Unique 2021-2022 JMU Athletics Year Filled with Team and Individual Accomplishments

The 2021-2022 academic year saw its ups and downs as James Madison overcame COVID-19 and conference postseason eligibility setbacks to continue to post department-wide success. Winter sports, in particular, were impacted by renewed variant outbreaks while all sports experienced the impact of the CAA's decision to restrict postseason access for JMU teams once the department announced in November that it would depart for the Sun Belt Conference on July 1, 2022.

Despite the challenges, and the loss of automatic qualification opportunities in most sports, JMU sent five teams to postseason competition, highlighted by football sharing the conference championship and advancing to the national semifinals for the fourth time in five seasons.

Lacrosse won the CAA regular season and advanced to the NCAA second round, while cross country, swimming and diving and track and field also saw NCAA Championship competition. Field hockey also claimed a conference regular season championship to give the Dukes three altogether. Two sports captured conference championships as swimming and diving and track and field claimed meet titles in the ECAC.

As a whole, JMU teams went 179-131-2 for a .577 overall winning percentage. With access to automatic NCAA qualification removed, JMU still managed to place 126^th in the Learfield Director's Cup, which measures NCAA Championship achievements across all sports. While lower than JMU's recent run of five straight top-100 finishes, the Dukes still placed fourth in the CAA, fourth in the state of Virginia and third among members of the newly-configured Sun Belt.

It was a noteworthy year for individual awards with 14 All-Americans, one shy of the department record. Football's Cole Johnson was named CFPA National Performer of the Year while Ethan Ratke won the Fred Mitchell Award as the best kicker in all levels of college football outside the FBS. Seven Dukes were Conference Player of the Year and five were VaSID State Player of the Year. Six were also honored for their combination of athletic and academic success as CoSIDA Academic All-District selections.

Academically, student-athletes across the department posted a combined 3.076 GPA, which ranks second in at least the last 10 years. JMU also posted a single-year APR of 990 while 11 of 17 programs had a 1,000 single-year score and six posted all-time best multi-year scores. JMU placed fourth nationally among the Helper-Helper platform for community service hours with a department record total of 7,085 hours.

2021-22 By the Numbers/Department Snapshot

.577 winning % all sports
126^th in Learfield Director's Cup final fall standings
2 ECAC championships (JMU was disqualified from CAA Championships)
3 CAA regular season titles
5 NCAA appearances (JMU was ineligible for CAA automatic qualification)
3.076 Department GPA
16 of 17 programs 960 or higher in multi-year APR with six posting best all-time score
11 of 17 programs achieved perfect 1,000 single-year APR
990 department single-year APR
71 President's List and 195 Dean's List Student-Athletes
121 Graduates (Winter 2021, Spring 2022, anticipated Summer 2022)
520 student-athletes earned the CAA Commissioner's Academic Award across both semesters (includes duplications)
7,085 department hours of community service, including 4^th of 100 Division I Helper-Helper schools
2 National Players of the Year
14 All-Americans
6 CoSIDA Academic All-District
7 CAA Players of the Year
1 CAA Coaches of the Year
2 student-athletes drafted in professional drafts while 8 additional former student-athletes had their first professional opportunities.

