Lynchburg Reporter

University of Lynchburg Athletics issued the following announcement on June 11

At first, it looked like it may not happen at all.

Then, there was a glimmer of hope.

And now, at the end of the most challenging semester most University of Lynchburg student-athletes and staff have ever faced, what remains is a tremendous sense of accomplishment.

Lynchburg's Hornets hurdled over the uncertainty and restrictions necessitated to ensure campus health and safety during the COVID-19 pandemic to one of the most successful years in the athletic department's history with eight Old Dominion Athletic Conference titles.

"It was an absolutely incredible semester for our student-athletes and staff," Jon Waters, Lynchburg's director of athletics, said. "Every person in our athletics community bought into the things we needed to do to be healthy enough to compete at a high level, and then our athletes got it done in competition. It was truly amazing to be a part of this spring."

The eight ODAC titles -- baseball, women's basketball, field hockey, men's lacrosse, men's soccer, women's swimming, and men's and women's outdoor track & field -- were the most for any of the league's 15 member schools this past spring in addition to the most in an academic year for the Hornets.

The historic run began last March, shortly after the NCAA canceled winter and spring championships as the seriousness of the pandemic was coming to light. Waters, director of athletic training services Caroline Wesley Siler, and the Lynchburg athletic training staff began working hard to envision a safe return-to-play strategy designed to get the Hornets back to competition as soon as safely possible.

"We knew that the challenges would test every aspect of our organization," Waters said, "but we felt like we could put our students in a position to succeed at a high level. Caroline and our sports medicine staff have been unbelievable in getting us to a place to make that happen."

Throughout the fall, with intercollegiate competition still on hold, Lynchburg's teams found ways to compete with each other. The red versus gray Hornet Cup was a department-wide intrasquad series designed to give student-athletes meaningful competition in a safe way. It also provided the opportunity to see that teams could safely compete on the field of play.

Meanwhile, the Lynchburg administration worked tirelessly to find availability of reliable COVID-19 testing equipment that would put the teams in accordance with the NCAA's safe return protocols.

After months of preparation and hard work and sacrifice from student-athletes and staff, Lynchburg dove back into competition on January 13 with a swim meet against Virginia Wesleyan. The following weekend, track & field competed in an indoor meet at Virginia Military Institute, and men's basketball opened up at home against Methodist. Despite no fans in the stands, socially distanced team areas, and rigorous COVID testing schedules, things almost felt normal.

Fast-forward to March 7, and the Lynchburg women's swim team won its first ODAC title in just its second season of competition, besting second-place Roanoke at the championship meet after losing twice to the Maroons in regular-season dual meets. Delaney Kennedy was named the conference's rookie of the year, and Brad Dunn won coach of the year honors.

Later that week, the Hornets' women's basketball team defeated Roanoke, 67-61, for the program's second-ever conference crown. Three Hornets earned All-ODAC honors, including the first-ever ODAC player of the year in junior Abby Oguich, and interim head coach Katie Crump was named coach of the year.

Both the women's basketball and women's swim teams made it through the entire season without a single positive COVID-19 test, a testament to the buy-in from the students. (Several other Hornet teams would later accomplish this feat as well.)

Playing in abbreviated seasons, the traditional fall sports kept the championship momentum rolling for Lynchburg. Exactly a month after the women's basketball championship, on April 11, the men's soccer team beat Guilford, 5-1, for the conference title. A week after that, field hockey won its third ODAC championship in a row, 3-1 over Washington and Lee, and Enza Steele won coach of the year honors. Senior goalie Laurel Nicks was named the ODAC/Virginia Farm Bureau Scholar-Athlete in field hockey.

Then the baton went to spring sports, where outdoor track & field dominated the ODAC championships at home on the Dr. Jack M. Toms '69 Track on May 2. Lynchburg's men claimed the trophy for the first time since 2014, nearly doubling the points of any other team in the field in the process, and the Hornet women claimed their third consecutive title, winning comfortably by 98 points. Senior Elle Benefield won the women's field athlete of the meet award, and Stephanie Burnett won the scholar-athlete award. On the men's side Sam Llaneza was dubbed conference rookie of the year, and Jim Sprecher won the coach of the year award.

Track & field went on to send five athletes -- Frank Csorba, Llaneza, Aniya Seward, Max Sparks, and Jackie Wilson -- to the NCAA outdoor championships at the end of May. Csorba, Llaneza, and Sparks all earned All-America status as top-eight finishers in their events.

On May 8, the men's lacrosse team claimed its eighth ODAC title with a dominant 16-6 win over Washington and Lee. Graduate student Tyler Gallagher was named ODAC player of the year and scholar-athlete of the year, and Steve Koudelka won the coach of the year award. Both Gallagher and Colin Dean landed on All-America teams. The Hornets won more games than any other team in NCAA Division III with 18, reaching the national quarterfinals and finishing the season ranked fourth in the country.

Baseball put a bow on the championship season, coming from behind to defeat Shenandoah May 22 in the bottom of the ninth inning of the deciding ballgame. The Hornets then went to High Point, N.C., for NCAA regionals and won twice more to set a new program record with 36 wins in 2021. First-team All-American Avery Neaves, ODAC pitcher of the year Brandon Pond, and ODAC rookie of the year Gavin Collins led the way for the team, and Lynchburg graduate and fourth-year coach Lucas Jones earned the coach of the year honor.

Several other athletic programs enjoyed great success as well in the spring of 2021. Men's basketball, women's golf, softball, and men's swimming finished second in the conference; equestrian was the single-discipline reserve champion at the National Collegiate Equestrian Association championships; and men's tennis earned its highest-ever ODAC tournament seed, finishing fourth in the regular season. Every team sport at Lynchburg finished the season with a winning record.

"I can't say enough about our hard-working student-athletes and staff," Waters said. "To put together a spring semester like this around all the obstacles we faced, they deserve a ton of credit. The other unsung heroes for our success as an institution are the COVID-19 Task Force and student health center staff, who worked tirelessly to keep us safe, healthy, and open all year long.

"Lynchburg is truly a special place with special people, and I was reminded of that hundreds of times this year. We have all grown tremendously over the past 15 months, and that will serve our students and programs in a great way moving forward."

Lynchburg's eight ODAC titles this year tied the department's record for most in a single academic year. The Hornets also claimed eight conference titles in 2010-11.

SPRING 2021 ODAC CHAMPIONSHIPS BY SCHOOL

Lynchburg - 8

Washington and Lee - 5

Randolph-Macon - 2

Bridgewater - 1

Guilford - 1

Roanoke - 1

Sweet Briar - 1

Virginia Wesleyan - 1

Original source can be found here.