Students travel across state lines to watch UMW win championship in Indianapolis

by MEAGHAN VAN DYKE

News Editor

On April 5, UMW men’s basketball pulled off a buzzer-beater championship win against Emory University in the final few seconds of the game to secure the school’s first national title. While the game took place in Indianapolis, over 600 miles from the Anderson Center at UMW, the Eagles’ student section was packed as if it were a home game.

“Everyone made the same face. Our jaws dropped and our eyes got so big because we were all so amazed,” said Maggie Winters, a junior English major who attended the game. “It was actually, I think, top 10 UMW moments of the school’s history.”

Winters, along with nearly 100 current UMW students and 200 more alumni and staff members, was able to attend the game thanks to an initiative to bus students over 14 hours to see the Athletic Department’s first championship game in over 30 years. 

The initiative, according to Executive Director of University Communications Amy Jessee, resulted from the combined efforts of Athletics, the Office of Student Affairs and the Office of Advancement and Alumni Engagement. The buses themselves, Jessee said, were largely funded by independent donations.

“We received funding for the buses during Mary Wash Day,” Jessee said. “Board of Visitors member John Anstey ’93 and his wife, Kara Matala ’94, as well as Tim Pohanka ’92, made philanthropic gifts to support the bus costs which total just over $16,000.”

By the time registration closed, nearly 100 students had signed up. 

Winters, along with their roommate, Abby Powers, a junior biomedical sciences major, decided they would go together.

“I also heard about it through the email, and I was like, I feel like this is kind of a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity,” Powers said. “Not a lot of times I’m in college and I can have a trip where they might win a national championship and make history for my school that I love. So I was like, I kind of have to do that.”

Similarly, Ryder Ward, a senior communication and digital studies major, decided to attend the game in person for the chance to see a potentially historic win for UMW.

“Sports have sucked since I’ve been here. This is the first time they’ve been half decent. I want to be there when they win the freaking championship,” Ward said.

Ward, who attended both the in-person game via school-sponsored transportation and the Roar Soar Send Off on March 31, also noted that the anticipation and school spirit around the game were major driving points in their decision to go.

“I’m expecting a lot of Eagle pride. I’m expecting a lot of the students to be excited about getting to go, getting to see the game, and getting this trip of a lifetime,” Ward said.

Through both funding from the university and donations from alumni, two buses were scheduled to leave campus early Saturday morning. The buses stopped at a hotel in Columbus, OH, approximately three hours away from the stadium, and then students were bused to Indianapolis early Sunday morning.

Upon arrival at the stadium, students bused to the game were given access to an alumni pregame event and NCAA-sponsored events around the stadium. Students were given specific seats in the stadium reserved as the UMW student section.

“They did a great job of picking out seats,” Powers said. “It felt like a [designated] student section. It wasn’t like, ‘Hey, get in the nosebleeds.’ They were nice seats.”

In addition to the students bused to the game, alumni and staff also traveled to show their support. Among those in attendance were Jessee and University President Troy Paino, who spoke with the team about support from the school community before the game.

“It means a lot to the team,” Paino said. “I had dinner with them last night, and when I told them that we were going to have a lot of students—well over 100, maybe over 200, maybe even 300—they were just blown away, and it just meant a lot to them.”

That excitement, he added, speaks to the lasting impact this experience will have. 

“It’s one of those things where you’ll remember the rest of your life. If you’re a player or you’re a student who’s going to support the team, this is one of those things that just doesn’t come around,” Paino said.

Before traveling to Indianapolis, Marcus Kahn, head coach of the team, said the proposal was encouraging to the players.

“Knowing that other students—their peers—are going out of their way to come watch them and support them certainly gives us all a little extra boost,” he said. “Knowing that the school’s taking the time to get a bus, the students have taken the time and commitment to riding a bus to Indianapolis and going into the game for sure, just knowing that we have that support behind us definitely gives us an energy boost.”

For many players on the team, including junior psychology major Jadon Burgess, the energy from the student section played a key role in the Eagles’ success against Emory.

“Having students there and having our own student section definitely amplified the feelings of the game, and I think it just really brought out the energy and knowing that we have people behind us and kind of just put wind in our sails to continue playing as hard as we could,” Burgess said.

From the student perspective, the lively atmosphere helped keep spectators energized as well.

“I feel like we had a really good energy as a student section throughout the whole game, even when it started to get stressful in the very last seven minutes, and then especially in the last 30 seconds when it was 73-73 and I thought I was gonna throw up,” Winters said.

Whereas the game kept the energy going the whole time, Powers and Winters were both grateful to be there to support after several empty student section games.

“Just being at the game and knowing they were supported was fantastic, because I saw their semifinals and the videos of it, and the stands were empty, and that broke my heart. That’s one of the reasons I was like, ‘Oh, I’m gonna be on that bus,’” Powers said. “They’re going to have people cheering loud for them at this game even if it kills me.”

Both Powers and Winters expressed gratitude for the school and the experience as a whole.

“I think it was one of the best experiences I’ve had while being a student here,” Winters said. “I think it was really worth the bus ride.”

As two Student Life employees, Winters and Powers especially appreciated the effort put into making the proposal a reality.

“So thankful for Student Life for throwing us together, because we know from our perspective, working with student life, that it wasn’t an easy feat,” Powers said. “It was a lot extra on their plate, it means everything to me that they still put in the effort, because this was an experience that I will always be thankful for.”

Powers, who kept the basketball stuffed animal given to students who were bused to the game as part of the “swag bag,” is even planning on getting it tattooed to commemorate the event. Powers is planning on getting the tattoo on her left thigh and has named the basketball Boris.

“Boris is going to symbolize the fact that I love this university, and how proud I am of our school and our team,” Powers said.