Accomplishments

JMU teams compiled a 179-131-2 cumulative record for a .577 winning percentage. Over the past 7 years combined, the Dukes have won at a .645 clip across all sports. The overall percentage ranked sixth among the 14 Division I institutions in Virginia, a slight dip from nine consecutive top-three finishes. The Dukes ranked fourth among all Commonwealth men's sports (.598) and fifth among women's programs (.561).
On Nov. 6, 2021, JMU held a joint press conference with the Sun Belt Conference to announce the university's move to all-sport membership in the Sun Belt no later than July 1, 2023. A follow-up press conference on Feb. 2 established July 1, 2022 as the official start date meaning that all sports, including football, would participate in the Sun Belt the next year. The move also initiates a transition period to competing in FBS football, scheduled to be fully FBS no later than the 2024 fall season.
Multiple sports are not included in the Sun Belt. It was announced that lacrosse will join the American Athletic Conference for 2022-2023. Field hockey will compete as an independent for the 2022 season. The Sun Belt announced the addition of men's soccer in April, after the initial announcement of the conference move. The Sun Belt announced on June 9 that it will add women's swimming and diving no later than the 2023-2024 year while also exploring the addition of field hockey for 2023-24.
As part of JMU's transition to the Sun Belt, the CAA Board of Directors elected to enforce a bylaw restricting JMU's participation in all team sport championships, which included all championships from Nov. 8 through the remainder of the academic year, a decision with far-reaching impact on overall results.
JMU's move to the Sun Belt generated a total audience reach of 28.7 million over a one-week stretch encompassing the Nov. 6 announcement. Native JMU Athletics social media posts (not shares of Sun Belt or other posts) on Nov. 6 related to the announcement generated over 600,000 impressions across all social platforms.
JMU ranked 126^th in the final Learfield Director's Cup, which measures NCAA postseason success. Despite having no access to automatic NCAA qualification, JMU was fourth in the CAA, fourth in the state of Virginia and third among members of the new Sun Belt.
JMU President Jonathan Alger was named to the Knight Commission, a key advocacy group in intercollegiate athletics.
JMU had five teams appear in the national rankings in 2021-22, highlighted by football finishing third and ranked as high as second in various parts of the season. In addition, lacrosse was as high as 10, men's soccer 15 and field hockey 24. In preseason polls, softball was No. 17.
In major professional sports drafts, baseball's Chase DeLauter was selected as the No. 16 overall pick by the Cleveland Guardians in the first round of the MLB Draft, making him the highest draft pick in JMU baseball history and among the highest in any pro sports draft. Nick Zona joined DeLauter as a 20^th round pick (No. 606 overall) by the Seattle Mariners.
Several former Dukes made professional debuts with softball's Kate Gordon Short signing a free agent contract with the Smash It Sport Vipers. Baseball's Fox Semones and Kyle Hayes joined the Arizona Diamondbacks and Kansas City Royals organizations, respectively. Lewis Long IV of men's soccer signed professionally in Croatia. Football's Mike Greene signed with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers while Liam Fornadel had a rookie camp appearance with the Pittsburgh Steelers. Bryce Carter signed with the CFL's Ottawa Redblacks. Molly Dougherty signed with Athletes Unlimited Lacrosse.
Additionally, 2018 graduate Jack Floydd qualified for the 150^th Open Championship, becoming the third JMU golfer to qualify for a major.
JMU surpassed $4 million in annual fund donations for the first time in FY22, passing the previous high of $2.9 million in FY21. That includes a record of nearly 4,600 total donors. Total fundraising surpassed $5 million.
On June 13, JMU celebrated its JMA Awards, with top honors going to Male Athlete of the Year Cole Johnson of football and Female Athlete of the Year Isabella Peterson of lacrosse. Casey Carter Scholar-Athlete of the Year honors went to men's tennis' Holden Koons and women's tennis' Kylie Moulin.
JMU finished the regular season ranked third in the FCS in attendance at 21,769, placing JMU in the top four of FCS in all 10 seasons since the stadium's expansion in 2011. JMU would have ranked 86th in all of FBS with that average, ahead of 46 other FBS programs. The Dukes also would have ranked fourth among the expanded, 14-team Sun Belt. For the year, JMU sold 6,853 total season tickets.
Football went 12-2 overall and reached the FCS semifinals for the fifth time in the last six seasons. The Dukes finished ranked No. 3 in the country in their final FCS poll. Cole Johnson was named the CFPA National Performer of the Year, and Ethan Ratke earned the Fred Mitchell Outstanding Place Kicker Award as the best kicker in all divisions of college athletics outside of FBS. He set all-time NCAA all-divisions (I, II & III) career records for field goals and points by a kicker, while moving into second all-time in points by any FCS player at all positions. Altogether, 10 different Dukes earned All-America honors, with Ratke earning consensus All-America status. Cole Johnson was named CAA Offensive Player of the Year and Ethan Ratke CAA Special Teams Player of the Year.
Men's soccer went 11-5-1 and finished third in the CAA standings after being ranked as high as 15^th midway through the season. Two Dukes earned All-Region honors with Melker Anshelm and Tyler Clegg each named to the Second Team.
Women's soccer went 9-9-1 overall and finished third in the CAA.
Volleyball went 17-7 and finished second in the CAA. Miëtte Veldman was named CAA Player of the Year. Two Dukes earned AVCA East Coast All-Region honors with Sophia Davis named to the First Team and Veldman named Honorable Mention.
Field hockey went 12-7 overall and clinched the CAA regular season championship for the second straight season. Eveline Zwager was named CAA Player of the Year and All-America, while Christy Morgan was named CAA Coach of the Year. Zwager and Diede Remijnse were each named All-Region.
Cross country finished fourth in the CAA Championship. Miranda Stanhope placed second in the title meet for the second time in two college seasons and led JMU to a 19th-place team finish at the NCAA Southeast Regional after a 28^th-place individual showing.
