JMU Athletics Celebrates Successes of 2024-2025 Year

HARRISONBURG, Va. – The 2024-2025 competitive year for James Madison Athletics in many ways marked a year of transition, yet the department maintained its high standards of fostering an environment that blends competitive excellence with personal development. The past year was the university's first as a fully classified Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) institution. It was also the first season under the leadership of Director of Athletics Matt Roan following his April 2024 hire with his direction working hand-in-hand with Charlie King, who shepherded the university as President.

Among the noteworthy achievements, JMU captured its first Sun Belt women's soccer championship and first American Conference lacrosse title. The Dukes also captured their second straight Sun Belt swimming and diving title in the two short years of league sponsorship before securing a spot in the American (formerly AAC) for 2025-2026.

James Madison marked its rise to FBS with the institution's first bowl win, a 27-17 triumph over Western Kentucky in the Boca Raton Bowl. The department also captured regular season championships in five sports: women's soccer, field hockey, men's basketball, women's basketball and lacrosse. The women's basketball season under Head Coach Sean O'Regan featured a 30-6 record with the most overall (30) and regular season (27) wins in program history as the Dukes added to their status as one of the top five all-time wins totals in college basketball history.

"Thank you for your participation and investment in the success of the Dukes, JMU Nation," Director of Athletics Matt Roan said. "In an era of incredible change, this department summary is evidence that we continue to excel, and I'm more confident than ever in our continued upward trajectory because of you, our student-athletes, coaches, staff, and administration. I'm proud to be part of this team. Let's continue to think big and realize bold goals year after year."

Continuing the transition theme, with new coaches in football and men's basketball, those sports were able to maintain their high standard of excellence. Bob Chesney led JMU football to a 9-4 record, marking the 10^th straight season of eight wins or more (excluding 7-1 in the unique spring 2021 season) and the 22^nd straight year at .500 or better. Men's basketball went 20-12 to earn a share of the Sun Belt regular season championship in Preston Spradlin's first season, which followed a complete roster and staff overhaul from the school-record 32-4 campaign the previous year.

JMU has seen significant growth in its overall Athletics academic performance, which continued in 2024-2025 with a 3.232 department grade point average (GPA). The Dukes posted a 90 Graduation Success Rate to earn recognition from the Sun Belt Conference and also scored 993 on the single-year NCAA Academic Progress Rate (APR) scores to maintain eligibility for the NCAA's academic distribution. Altogether 107 Dukes earned degrees with 80 student-athletes on the President's List and 220 on the Dean's List. For just the sixth time, JMU had multiple Academic All-Americans in a year with football's Jacob Dobbs and women's basketball's Peyton McDaniel earning recognition from the College Sports Communicators (CSC). The Dukes Lead program also set a new standard for community giving with 9,238 hours of service to the community, which ranked ninth nationally among all Division I institutions according to the annual Helper-Helper ranking.

While the Dukes were competing in various venues, important work progressed behind the scenes to position the department for future success. JMU launched the Honors1 program in the Fall of 2024 to advance its offerings in Name, Image and Likeness. Significant worked occurred over the course of the year to position the department for the anticipated House vs. NCAA settlement, which was finalized in June. As a result, the department was able to maintain its approach to promoting a broad-based department of 18 sport programs with each equipped for sustained competitive excellence. The department also added a new General Manager position and restructured a position on its administrative team in order to navigate this new environment. Finally, the JMU Duke Club added a new Student-Athlete Enhancement Fund in order to prioritize funding a structure of financial benefits for student-athletes under the new NCAA system. (Read more – June 10 article, June 17 article, June 24 article)

JMU Athletics and university administration also made significant progress on a new master plan for the university. The plan, with expected completion during the 2025-2026 year, offers a model of possible future growth for the physical footprint of Athletics facilities.

