EMORY, Va. – The Emory & Henry College Department of Athletics and Vice President for Athletics Dr. Anne Crutchfield are excited to announce that the College will add women's lacrosse as a varsity sport for the 2023-24 academic year. E&H also has made plans to begin competition in men's lacrosse in the spring of 2025. The Wasps will compete in both sports as members of the South Atlantic Conference (SAC).
"We could not be more excited to add men's and women's lacrosse," said Crutchfield. "Lacrosse is currently one of the fastest-growing sports in the United States and interest in our region has increased exponentially. Given the SAC's reputation as one of the premier lacrosse conferences in NCAA Division II, now is the time for Emory & Henry to add lacrosse to our list of athletics offerings."
Crutchfield has also announced that Tom Flynn has been selected as Emory & Henry's inaugural Head Women's Lacrosse Coach. Flynn arrives from Montreat College in Western North Carolina where he spent the past three seasons. He inherited a team that had won just two games in its first four years of existence and propelled the Cavaliers to 17 wins in his final two seasons, including a 12-7 mark in 2022 and a berth in the Appalachian Athletic Conference Tournament Semifinals. He has previously written about the sport of lacrosse for The Wall Street Journal, The New York Times, and Forbes.
"Tom Flynn is certainly the right coach to build E&H's new women's lacrosse program," Crutchfield added. "Tom is highly respected both on and off the lacrosse field. His competitive success at Montreat combined with his ability to recruit high-caliber student-athletes made him the obvious choice to lead this new program."
In addition to setting the program record for wins last year, Flynn coached the AAC Player of the Year and NAIA First-Team All-American, Kate Gauntlett, who led all levels of college lacrosse with 114 goals scored. Additionally, the Cavaliers saw Mina Hicks named AAC Freshman of the Year as part of a total of four spots on the all-league teams. For his efforts, Flynn was selected as the league's Coach of the Year by his colleagues.
"I'm very excited to lead the women's lacrosse team at Emory & Henry," said Flynn. "With its excellent academics, facilities, and the support network we have for student-athletes here on campus, we'll create a great opportunity for players to succeed in the classroom and on the field."
Emory & Henry previously sponsored a men's lacrosse club team on campus in the late 1970s and early 1980s, and Virginia has long produced top prospects in the women's game and served as the host of the first intercollegiate women's lacrosse game in history in 1941.
"The E&H lacrosse alums are thrilled that the College has decided to field varsity men's and women's lacrosse teams," commented Bill Naehle, Emory & Henry class of 1982. "When we played back in the late 1970s and early 80s, most teams in Virginia were club teams with the exception of Virginia, Roanoke and Washington and Lee. We played many of them and held our own. Now E&H will compete at the Division II level in the SAC, how exciting is that‽"
In February of 2022, Emory & Henry announced plans to build a multi-sport complex along the I-81 corridor which is set to serve as the home to the soccer, lacrosse, and track & field programs.
With these additions, E&H increases its varsity sport offering to 29 with 12 NCAA men's sports (baseball, basketball, cross country, football, golf, lacrosse, soccer, swimming, tennis, indoor track & field, outdoor track & field, wrestling),13 NCAA women's sports (basketball, cross country, golf, lacrosse, rugby, soccer, softball, swimming, tennis, indoor track & field, outdoor track & field, volleyball, wrestling), the Intermont Equestrian IDA & IHSA teams and competitive cheerleading & dance squads.
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