UMW Winter Sports Recap

While most of the student population was back home enjoying their leisurely time off for winter break, four different University of Mary Washington sports teams were competing in grueling athletic competitions. The UMW swim teams, the track and field team, and the men’s and women’s basketball teams all had impressive showings since the Bullet’s last issue.
Men’s basketball: Head Coach Rod Wood’s team saw themselves on a hot streak during the cold winter months, as the UMW men’s basketball team won eight straight games from Dec. 18 to Jan. 18.

The win streak included five Capital Athletic Conference victories for Mary Washington, and the run helped the Eagles claim the top spot in the conference standings at the midway point in the season.
UMW averaged 72.5 points per game in the eight-game span, led by sophomore Bradley Riester’s averaged 11.1 points per contest during that stretch.
Women’s basketball: Like their male counterparts, the Lady Eagles basketball team went on an undefeated run in their 10-game stretch from Dec. 17 to Jan. 18. The difference is that Head Coach Deena Applebury’s team hasn’t lost a contest all season, as UMW sits at a perfect 18-0 on the year and ranked as the No. 9 team in the country by D3hoops.com.
During their blistering 10-game streak since our last issue, the women’s basketball team won by an average of 24.1 points per game, as their suffocating defense limited their opponents to just 40.1 points per contest during that span. Applebury also reached a personal milestone since our last issue, as the longtime UMW coach reached the 200-win plateau for her career in the Eagles 59-42 win over York College on Jan. 7.
Swimming: The men’s and women’s swim teams got back into action on Jan. 13–14, the Friday and Saturday before classes for the current spring semester started. Head coach Abby Brethauer’s teams first traveled to Frostburg State to compete against the host Bobcats and St. Mary’s College on Friday. The men’s team swept their two opponents, knocking off Frostburg State 173-17 and defeating the Seahawks 124-81, while the women split their meet, dominating the Bobcats 163-28 and falling to St. Mary’s 122-83.
The Saturday meet was held in the Goolrick Natatorium, as both UMW swim teams hosted Salisbury University and Marymount University. Both the Eagles’ men and women swept their respective meet, with the men topping Salisbury 135-69 and crushing Marymount 166-36, while the women thwarted Salisbury 146-55 and edged Marymount 117-84.
During our recent school hiatus, the swim team also had a pair of athletes honored as CAC Men’s Swimming Athlete of the Week. Freshman Alex Anderson was one of the selections, as the first-year swimmer took home six victories in the aforementioned Jan. 13 and 14 meets. Anderson won the 50-freestyle, the 200-breaststroke, the 100-butterfly and was also part of three different relay teams that captured wins. The other CAC selection was senior Billy Norfolk, who was picked due to his performance in this past weekend’s out-of-conference meet against Gettysburg College. Norfolk won the 100-butterfly, the 200-butterfly and was a member of the 200-medly relay team.
Track and field: Though their season is still in its prepubescent stage, head coach Stan Soper had eight people compete back on Jan. 8 at the Father Diamond Invitational up in Fairfax, Va. sophomore Dalton Eachard was busy in what Soper called a “voluntary meet,” as he competed in the 60-meter hurdles, the 400-meters and the 60-meters. Junior Michelle Sutherland and freshman Michael Lohr also had nice early season showings, as Sutherland took eighth place with her 400-meter dash time of 1:01.93, while Lohr totaled 3.30 meters in the pole vault to take 10th place in the event.