2024-25 By the Numbers/Department Snapshot

475 student-athletes
.548 winning % all sports
166^th in Learfield Director's Cup final standings, fifth in Sun Belt
3 conference titles
5 conference regular season titles
5 NCAA appearances
3.232 Department GPA
90 NCAA Graduation Success Rate
71% Department Federal Success Rate
12 of 17 programs achieved perfect 1,000 single-year APR
993 department single-year APR
80 President's List and 220 Dean's List Student-Athletes
107 Graduates (15 Winter 2024, 81 Spring 2025, 11 anticipated Summer 2025)
5 Sun Belt 1A FAR Academic Excellence Awards (undergrad degree 3.80+), 132 SBC Commissioner's Award (3.5+ GPA previous academic year), 113 SBC Academic Honor Roll (3.0-3.49 GPA).
467 JMU Athletic Director Scholar-Athlete honorees across Fall and Spring
683 student-athletes achieved a 3.0 semester grade point average in at least one semester (includes duplications)
9,238 department record hours of community service, including 9^th of 100+ Division I Helper-Helper schools and second in the Sun Belt
4 All-Americans
2 College Sports Communicators Academic All-American
32 College Sports Communicators Academic All-District
8 Conference Players of the Year
5 Conference Coaches of the Year
4 Conference Rookies/Newcomers of the Year
9 former student-athletes had their first professional opportunities.

