From the Quad

Good Afternoon Demon Deacon Nation,

It's taken me a couple days to catch up in the office after a very busy weekend of Deacon action - I actually started this letter on Sunday from 30,000 feet flying to and from San Antonio to watch Coach Jen Hoover and the women's basketball program in the NCAA Tournament for the first time since 1988. Last night's baseball win at Elon gave me the burst of energy to knock out this edition of From the Quad and we start with a historic announcement moments ago by Dean Julie Freischlag, MD and Atrium Health CEO Eugene A. Woods unveiling the location of the new Wake Forest School of Medicine campus in Charlotte! Click here for all the details as the Queen City gets another big dose of DEACTOWN!

Additionally, we have a full weekend of competition forthcoming with a home field hockey match at Kentner Stadium at noon on Saturday and a pair of home soccer matches on Saturday night (men vs. Louisville at 7 p.m.) and Sunday afternoon (women vs. Elon at 2 p.m.). Additionally, Coach Jeff Wyshner and our women's tennis Demon Deacons are home on Sunday at Jim Leighton Courts on Sunday at 1 p.m.

And now let's look back to the big moments in Deacon Sports we just witnessed!

Back in the Big Dance!
I have been lucky in my 28-year college athletics career to be part of lots of NCAA men's and women's basketball tournaments. And despite the abnormalities of the pandemic, walking into the venue to watch my school in the tournament for the first time in years, hearing the NCAA arena "theme" music common to all events, seeing the blue patch on our student-athlete's jerseys and the excitement on their faces gave me goosebumps. Although the outcome was not what we wanted, it was outstanding to be with Demon Deacon great Dearica Hamby and our student-athlete families and fans to cheer on our Deacs. Seeing the pictures of students out on the lower quad watching the game at Fireside on Manchester Plaza was another reminder of how much fun NCAA tournament basketball is for all members of a University family.

I am proud of Coach Hoover's work building our women's program and I am equally excited about the plan and vision of Coach Steve Forbes as he goes about the task of rebuilding the Demon Deacon men's basketball team into a perennial contender. I can't wait for Deacon Nation to go dancing again soon.

More NCAA Championship News
Speaking of rebuilding efforts, last week Coach John Hayes led Wake Forest's nationally-ranked men's cross country team to a 15th place finish at the NCAA Cross Country Championship led by junior Zach Facioni who earned All-America honors. Athletics staff welcomed the Demon Deacons back to Winston-Salem after the program's best finish at the national meet since 1996!

Additionally, congratulations to both Coach Hayes and Zach on being named the USTFCCCA Southeast Region Men's Coach and Athlete of the Year, respectively.

With two individual ACC Championships (Tony Jones, Anna Bush) at the conference indoor meet and three student-athletes (Bush, Aleeya Hutchins, Hannah Brookover) earning Second Team All-America accolades at the NCAA Indoor Championships, the Demon Deacons' spring is off to a winning start!

Demon Deacons Big Weekend Includes Big 4 Triumphs and More
Wake Forest women's golf continued its fast start this spring season with a Big 4 Championship last Saturday! The Deacons downed North Carolina and reigning NCAA Champions Duke in match play and junior Vanessa Knecht took home the medal for the stroke play portion of the day. Additionally, sophomores Rachel Kuehn and Lauren Walsh were recently named to the Spring 2021 ANNIKA Award Watch List.

Coach Jen Averill's field hockey team went down to Durham and gave the Devils their due last Friday, outscoring Duke 4-1. Wake Forest has now climbed to No. 11 in the National Field Hockey Coaches Association Poll, the 20th-straight NFHCA poll appearance for the Deacs.

On Saturday afternoon in Raleigh, our women's soccer program beat Big 4 rival NC State thanks to an overtime "golden goal" by Ryanne Brown. Later that night up in South Bend, the men's side had a thrilling comeback win over Notre Dame and have continued its lengthy run in the national rankings, now topping 81-straight weeks in the United Soccer Coaches poll.

Men's and women's tennis are in a dominating stretch! Coach Jeff Wyshner and the women's

team have challenged themselves through the first two months of the season, as nine of Wake Forest's matches have come against current ITA top-50 ranked opponents. The Deacs beat No. 13 Georgia Tech here in Winston-Salem and have won five of their last six matches, including a win on Sunday over Boston College. Coach Tony Bresky and the men's tennis team defeated No. 17 Georgia last Friday and came home to Jim Leighton Courts on Sunday and downed Charlotte and Furman. The No. 13 Demon Deacons are an astounding 76-3 record in home matches since the start of the 2016-17 season.

