '98

The Flat Hat has a nice article on former W&M track runner Brent Colburn who has quite a distinguished post college life including  being a Resident Fellow at Harvard’s Institute of Politics. He previously served as the Assistant to the Secretary of Defense for Public Affairs, the Chief of Staff at the Department of Housing, the Assistant Secretary of Defense at the Department of Homeland Security and the Director of External Affairs at the Federal Emergency Management Agency. He has also worked on numerous political campaigns, including those of Barack Obama, John Kerry, Howard Dean and Al Gore.