Accomplishments

JMU teams have compiled a 182-149-11 cumulative record for a .548 winning percentage. Over the past 10 years combined, the Dukes have won at a .632 clip across all sports, a figure that ranks top 25 nationally among all Division I programs. JMU finished fourth among the 14 Division I institutions in Virginia for 2024-2025.
JMU finished ninth in the standings for The Bubas Cup, which is awarded by the Sun Belt to the best overall institution for competitive success, as measured by Sun Belt-sponsored sports. JMU's score was boosted by first place and championship in women's soccer, first place in men's and women's basketball as well as high finishes in women's tennis and men's golf. The Bubas Cup reflects only Sun Belt sports, thus does not reflect first-place finishes by field hockey and lacrosse.
JMU officially received its letter from the NCAA acknowledging completion of reclassification in late summer of 2024, meaning that the 2024-25 competitive year was officially its first as a full member of the NCAA Division I FBS level.
In December, JMU announced that its swimming and diving program will join the American Conference (formerly AAC) on July 1, 2025 following two years of the Sun Belt sponsoring swim and dive.
James Madison finished 166^th in the final LEARFIELD Director's Cup standings, which measures team qualification and advancement in NCAA Championships. JMU was fifth among Sun Belt schools (Coastal Carolina 111, Texas State 112, Arkansas State 120, Georgia Southern 132) after scoring points in women's soccer, football and lacrosse.
Five teams appeared in national polls in the 2024-2025 school year with men's soccer starting the season ranked 18^th nationally and rising to as high as seventh. Meanwhile football received votes in both the AP and the LBM Coaches Polls. Women's basketball in February received votes in the AP Top 25 poll. Lacrosse began the season ranked 18^th and climbed to as high as 11^th. Baseball also received votes in the preseason National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association poll.
In other pro sports updates, men's soccer forward Evan Southern signed his first professional contract with the Portland Hearts of Pine of the USL League One in January. Later in April, Yanis Lelin was also signed to the Chattanooga Red Wolves. Recent lacrosse All-American Isabella Peterson was added to the roster of the California Palms for the inaugural season of the Women's Lacrosse League (WLL). Four football Dukes earned NFL rookie minicamp invitations: Jacob Dobbs (Ravens), Khairi Manns (Giants), Terrence Spence (Giants), Jordan Taylor (Raiders). Baseball grad Donovan Burke signed his first pro contract in May of 2025 with the Gateway Grizzlies of the Frontier League. Women's basketball's Kseniia Kozlova signed with Basket Lattes Montpellier Association (BLMA) of the La Boulangère Wonderligue (LWBL). In July, Shea Collins of women's soccer signed with Spokane Zephyr FC of the Gainbridge Super League.
The 2025 Fiscal Year saw the JMU Duke Club shatter records-across all categories, highlighted by 23% increase in number of Athletics donors from 8,665 in FY24 to 10,669 in FY25. Prior to the move to FBS JMU had never surpassed 5,000 total donors but has increased by 6,000 in three years at the FBS level. The Annual Fund (Proud and True plus Seat Contributions) closed at a record total of $5.398 million, surpassing $5 million for the first time, while total fundraising eclipsed $7 million for the first time to $7.74 million. As part of the fundraising, JMU Athletics conducted its second annual giving campaign centered around sport specific giving. Titled "Diggin'Dukes," the day produced $479,493 in giving directed largely toward sport programs, which represented an increase of 36% from year one.
In late June, JMU celebrated its James Madison Athletics (JMA) Awards, with top honors going to Male Athlete of the Year Alonza Barnett of football and Female Athlete of the Year Maddie Epke of lacrosse. Casey Carter Scholar-Athlete of the Year honors went to a share of men's soccer's Demitri Turner and men's golf's Vaclav Tichy as well as women's basketball's Peyton McDaniel. Male Rookie of the Year was Bryce Lindsay of men's basketball while Female Rookie of the Year was bestowed upon Ginny Lackey of women's soccer.
In JMU's annual Townebank Royal Rivalry with Old Dominion, JMU and ODU finished in a tie of 11-11 for the 2024-2025 competitive year. With the tie, JMU maintains possession of the trophy as the Dukes won each of the first two rivalry years in 2022-23 and 2023-24.
On June 10, 2024, JMU announced a sellout of 2024 football season tickets for the second straight year with just shy of 9,000 paid tickets. The sellout came one month earlier than the mid-July juncture ahead of the 2023 season. JMU sold out completely (public & student) the first five games of the season, leaving only the final game on Nov. 30 on a holiday weekend as the lone game to fall just short. The final season attendance average of 25,071 per game ranked second all-time in Bridgeforth Stadium season history and ranked second in the 14-team Sun Belt.
Football went 9-4 for the season, finishing third in the Sun Belt East at 4-4 and earning bowl eligibility for the first time in program history. The Dukes defeated Western Kentucky in the Boca Raton Bowl to earn their first bowl win. JMU tallied nine or more wins for the ninth time in the last 11 seasons and had both the most wins and only bowl win in Virginia. JMU received votes in the LBM Coaches Polls for much of the season while also receiving votes in the AP Poll earlier in the year. The early season was highlighted by a 70-50 victory at North Carolina, the most points and largest margin of victory ever for JMU vs. a power conference opponent. Quarterback Alonza Barnett III was named a finalist for the Bill Dudley Award as best player in Virginia. Linebacker Jacob Dobbs was named an Academic All-American, just the sixth in program history and first since 1989. Defensive lineman Eric O'Neill and cornerback Terrence Spence garnered All-America honors. O'Neill, Spence and defensive lineman Khairi Manns were named Group of Five All-Americans and Spence was also selected to appear in the Hula Bowl. JMU football representatives were nominated for multiple national honors:
- Alonza Barnett III was named on Oct. 17 to the midseason watch list for the Maxwell Award as the best player in college football.
