From The Quad

Presented by Atrium Health Wake Forest Baptist

Good Morning Demon Deacon Nation!

Springtime in DEACTOWN means playing for championships and the mission continues today!
Coach Jeff Wyshner and our women's tennis team are on the courts this morning against Vanderbilt in NCAA First Round action in Columbus, Ohio. The winner will take on the victor of today's Ohio State/Toledo contest tomorrow at noon. The Demon Deacons have now made eight consecutive NCAA Tournament appearances and we are one of just 21 schools in the country to accomplish this feat! You can watch the live streams on Ohio State's website and live results can be found here. With that, congratulations are in order for the No. 33-ranked singles player in the country, Casie Wooten, who has qualified for the NCAA individual tournament and Brooke Killingsworth who won the ACC Postgraduate Scholarship a few months back.

Here in Winston-Salem, our sixth-seeded men's tennis team hosts No. 21 Arizona State at 5 p.m. in the NCAA Tournament second round as Coach Tony Bresky's team marked their 11th-straight NCAA appearance with a win over South Carolina State yesterday. Tickets for today's match are available and just $5 for kids and $10 for adults - if weather threatens we'll move from outside on the Leighton Team Courts to the Indoor Tennis Center for the match.

The Deacs are fired up coming off a stellar regular season and semifinal appearance in the 2024 ACC Tournament. Individually, Filippo Moroni, DK Suresh Ekambaram and Holden Koons recently earned All-ACC accolades and Wake Forest men's tennis has now tallied 35 All-ACC honorees during Coach Tony Bresky's transformational tenure in Winston-Salem.

Meanwhile, a few hundred yards away from the Wake Forest tennis complex, our No. 13-ranked Diamond Deacs return to the friendly confines of David F. Couch Ballpark (weather permitting) to lead off a three-game series with Western Carolina. Advance tickets for first pitch tonight at 6 p.m. and the doubleheader tomorrow beginning at 1 p.m. are just $5 and it's cheaper and faster to buy online before you get to the ballpark. Coach Tom Walter's ballclub finished up a road swing earlier this week with victories over App State and High Point.

Next up in this eight-game homestand is North Carolina A&T on Tuesday at 6 p.m. and No. 4 Clemson next weekend. The Deacs captured a pair of top-10 wins at Couch Ballpark a few weeks ago downing No. 8 Florida State in the opening and closing games of the series. The second game of the FSU series was our Epilepsy Awareness Game benefiting the Epilepsy Alliance of Pennsylvania and Ryan Lloyd Foundation. We lost Ryan, a former Demon Deacon, to epilepsy a year ago, and many others including 2023 MLB first rounder Rhett Lowder and current standout Nick Kurtz have family and friends battling epilepsy so this cause truly resonates within our baseball program and Wake Forest family.

Now before we get to the updates, let's kick off Mother's Day WEEK with early Happy Mother's Day wishes to all the moms in the Wake Forest family, including my sweet wife, Mary Lawrence and my mother, Madeline. For last minute gift ideas, try WakeForestShop.com or bring Mom to Couch Ballpark for Deacon baseball as we host Clemson at noon next Sunday, May 12.

Wake Forest, Winston-Salem Set to Host NCAA Women's Golf at Bermuda Run Country Club
The women's golf regional at Bermuda Run tees off Monday, but first let's again congratulate Coach Kim Lewellen, her staff and our student-athletes on winning Wake Forest's 57th ACC Championship a few weeks ago in Wilmington. Achieving Goal No. 4 – Win Championships – is hard to do! It was fun to walk the course (despite the rain and a few delays) and witness our team tough out the conditions to capture the crown! This video of two-time national coach of the year Kim Lewellen speaking to her team after the title perfectly encapsulates the perseverance and grit our group showed to bring home the conference crown.

Recently named ACC Golfer of the Month, Rachel Kuehn captured the individual ACC title by winning the stroke-play portion of the event by three strokes with a 10-under score of 206 across three rounds. Rachel has now won seven individual career titles, which ranks third in program history, and she joined her mother, Wake Forest Sports Hall of Famer Brenda Corrie-Kuehn, as an ACC Women's Golf Individual Champion. They are the first-known mother (1986) – daughter (2024) championship duo in ACC history!

