In addition to completing the best athletic season in more than a decade, Mary Baldwin student-athletes registered another strong year in the classroom.

Athletic highlights included:

Four teams (women's soccer, men's basketball, softball and women's tennis ... plus cross country and track & field) qualified for the USA South conference playoffs - that's the most since 2012.

Two teams (women's soccer and softball) won opening round playoff games ... the first time since MBU joined the USA South in 2008. This was the second-straight year with at least 60 wins (combining all sports).  MBU had 69 last year.  Previous high since joining the USA South was 30 wins in 2019-20 (which was cut short by the pandemic)

Individual awards included one USA South Rookie of the Year (softball Trinity Thomas), 10 USA South all-conference awards, including the first-ever USA South baseball all-star (Josh Lallo) and two student-athletes representing MBU and the USA South Conference at the 2023 NCAA Convention (women's soccer goalkeeper Anyka Wilkin and baseball infielder/pitcher Gavin Rush.

MBU athletics year-end awards were presented for Athlete of the Year to Wilkin and men's track and field standout Christopher Kirksey). Sofball standout Thomas and baseball catcher Josh Lallo were the Newcomers of the Year. Senior Scholar-Athlete of the Year homors went to soccer defenders Katie Hayes and Kyle Creamer). The Mary Jane Donnalley Award for highest GPA in the athletic departmen went to softball's Sam Grimsley and baseball's Juan Vascones.

The Christy Shelton Award for Leadership Excellence was presented to men's and women's soccer grad assistant Erik Recke.

Academic Highlights

Top student-athlete performances were on display in the classroom, too.  Academic facts and figures for the Athletic Dept. for 2022-23 academic year:

213 total unique student athletes ... this includes some who were only here for 1 semester for a variety of reasons.

108 student-athletes finished the year with a 3.00 or better cumulative GPA (32 of those have a cumulative GPA above 3.80).  That's 50.7 percent of student-athletes boasting a 3.00 or better cumulative GPA (16 others are "knocking on the door" with a 2.90 or better GPA)

27 student-athletes posted a 4.00 GPA at least one semester in 2022-23 (either Fall or Spring semester; not counting May term) ... 11 had a 4.00 in both semesters

Breakdown by gender:  

Women 53.6% (59 of 110) with a 3.00 cumulative GPA ... 16 with at least 1 semester of 4.00 (9 did it both semesters) ... 24 with 3.80 or better cumulative GPA

Men 47.6% (49 of 103) with 3.00 cumulative GPA ... 11 with at least 1 semester of 4.00 (2 did it both semesters) ... 8 with 3.80 or better cumulative GPA

Breakdown by Teams 

9 of 13 teams (I combined indoor & outdoor track for each gender) have team cumulative GPAs above 3.00 (3 men; 6 women)

Top team GPAs (includes players who were here just one semester or quit team etc.)

Women Cross Country 3.599
Softball 3.566 (4 players with 4.00 both semesters this year)
Women Soccer 3.298 (2 players with 4.00 both semesters this year)
Men Tennis 3.292
Men. Basketball 3.251
Women Tennis 3.067 (2 players with 4.00 both semesters this year)
Women Track & Field 3.055 indoor season (2.977 outdoor season)
Baseball 3.045 (1 player with 4.00 both semesters this year)
Volleyball 3.023
The other 4 team GPAs ranged from 2.666 to 2.853