- Barnett was also named to the Davey O'Brien Award Midseason Watch List by virtue of his "Great 8" performance against North Carolina, while later being named Co-Quarterback of the Week by the organization. Barnett was named AP National Player of the Week for the effort as well as Walter Camp National Offensive Player of the Week.
- Cornerback Terrence Spence was one of 15 semifinalists for the Paycom Jim Thorpe Award for the nation's top defensive back.
- Linebacker Jacob Dobbs was named to the watch list for the Butkus Award, which is given to the best linebacker in college football. He was named to the All-State Weurffel Trophy watch list for community service contributions by a college football player. Similarly, he was named to the AFCA Good Works Team. He was also named to the preseason "Freaks List" compiled by Bruce Feldman.
- Jacob Dobbs and Ryan Hanson were named to the watch list for the Senior Bowl.
- Punter Ryan Hanson was named to the Ray Guy Award watch list for best punter in the nation.
- Running back George Pettaway was named a candidate for the Paul Hornung Award as the most versatile player in college football following his performance against Southern Miss.
- Running back Tyler Purdy was named as a nominee for the Burlsworth Trophy, given to the top player in college football who started as a walk-on.
JMU's appearance in the Boca Raton Bowl drew a TV audience of 1.22 million in a non-traditional 5:30 p.m. time slot on ESPN. That placed JMU's bowl appearance ahead of nine other bowls, including several with power-four or upper-tier group of five programs. Overall, JMU was selected for national TV for seven of 13 games for a total of 19 national TV games in three seasons (out of 37 games) of FBS football.
Men's soccer went 8-5-6 overall and finished sixth in the Sun Belt. The Dukes knocked off third-seeded UCF before ending their season in the league semifinals. JMU was picked fifth in the Sun Belt preseason poll and began the season ranked 18^th nationally. Sebastian Conlon was honored as Sun Belt Goalkeeper of the Year, while Luca Nikolai was also named Defensive Player of the Year.
Women's soccer compiled a 12-4-5 overall record and earned the regular season title in the Sun Belt before then going on to win the league championship. JMU's setback at Ohio State in the NCAA Championship was its first loss since Sept. 5. The Dukes started 1-3-2 before rebounding to go 9-0-3 the rest of the regular season, a 12-match streak without a loss dating back to Sept. 5. JMU was picked second in the Sun Belt preseason poll. Freshman Ginny Lackey was named both the Player of the Year and Freshman of the Year in the Sun Belt, while Josh Walters, Sr. was named Coach of the Year. Lackey (First Team), Amanda Attanasi (Second Team) and Lexi Vanderlinden (Second Team) each collected All-Region honors. Lackey was named the first semifinalist in JMU women's soccer history for the prestigious Hermann Trophy given to the best player in college soccer. She was recognized as a Third Team All-American by United Soccer Coaches and a First Team Freshman All-American by TopDrawerSoccer. Vanderlinden added Scholar All-America honors.
Volleyball finished 11-16 for the season and third in the Sun Belt East. JMU was selected to finish first in the East in the Sun Belt preseason poll but was deeply impacted by injuries.
Field hockey captured the Mid-American Conference regular season title in its first season in the league and finished at 14-6 overall with a loss in the MAC title game. JMU was picked to finish third in the league's preseason poll. The regular season title for the Dukes clinched the right to host the MAC Championship in early November of 2025. Alice Roeper was named MAC Player of the Year and Christy Morgan added Coach of the Year accolades. Roeper added First Team All-Region in the South while Skyler Brown and Cassidy Strittmatter each added Second Team All-Region.
Cross country placed seventh in the Sun Belt Championship, which was highlighted by Katherine Lawson earning Silver medal honors in the individual standings. Lawson earned the individual title a few weeks earlier at the Paul Short Invitational. The Dukes advanced to postseason competition and finished 24^th of 34 squads at the NCAA Southeast Regional.
Men's basketball finished at 20-12 overall and 13-5 in the Sun Belt to finish in a share of the regular season championship after being picked to finish second in the Sun Belt preseason poll. The Dukes were 3-4 in the league before reeling off 10 consecutive conference wins to vault into the first-place position. JMU reached 20 wins for the third consecutive season, which was the first such achievement since 1992-1994, with only five total 20-win seasons during the 30 years in between. Mark Freeman was named one of 30 finalists for the Riley Wallace Award as the most impactful transfer in the country. He was also added as a finalist for the Lou Henson Award as the nation's best mid-major player. Freeman was the league's Newcomer of the Year, while Bryce Lindsay was named Rookie of the Year, an honor he also collected for the state of Virginia from VaSID.
Women's basketball set records for overall wins (30) and regular season wins (27) with a 30-6 campaign and completed an unblemished league record at 18-0, with three of the four overall losses to top 10 teams nationally. The Dukes started receiving votes in the AP national poll on Feb. 17. The Dukes achieved at least 23 wins for the 18^th time in the last 20 years. Peyton McDaniel was named SBC Player of the Year, Sean O'Regan Coach of the Year and Ro Scott Sixth Woman of the Year. JMU was chosen as the preseason favorite in the Sun Belt preseason poll. Peyton McDaniel was named a First Team Academic All-American, the first in JMU women's basketball history and just the sixth in the history of JMU Athletics.
JMU averaged 4,534 fans per game for men's basketball to rank third in the Sun Belt Conference. The women averaged 2,432 fans per game, which led the Sun Belt by nearly 500 fans per game.
Swimming and diving captured the final Sun Belt Championship while also going 2-2 in dual meets. The title was the seventh conference championship for the program in the last eight years and precedes a move to the American Conference for 2025-26. Jess Pryne shared SBC Championship High Points for Swimmer honors while Alexa Hollaway was the leading point scorer among divers. The championship performance included 13 gold medals (2 diving, 8 individual swimming, 3 relay swims), five NCAA "B" Cut standards and seven SBC Meet records. Five divers advanced to compete in the NCAA Zone meet. Holloway was named SBC Diver of the Year while Sarah Pauley was named Newcomer of the Year.
