W&L Coaches Honored
Two W&L head coaches, Kami Gardner for women’s swimming and Dana Freeman for women’s indoor track and field, were recently named Old Dominion Athletic Conference coaches of the year.
In addition, Mike Dager, W&L head women’s cross country coach and assistant women’s track and field coach, was honored by the U.S. Track and Field and Cross Country Association (USTFCCA) as the NCAA Division III South Region Women’s Assistant Coach of the Year.
Gardner’s men’s team produced a 5-3 overall record this winter, claiming the program’s fourth consecutive ODAC crown and the 10th league championship in the last 11 years. The Generals placed 19th at the NCAA Division III Championship, their best showing at the national meet since the 2018 campaign.
At the conference championship, Gardner, in her 17th year as W&L’s head coach, guided the Generals to eight championship event wins, including victories in four of the five relay events. All told, 15 swimmers claimed All-ODAC honors based on their performances at the conference championship meet.
Six W&L men qualified for the NCAA Championship, combining for 11 All-America citations between them.
Gardner has now earned six ODAC Men’s Swimming Coach of the Year Awards and another 10 as coach of the W&L women’s program. She claims an 84-20 (.808) record as the men’s head coach and a 129-39 (.768) mark while coaching the W&L women.
For the women’s indoor track and field team, Freeman and Dager led the Generals to their first ODAC title since 2009 this winter. At the ODAC meet. The Generals won seven of 16 events, and two Generals earned Second Team All-America honors.
Freeman is in her 12th year as W&L’s head coach, while Dager is in his 11th year with the Generals.
Dager was also honored as the USTFCCCA South Region Women’s Cross Country Coach of the Year this past fall after leading W&L to an ODAC Championship, a South Region Championship and an eighthplace finish at the NCAA Division III Championship.