Our squad dominated the Atlantic Coast Conference awards announcements too as four players earned All-ACC honors and freshman Macy Pate won Freshman of the Year recognition, while Coach Kim Lewellen is the ACC Coach of the Year for the third time!

Starting on Monday, Winston-Salem, Wake Forest University and Bermuda Run Country Club are proud to serve as one of six regional host sites for the 2024 Division I NCAA Women's Golf Championships! Twelve of the top teams and six individuals are featured at each site. We welcome Texas, Ole Miss, Mississippi State, UCF, South Florida, Tennessee, Oregon State, North Texas, Delaware, Charleston Southern and Navy to Winston-Salem, as well as six individuals competing include Lauren Olivares and Isabel Amezacuna (NC State), Louise Reau (Georgia Southern), Kendall Turner (James Madison), Christin Eisenbeiss (North Florida), and Maria Beltran (Fairfield).

The top five teams and the top individual on a non-advancing team from each regional will advance to the NCAA Championships at La Costa Resort in Carlsbad, California, May 17-22.

Admission is FREE for everyone and we're expecting many Wake supporters, community members and golf fans from across the country for this world class event. For Wake Forest fan hospitality information, please contact Assistant Director for Donor Experience Nicole Adams (nadams@wfu.edu) for more information. Stay tuned to GoDeacs.com and @WakeWGolf for more information around this event and how to follow along with live scoring, etc.

Before we move on, let's thank general manager Brian Meeks, director of golf Mary Thomas, grounds superintendent Scott Fallon and the entire staff at Bermuda Run Country Club. Additionally, our Wake Forest Athletics staff, led by sport administrator and Sr. Associate AD Ellie Shannon and many support staff members began their planning literally years ago with our community partners and aforementioned colleagues at Bermuda Run to ensure this is a successful event for the competitors and fans alike.

Opportunities to bring new folks into our community is something that we're ensuring to take advantage of as we strive each day to bring Value to Wake Forest, Winston-Salem and Triad Communities. Let's keep sharing our collective story about how we're the fastest growing brand in the Power 4 with 2.7 million fans worldwide!

Men's Golf Set for Austin Regional; Michael Brennan Captures Wake's 200th ACC Title!
After a 5-hole playoff, senior Michael Brennan captured his second-straight ACC Individual Championship a few weeks ago at the Charlotte Country Club. His win marked the 24th Wake Forest individual ACC title and he joins Deacs Ronnie Thomas (1959 & 1960) and Scott Hoch (1977 & 1978) as three of the just five golfers in conference history who've gone back-to-back.

On that note, with Rachel's aforementioned conference crown, Wake Forest became just the third school to ever have a male and female claim the individual ACC conference title in the same year, joining Duke (1999, 2005) and North Carolina (2003).

With that, the titles from Rachel and Michael along with Tommy Kitchell's shot put crown at the ACC Indoor Track & Field Championships back in February, Wake Forest has now achieved 200 individual ACC titles across our storied history!

Speaking of track, our programs are off this weekend as they prepare for the ACC Outdoor Championships next weekend in Atlanta! Stay tuned to GoDeacs.com and @WakeTrack for updates and information.

Back to golf, our men's team was selected to the Austin NCAA Regional and will compete at the University of Texas Golf Club May 13-15. This is Wake Forest's 25th-straight NCAA Regional appearance and Wake has the highest total of appearances in the national event among our ACC colleagues with 47. Stay tuned to GoDeacs.com and @WakeMGolf for more information and admission is free so if you are in Texas go help inspire our student-athletes to go low!

Duo of Demon Deacons Trailblazers Honored as Distinguished Alumni Award Recipients
On April 19, I had the pleasure of attending the Distinguished Alumni Awards dinner as Kendra Graham ('85) and Mit Shah ('91) were honored as this year's recipients. These two esteemed Wake Foresters and trailblazers exemplify the best our community has to offer from how they have impacted others around them and their drive for success after graduation from Wake Forest.