Men's golf finished fifth in the 14-team Sun Belt Championship, the first team outside of the four that qualify for match play. JMU highlighted its fall season with a second-place finish of 14 teams at the Virtues Intercollegiate in Ohio. Daniel Cheng and Vaclav Tichy each had third-place finishes individually in the fall. JMU also went on to finish runner up in the Seahawk Intercollegiate in March, with Tichy grabbing second individually.
Women's golf's placed 11^th in the 13-team Sun Belt Championship. Their season was highlighted by a runner-up team finish at the Great River Cup match play tournament in Mississippi in February.
Women's tennis went 10-13 during the regular season. The Dukes advanced to the semifinals of the Sun Belt Championship. JMU finished sixth in the ITA Atlantic Region rankings.
Men's tennis went 7-12 during the regular season. The Dukes qualified for the eighth and final spot in the Sun Belt Championship on the final day of the regular season. JMU highlighted its Fall slate with one of its best fall results in recent years, winning four flights at the Wake Forest Invitational.
Softball went 28-26 and finished ninth in the Sun Belt. After an 0-9 start in league play, the Dukes turned it around to win the final five league series consecutively and rode that momentum to a runner up finish in the championship. Payton List was named Second Team All-Region.
Lacrosse went 14-5 overall, capturing the American Conference regular season title and postseason championship before then advancing to the First Round of the NCAA Championships. JMU opened the season ranked 18^th in both the US Lacrosse and IWLCA preseason polls and climbed to as high as 11^th. Maddie Epke was a preseason selection to the Tewaaraton Award watch list and later named one of the 25 nominees by the end of the season. She was a First Team All-American and Attack of the Year in the American. Atanya Moore was named Goalkeeper of the Year in the American while JMU's coaches were named Staff of the Year as the Dukes won their first American title.
JMU baseball finished 17-38 and 13^th in the Sun Belt.
Indoor track and field placed 10^th at the Sun Belt Championship. The Dukes went on to also finish runner up at the 30-team ECAC Indoor Championships.
JMU placed 11^th in the 13-team Sun Belt outdoor track and field championships. Holly Mpassy was the top finisher for the Dukes earning 10.5 of the squad's 30 points.
JMU cheerleading finished fourth out of 13 teams in the UCA College Nationals Small Coed Division IA Game Day category, which was a jump from 15^th the previous year.
JMU announced various contract extensions for head coaches: Sean O'Regan as women's basketball head coach through the 2030-31 season, Joshua Walters, Sr. for women's soccer through 2027, Christy Morgan for field hockey through 2027.
JMU inducted its Hall of Fame Class of 2024 on Sept. 6 with a group featuring: softball pitcher Meredith Felts Rowland (2006-2009), women's basketball head coach Betty Jaynes (1970-1982), women's soccer forward/midfielder Annie Lowry Young (2004-2007), two-sport athlete Julie Martinez Bowles (field hockey 1996-1999, lacrosse (1997-2000), football head coach Mickey Matthews (1999-2013) and baseball infielder/outfielder Greg Miller (1998-2001). The class also includes the fourth team to be inducted into the JMU Athletics Hall of Fame as the 2004 football national championship team was recognized.
At the Sun Belt's Fall Honors Banquet, JMU faculty member, Dr. Geary Albright, was selected as the lone winner of the Sun Belt Faculty of the Year Award. JMU also received recognition for its student-athlete department-wide graduation success rate.
The Sun Belt also issued its annual student-athlete academic awards in the Fall of 2024. Five JMU student-athletes earned 1A FAR Academic Excellence Awards for earning their undergraduate degree with a 3.80 GPA or higher: Payton McDaniel, Miranda Stanhope, Katelyn Morgan, Ellie Johnson and Abigale White. In addition, 132 collected Commissioner's Award honors (3.5+ GPA previous academic year) and another 113 on Academic Honor Roll (3.0-3.49 GPA previous academic year).
80 student-athletes were named to President's List and 220 to Dean's List across both semesters of 2024-25 academic year with 46 instances of a perfect 4.0 grade point average for either semester and nine student-athletes with a perfect 4.0 for the full academic year. Altogether 107 student-athletes graduated (15 in fall 2024, 81 in Spring 2025 and 11 anticipated in Summer 2025). The department posted an overall GPA of 3.232. As part of that average, there were 683 total semesters of a 3.0 GPA registered by JMU student-athletes across the fall and spring. A total of 198 student-athletes were named to the JMU Athletic Director Scholar-Athlete List in the Fall with 269 in the Spring for a grand total of 467.
A total of 32 student-athletes were honored as College Sports Communicators (formerly CoSIDA) academic All-District selections. Jacob Dobbs and Peyton McDaniel became the 31^st and 32^nd Academic All-America honor winners in department history. It was the seventh overall honor for football and third for women's basketball. McDaniel is only the sixth First Team Academic All-American ever for JMU Athletics.
According to the NCAA's annual release of graduation data in November, JMU posted the highest federal graduation rate in the Sun Belt both among student-athletes (71%) and among all students (82%). JMU's Graduation Success Rate (GSR) of 90 tied with two other schools atop the Sun Belt. Six programs posted a perfect 100 GSR: men's tennis, men's golf, women's golf, lacrosse, softball and volleyball.
JMU Athletics posted a 993 single-year APR score, which exceeds the NCAA revenue distribution requirement of 985 and ranks among the best scores in department history. Twelve of 17 JMU programs had a perfect single-year score of 1,000. Men's golf, women's golf, volleyball, men's soccer and softball were the five programs to achieve perfect multi-year scores, which was the highest number in the Sun Belt. Both golfs were the fourth year in a row while volleyball was a repeat 1,000.