It has been fun to welcome back fans, in a limited attendance capacity to home events. For ticket and health and safety information visit GoDeacs.com/tickets. See you all in DEACTOWN!

In addition to all the great competition, health and safety protocols have now made it possible to return to Yellow Operating Status and some exciting news has been shared for the Class of 2021!

2021 Commencement Ceremonies Announced
Thanks to Wake Forest students, faculty and staff compliance with COVID protocols and the thoughtful guidance of President Hatch and our entire University leadership, Wake Forest is planning to safely hold 2021 Commencement undergraduate ceremonies in person on Sunday, May 16. It will be exciting to celebrate the perseverance of the Class of 2021!

On GoDeacs.com and all our social media accounts we'll be shining the spotlight on our Demon Deacons who are set to earn their degrees!

2021 Wake 'N Shake
We are in the midst of Wake 'N Shake, an outstanding initiative that started in 2006 to benefit the Brian Piccolo Cancer Research Fund. Last year, more than 1,000 students, faculty and staff raised more than $380,000, dancing virtually due to this pandemic!

The events of this week will culminate in an hour-long online streaming event of the traditional conclusion on Saturday, March 27. Throughout the week, dancers are hearing from champions via recorded speeches. Check out @wfuwakenshake for content and learn more about this year's theme! Each day will include a virtual challenge to engage participants and a partnership with a Winston-Salem restaurant or business.

Performance Staff Promotions and Additions
Thanks to the generosity of Deacon Club members and Wake Forest fans, our pursuit of a World Class Student-Athlete Experience continues with promotions and new staff members in the critical areas of strength and conditioning and sports medicine.

This quote from Sr. Associate AD, Athletics Health Care Administrator Murphy Grant in the release was excellent in explaining these six individuals impacts.

"Lindsay Gately, Bryant Harper and Ken Knox all bring outstanding experience to Wake Forest and will be major assets to our staff and each program they are working with as we move forward. With that, Kennedy Hill, Brendan Nave and Nick Zinani have done an outstanding job with our student-athletes and coaches and are well-deserving of their promotions. I am proud to work with this group of professionals and our entire sports performance and athletic training staff."

Welcome to Wake Forest, Daren Koudele, Jake LaRavia and Carolien Millenaar!
It's been an exciting week of announcements with two student-athletes and one new senior staff member set to join our Wake Forest community.

Daren Koudele, Wake Forest's Senior Associate AD for Compliance & Administration, brings proven relationship building skills, expertise in intercollegiate athletics and outstanding knowledge within the ever-evolving world of compliance. He will work tirelessly to ensure we meet our goal of providing a World Class Student-Athlete Experience. We are thrilled to welcome Daren and his wife, Joanna, to Wake Forest.

Our Demon Deacons men's basketball program announced the addition of Indiana State transfer, Jake LaRavia. Coach Steve Forbes described Jake as a multi-dimensional player who possesses outstanding size and skill. He earned Second Team All-Missouri Valley Conference last season and was also named an MVC Scholar-Athlete Second Team honoree.

Finally, the Wake Forest track and field team bolstered their women's distance running group with the addition of South Alabama graduate transfer Carolien Millenaar. Millenaar, a Sørvad, Denmark native, is a South Alabama school record holder in the steeplechase and has earned All-Sun Belt Conference honors in multiple events the past few years. Academically, Millenaar was a biology major at South Alabama and will enroll in the sustainability program.

Jake and Carolien are great examples of how Wake Forest can utilize the transfer portal to find unique talents who will strengthen our programs, in the classroom and competitively.

New Wake Forest Center to Study African American Experience
Wake Forest University has established a new center to give a critical, intellectual voice to the experience of African Americans through research-driven initiatives, programming and community facing work. School of Divinity Associate Professor, Derek Hicks, will serve as Director of the Center for Research, Engagement and Collaboration in African American Life (RECAAL), which plans to offer the campus and Winston-Salem residents symposiums, faculty seminars and a lecture series.

From the Quad Big 3
As we close this 45th edition of From the Quad, here are today's Big 3 ways to help:

Sign up for the daily Deacon Sports Xtra! Start your morning each day with a free feature story from Wake Forest Athletics.
Download and listen to the free Deac2Deac Podcast hosted by Kevin Smith available now on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Soundcloud, YouTube and GoDeacs.com/Watch. Guests through three episodes have been LaChina Robinson ('02), Mit Shah ('91) and myself!
Secure your place in DEACTOWN by buying your 2021 football season tickets!

Thanks for your support, please continue to wear your mask, get your shot when it's your turn and as always, send me your comments, ideas, and questions to me at wfuad@wfu.edu.

Go Deacs!

John Currie
Director of Athletics

Wake Forest Athletics

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