Six days Inside Joel Coliseum - Rodeo, Bands, Face to Face & Black and Golden Globes!
Last week was a busy one at Joel Coliseum as ASM Wake Forest General Manager Brandon Berry and his staff executed multiple flips beginning with the bolsterious Bulls Bands and Barrels rodeo and concert Saturday night - highlighted for Mary Lawrence and me by Winston-Salem's own Cooper Allen, a completely sold-out Face to Face Speaker Forum with Trevor Noah on Tuesday, and then less than 58 hours later, our annual celebration of student-athlete excellence, the Black and Golden Globes. Face to Face will be back in the Joel on Monday, Sept. 11 to kick off the 2024-25 series featuring Peyton Manning, Anderson Cooper, Jesmyn Ward, David Brooks and John Legend.

And, Thursday we announced another major concert as country star Brantley Gilbert will take the LJVM stage on Sept. 26!

NFL Validates Wake Football Excellence; Bring Your Group to Allegacy Stadium to See Who's Next Up to Continue the Pro Deacs Tradition!
The end of April annually brings great moments for Wake Forest football as we witness Demon Deacons achieving a huge step towards fulfilling their professional dreams of competing at the highest level in their sport, the National Football League.

With Malik Mustapha (4th Round, San Francisco 49ers), Caelen Carson (5th Round, Dallas Cowboys) and Michael Jurgens (7th Round, Minnesota Vikings) all being picked a week ago today, Wake Forest has now had at least one pick in every NFL Draft since 2017, which is tied for the seventh-longest streak in the ACC. Additionally, during this streak, the Demon Deacons have had 43 players sign NFL contracts – including Sam Hartman (Washington Commanders), Chelen Garnes (Detroit Lions), Rondell Bothroyd (Buffalo Bills) and Jacob Roberts (Philadelphia Eagles) last weekend.

All these great players have been successful in the classroom, in the community and on the field thanks to the leadership and commitment of Coach Dave Clawson and their efforts have elevated the Demon Deacon standard for success.

Here in Winston-Salem, our continuing student-athletes capped off a successful spring season and are now into the next phase of their offseason program. Meanwhile, our ticket sales team is hard at work helping companies and partners across North Carolina book group events for Demon Deacons football games this fall. Very affordable group ticket packages for all games this season are on sale now! Contact Assistant AD Jon Hoban at hobanj@wfu.edu or 336-758-4030 and let him help your group or company enjoy the Best Fan Experience in North Carolina!

On that note, season tickets are selling at a great pace beginning at the low price of $150 (less than $22 per game!). Beginning with our Triad partner North Carolina A&T making the quick trip over to Winston for Opening Night at Allegacy Stadium on Thursday, Aug. 29, we are expecting multiple sellouts! Contact the Wake Forest Ticket Office at 336-758-3322 ext 1 or tix@wfu.edu to secure your seats today! Regular office hours are Monday through Friday from 8:30 a.m. to 5:00 p.m.

From the Quad Big 3
Before we close, here are today's Big 3 ways to help the Deacs:

Coach Clawson and his staff will host the 24th Ladies Football Clinic on Tuesday, June 18 at the McCreary Indoor Football Complex and McCreary Football Field House. Proceeds from the event benefit the Coaches Kids Program, which gives local underprivileged youth the opportunity to attend Wake Forest football, men's and women's basketball, and other Olympic sporting events. Register here!
Spread good news with your friends about how Wake students are engaging youth at Speas Elementary School in Winston-Salem in an innovative program called "Theater in Education." And, join me in congratulating Winston-Salem Journal Sports Editor Skip Foreman on his recent induction into the N.C. Media & Journalism Hall of Fame!
Wake's new annual seat rights option for men's basketball season ticket holders is off to a great start! Fans who choose this innovative plan can lock in their same seating location on an annual basis. The basketball annual seat rights program provides fans certainty of seat location without a long term commitment. To learn more please contact the Wake Forest Ticket Office at 336-758-3322 ext. 1 during regular office hours or anytime at tix@wfu.edu.

Good luck to all Wake Forest students (and their professors!) in the final stretch of exams and semester conclusion. We look forward to celebrating commencement on May 20.

As always, I appreciate you sharing your thoughts & suggestions with me at wfuad@wfu.edu

Go Deacs!

John Currie
Director of Athletics

Wake Forest Athletics

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