The JMU Student-Athlete Leadership Program (Dukes Lead) executed many team-based programs to enhance the holistic growth and development of our student-athletes along the following topics: characteristics of a good leader, communication through conflict, emotional intelligence, growth mindset, habit systems, inclusive leadership, and resilience. Dukes Lead staff issued 100 DiSC behavioral assessments across sport programs, facilitating five workshops to provide an opportunity for participants to learn more about their behavioral styles and how their individual styles come together in a team environment. Staff welcomed the first cohort of 18 student-athletes to the RISE Women's Leadership Academy; an elite program designed to encourage and empower female student-athletes at James Madison University.
As a part of Dukes Lead, JMU student-athletes shattered department records by participating in 9,238 community service hours from May 1, 2024, through April 30, 2025, attending 4,912 unique commitments of service.
- JMU ranked 9^th in community impact among all NCAA Division I programs partnering with Helper Helper (2^nd in Sun Belt).
- Based on the Helper Helper annual report, 8 JMU programs had top 10 finishes within their sport:
  - Field Hockey – 2^nd (seventh straight top-10)
  - Football – 8^th (first top-10 in program history)
  - Women's Golf – 7^th
  - Lacrosse – 10^th (fourth straight top-10)
  - Men's Soccer – 10^th (fourth straight top-10)
  - Softball – 6^th (fourth straight top-10)
  - Men's Tennis – 9^th
  - Volleyball – 2^nd (third straight top-10)

