Football, of course, dominated Keydet hearts, minds, and headlines this year. The Big Red won the Southern Conference, retained the Silver Shako, and made James Madison University work for their victory in the FCS playoffs. Off the gridiron, players and Scott Wachenheim, head coach, have received a long list of honors and awards. Several other teams had outstanding team and individual performances, too.
Back in fall 2020, cross-country was one of the few sports able to have a season—and the team had a great one. The men’s side was the Southern Conference runner-up, and the women had the best individual finish in program history. One men’s athlete competed in the NCAA race and finished in the top 200.
Basketball secured a No. 6 seed in the Southern Conference tournament during the best season since 2013-14. Dan Earl, head coach, was named SoCon Coach of the Year and three cadet-athletes received conference honors.
Track and field had indoor and outdoor conference champions, all-conference athletes, broken school records, and sent one athlete to the NCAA East regional competition. In outdoor track, the men’s side had the SoCon Most Outstanding Track Performer and athletes earning VaSID All-State honors. VMI boasted the men’s SoCon Track and Field Freshman of the Year in the winter indoor season.
Wrestling had several strong freshmen performances, with two freshmen earning spots on the All-SoCon Freshman Team and high rankings from NCAA coaches and InterMat Wrestling.
Swimming and diving continued to break school records, and several athletes earned notice from the America East Conference, including weekly honors during the season and All-Academic honors.
Women’s water polo made the first conference championship appearance in program history, losing the title by a narrow margin. Several players earned athletic and academic recognition, and one was an honorable mention All-American.
Baseball finished two spots ahead of preseason predictions and ended the season sweeping a doubleheader. Baseball players earned notice from SoCon during the season, and one player earned Freshman of the Year honors.
This fall, all athletics teams are looking forward to playing a regular schedule. Football begins at home versus Davidson Sept. 4. For more schedules and Keydet updates, go to vmikeydets.com. To help support cadet-athletes, give online.
