By: Francesca Davis
As we find our way at the mid-point in the fall season of college sports, it’s great to reflect
and look back on some of the best moments that we’ve had the pleasure to watch in the
second half of 2024.
This week we’ll be focusing on the women of William and Mary, and their great successes on the track, the field, the court, and even in the pool. Here are top five moments of women’s sports so far this season – ranked!
#5 Cross Country wins the Pirate XC Invitational
The women of Tribe Cross Country competed at ECU in the Pirate Invitational (Greenville,
N.C.) in the first week of October. The Green and Gold had a stunning day at the Lake Kristi
course, placing five runners in the top 10 on the way to capturing the title, outdistancing
second place by nearly 100 points.
Sofia Istnick and Arianna DeBoer, both juniors, held firm at the third and fourth place spots respectively, with the standout performance coming from Senior Kyra Holland, who placed second for the Tribe with an incredible time of 21:07.1 in the 6K. Junior Catherine Garrison came in an impressive sixth, and Molly Weithman, in her rookie season, rounded out the impressive group of five, by placing ninth.
An amazing and dominant performance from women’s cross country, who look to further their success in Charlottesville at the Panorama Farms XC Invite this weekend!
#4 Swimming Sets Five Dual-Meet School Records in Season-Opening Quad Meet
At number 4, we have Tribe women’s swimming who had an incredible start to their 2024/5 season in Hampton at their Quad Meet two weeks ago. The Green and Gold made school history by setting five dual-meet school records and achieving 11 times that ranks in the top 16 all-time lists for Tribe swimming.
Junior Lindsey Juhlin had a historical performance in the pool, setting two individual dual-meet records, taking gold in the 100M breaststroke, and finishing runner up in the 100m butterfly. Another memorable swim came from freshman Tess Lankford. The rookie achieved a new program dual meet record in the 200m IM, clocking a time of 2:02.59 to take silver.
Other records came from sophomore Julie Addison, senior Ellie Scherer, and junior Caroline Burgeson. The Green and Gold ended the competition with a 2-1 record in CAA wins, namely over UNCW and Delaware. Congrats to women’s swim!
#3 Women’s Volleyball Down Defending Conference Champions, Delaware
At number three, we look to William and Mary volleyball, who gained a historic win over the Blue Hens in their fall break series last weekend, ending with an impressive 3-1 win at home over their CAA foes.
The Tribe opened day one of competition by claiming the first two sets, before eventually closing the game out in 4 frames to earn their first sweep against Delaware since 2015.
Key performances included Maddie Meyers who registered 15 kills in total, and Katherine Arnason closely following with a season high of 12 kills. In the defence, Lindsey Kharen achieved a career high of 32 digs, putting her at fifth in four-set match school history. This spectacular performance earned her the CAA Defensive Player of the Week award for the second time this season.
Tribe Volleyball hope to continue this fine form against another CAA rival, Charleston, next weekend, good luck to them!
#2 Field Hockey earns first win of the season against the Blue Hens in Dramatic Fashion
In at number 2, field hockey! The Tribe women picked up a long-awaited first win of the season over CAA rival Delaware (once again!) to get their conference title defence up and running.
In a long and competitive tussle, the Green and Gold found themselves at 1-1
against the Blue Hens with six minutes of regular time to go, after Richbourg had scored off a penalty corner in the first quarter to put the Tribe in the lead, before the Blue Hens responded.
Goalkeeper Maddie George had a clutch performance throughout, especially in the last moments, making four saves in the last six minutes – earning her CAA Defensive Player of the Week as a result. But Richbourg ultimately led the team to victory with another triumphant – and game-winning – goal, sending the ball into the back of the goal after a skillful assist from Pyper Friedman. Richbourg’s game-winning goal was the first of her career and earned her CAA co-Offensive Player of the Week honors.
This was surely a memorable moment for Coach Ellis and the team, who were ecstatic to finally get their first, much deserved, win of the season. The Tribe now looks to continue their CAA win streak whilst the momentum is with them, and hopefully defend their conference title in November!
#1 Women’s Soccer Earn Historic Win Over N.C State, 1-0
At the number one spot: women’s soccer! If you’re not following the women’s soccer team
this season, you should be. The women of Tribe soccer are certainly having a season to
remember, and amongst many highlights, their win over the Wolfpack at the start of
September takes the top spot for the best moment of the women’s sports season so far.
After a slow and tight start to the match, the Green and Gold held firm in Raleigh until the 56 th minute, when Leah Iglesias sent the ball into the back of the net after a successful cross from sophomore Molly Widderich to put the Tribe one goal in front.
The team held firm throughout the rest of the second half, especially thanks to goalkeeper Jazzy Lorenz who made some crucial stops in the latter stages of the game, putting her at four saves on the evening, one shy of her career high, and earning her CAA Rookie of the Week honors.
The Tribe’s extraordinary performance gave them their first ACC win since 2016, and no doubt gave them the confidence to carry on the great season they’re having, as they look forward to the first round of the CAA conference championship on October 31 st .
That rounds off my top 5 moments of the season for Tribe women’s sports, make sure to
follow all the action @TribeAthletics and @wmsportsblog!
Photos courtesy of Tribe Athletics
The William & Mary Sports Blog 