As part of a new initiative, a representative of SAAC attended every university Board of Visitors meeting for 2024-2025.
Cassidy Strittmatter of field hockey, Esther St. Germain of track and field and Jamie Swartz of women's soccer represented JMU at the 2024 Sun Belt SAAC Summer Summit in July of 2024 in New Orleans.
Carole Miller (women's basketball) applied to and was selected for the NCAA Emerging Leaders Seminar-in Indianapolis in February of 2025.
Alonza Barnett III of football, Phillip Harris of football, Adanya Morris of lacrosse and Bree Robinson of women's basketball attended the Black Student-Athlete Summit in Chicago in May of 2025.
Dukes Lead and SAAC collaborated with The Hidden Opponent, Dukes Excel, and Hilinski's Hope to participate in the annual Student-Athlete Mental Health Week. During a full week of programming and activities, SAAC distributed gear donning a green ribbon for over 10 mental health awareness games.

Jenn Phillips, senior associate AD and senior women's administrator, earned an appointment as the Sun Belt Conference representative to the NCAA Division I Council, which includes a subcommittee appointment to the Strategic Vision and Oversight Committee.
JMU launched the "Honors1" program, "A Unified NIL Approach," as a way to provide comprehensive NIL opportunities to student-athletes. The program includes NIL education efforts, the creation of the JMU Dukes Exchange to connect athletes and businesses for opportunities, the awarding of priority points for gifts to the Montpelier Collective and more. As part of its emphasis on NIL and the department's transition into a post-NCAA vs. House Settlement environment, JMU joined a partnership with the new Teamworks GM program and hired former administrator Cliff Wood back as General Manager.
JMU Athletics partnered with the overall university master plan working alongside Moseley, Sasaki and Populous to update the Athletics footprint of the future master plan with anticipated final review and approval by the Board of Visitors in early Fall 2025.
In facility projects, JMU announced a renovation to premium seating options at Bridgeforth Stadium, with four new field-level suite areas in the South End Zone as well as new chairback seating in the center of the East Side stands.

Award Lists

Conference Champions (3)

Women's Soccer
Swimming & Diving
Lacrosse

Conference Regular-Season Champions (5)

Women's Soccer
Field Hockey
Women's Basketball
Men's Basketball
Lacrosse

NCAA Appearances (5)

Cross Country
Football (bowl game, not NCAA sanctioned)
Women's Soccer
Swimming & Diving
Lacrosse

All-Americans (4)

Ginny Lackey – Women's Soccer
Eric O'Neill – Football
Terrence Spence – Football
Maddie Epke - Lacrosse

Conference Players of the Year (8)

Ginny Lackey – Women's Soccer
Alice Roper – Field Hockey
Sebastian Conlon – Men's Soccer (Goalkeeper)
Luca Nikolai – Men's Soccer (Defensive)
Peyton McDaniel – Women's Basketball
Alexa Holloway – Diving
Maddie Epke – Lacrosse (Attack)
Adanya Moyer – Lacrosse (Goalkeeper)

Conference Coaches of the Year (5)

Josh Walters, Sr. – Women's Soccer
Christy Morgan – Field Hockey
Sean O'Regan – Women's Basketball
Dane Pedersen – Swimming & Diving
Coaching Staff - Lacrosse

Conference Rookies/Newcomers of the Year (4)

Ginny Lackey – Women's Soccer (Freshman)
Mark Freeman – Men's Basketball (Newcomer)
Bryce Lindsay – Men's Basketball (Freshman)
Sarah Pauley – Swimming & Diving (Newcomer)

Sun Belt Elite Award (2)

Katherine Lawson – Cross Country
Amanda Attanasi – Women's Soccer

VaSID Players of the Year (1)

Alonza Barnett III – Football (Offensive)

VaSID Coaches of the Year (1)

Bob Chesney – Football

VaSID Rookie of the Year (2)

Ginny Lackey – Women's Soccer
Bryce Lindsay – Men's Basketball

College Sports Communicators Academic All-America (2)

Jacob Dobbs – Football
Peyton McDaniel – Women's Basketball

College Sports Communicators Academic All-District (32)

Amanda Attanasi – Women's Soccer
Lexi Vanderlinden – Women's Soccer
Jordan Yang – Women's Soccer
Chay Strine – Men's Soccer
Demitri Turner – Men's Soccer
Jaydyn Clemmer – Volleyball
Miette Veldman – Volleyball
Julia McNeley – Volleyball
Jacob Dobbs – Football
Peyton McDaniel – Women's Basketball
Kseniia Kozlova – Women's Basketball
Grace Bousum – Swimming & Diving
Alexa Holloway – Swimming & Diving
Alex Volk – Swimming & Diving
Riley Bridgman – Swimming & Diving
Kate Vitolo – Swimming & Diving
Harrison Lee – Men's Tennis
Elena Kravleva – Women's Tennis
Hope Moulin – Women's Tennis
Kirsten Fleet – Softball
Madison Edwards – Softball
Todd Mozoki – Baseball
Max Kuhle – Baseball
Kyle Langley – Baseball
Garrett Kuhla – Men's Golf
Vaclav Tichy – Men's Golf
Alice Roeper – Field Hockey
Cassidy Strittmatter – Field Hockey
Maggie Clark – Lacrosse
Savannah Derey – Lacrosse
Carolyn Thistlewaite – Lacrosse
Tatum Walsh – Women's Golf

Other Awards (6)

Shea Collins – Sun Belt Championship Most Outstanding Player
Jess Pryne – Sun Belt Championship Top Meet Scorer Swimmer (tied)
Alexa Hollaway – Sun Belt Championship Top Meet Scorer Diver
Ro Scott – Sun Belt Sixth Woman of the Year Women's Basketball
Bryce Lindsay – Sun Belt Sixth Man of the Year Men's Basketball
Maddie Epke – American Championship Most Outstanding Player

Calendar

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Scoreboard

Calendar

Completed Event: Field Hockey at American on September 7, 2025 , Win , 4, to, 1

Completed Event: Volleyball versus Lehigh on September 7, 2025 , Loss , 1, to, 3 , (28-26, 16-25, 28-30, 21-25)

Completed Event: Women's Golf versus The Southern on September 8, 2025 , , 5th of 13

Completed Event: Men's Golf versus Whirlwind Invitational on September 8, 2025 , , t-5th of 12

Completed Event: Men's Soccer at Georgetown on September 9, 2025 , Loss , 0, to, 4

Upcoming Event: Field Hockey versus Towson on September 12, 2025 at 5 p.m.

Upcoming Event: Volleyball at Milwaukee on September 12, 2025 at 5:30 p.m. ET (4:30 p.m. CT)

Upcoming Event: Women's Tennis at Tribe Invitational on September 13, 2025

Upcoming Event: Volleyball at Marquette on September 13, 2025 at 7 p.m. ET (6 p.m. CT)

Upcoming Event: Women's Soccer versus Coastal Carolina on September 13, 2025 at 7 p.m.

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JMU Athletics Celebrates Successes of 2024-2025 Year

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