Men's basketball finished 15-14 following a slew of injuries, including three top players. The result came after a 9-2 start, including the program's first-ever victory over Virginia in its 12^th try. It was JMU's best start since the 1986-87 campaign.
Against a challenging non-conference schedule, women's basketball got off to a 3-7 start and finished 14-15 overall, having lost two key starters to season-ending injuries – one before the start of the season and one partway through the season.
Swimming & diving went 4-3 in dual meets. Forced out of the CAA Championship, the Dukes competed in the 19-team, open ECAC Championships and captured their fifth consecutive team title in a championship meet. Dane Pedersen was named ECAC Coach of the Meet and sophomore Jess Pryne Swimmer of the Meet. Five Dukes qualified for the NCAA Zone A diving meet.
Men's golf competed as individuals at the CAA Championship with Daniel Cheng earning a top-10 finish in a tie for seventh.
Women's golf competed as individuals in the CAA Championship, highlighted by Amelia Williams finishing sixth. As a team, JMU shattered its season-long team scoring average record with a 293.03 (+5.43) to top the previous mark of 301.52 (+13.52). Kendall Turner (73.24), Kate Owens (74.12) and Amelia Williams (74.21) established the three lowest single-season scoring averages in JMU history.
Women's tennis finished 9-11 after the Dukes significantly increased their strength of schedule with the CAA automatic bid opportunity removed.
Men's Tennis posted its best season since 1990, going 14-6 overall, highlighted by No. 1 singles Holden Koons going 18-2 in singles matches. Koons was named CAA Player of the Year, the first such honor in program history.
Having lost the bulk of its offense and top starting pitcher from the 2021 WCWS team, softball went 21-21 after opening the season ranked as high as 17^th nationally. The Dukes finished second in the CAA regular season. Hannah Shifflett was named CAA Player of the Year. Six earned NFCA All-Region honors, led by Hannah Shifflett, Lauren Bernett and Jasmine Hall on the First Team.
Alissa Humphrey was a key member of leading Team USA to the WBSC U18 Women's Softball World Cup Gold Medal in December. She was one of four Team USA players named to the 12-player All-World Team.
Lacrosse went 14-5 overall and won 11 games in a row, which included knocking off top-five ranked Maryland on the road, before falling in the second round of the NCAA Championship at Loyola. JMU won the CAA regular season and was ranked as high as 10^th. Molly Dougherty was named to the preseason top-50 watch list for the Tewaaraton Award, and Isabella Peterson was added to the list mid-season, qualifying for the final group of 25. Peterson was named CAA Player of the Year, Dougherty Goalkeeper of the Year and Mairead Durkin Defensive Player of the Year.
Baseball went 27-26 and finished in fifth place in the CAA.
The indoor track & field season concluded with JMU placing sixth at the ECAC Championships with six All-East honors earned. Individually, Rachel Lloyd set the program's pole vault record and Erica Moolman matched it later at the ECAC Championships. Holly Mpassy also set the 400-meter record at ECACs.
JMU captured its first ECAC Outdoor Track & Field Championship, topping a field of 36 squads. Jordyn Henderson won the 100 hurdles while JMU claimed runner-up finishes in multiple events as the Dukes gathered 13 All-East honors. JMU sent two to the NCAA East Preliminary in Shelby Staib (javelin) and Miranda Stanhope (10,000-meter run).
Among coaching contract updates, football's Curt Cignetti was extended through the 2027 season, Loren LaPorte of softball through the 2029 season, field hockey's Christy Morgan and women's soccer's Joshua Walters through the 2025 fall season, Tommy Baker of women's golf through the 2025-26 season, Shelley Klaes of lacrosse through the 2026 spring season, baseball's Marlin Ikenberry through the 2024 season, women's basketball's Sean O'Regan through the 2024-25 season and track & field's Ron McCown through the 2025-26 season.
JMU inducted its 2020 Hall of Fame class, with official induction delayed to Sept. 10, 2021 due to COVID safety concerns. The eight-member class includes: longtime administrator and coach Casey Carter (1978-2017), wrestler Dan Corbin (1979-83), wide receiver David McLeod (1990-93) and defensive end Arthur Moats (2006-09) of football, Randy Parker (1984-88) of swimming and diving, midfielder Teresa (Rynier) Rook (2007-10) of women's soccer, forward C.J. Sapong (2007-10) of men's soccer and midfielder Baillie Versfeld (2003-06) of field hockey.
The Hall of Fame Class of 2022 was announced in January to be inducted in September, with a group that includes: standout swimmer (1997-2001) and coach (2004-2013) Samantha Smith Barany; former women's basketball head coach Kenny Brooks (2003-2016) and one of his star athletes, Dawn Evans (2007-2011); football quarterback Rodney Landers (2005-2008), long-time women's soccer head coach Dave Lombardo (1990-2017), baseball catcher Jake Lowery (2009-2011), track runner Anthony Wallace (2000-2003) and golfer Jay Woodson (2000-2004).
Kylie Moulin (women's tennis) and Anthony Piccolino (baseball) were honored as CAA Institutional Scholar-Athletes for the year. Meanwhile, Carly Lyvers (women's golf) and Shelby Staib (track & field) earned CAA Leadership & Sport Excellence Awards.
71 student-athletes were named to President's List and 195 to Dean's List across both semesters of 2021-22 academic year with 38 instances of a perfect 4.0 grade point average for either semester. Altogether 121 student-athletes graduated (31 in fall 2021, 65 in Spring 2022 and 25 anticipated in Summer 2022). The department posted an overall GPA of 3.076, second-best in at least the last decade.
The JMU Student-Athlete Leadership Program hosted 12 seminars (combination of in-person and virtual events), covering a variety of topics designed to enrich the JMU student-athlete experience. In addition, Dukes LEAD launched its first Leadership Academy. This program is formulated of about 24 student-athletes with representation from each team. This selected cohort of student-athletes complete various leadership modules throughout the course of the year to help identify and enhance their leadership style.
JMU had six student-athletes earn Academic All-District honors: Cole Johnson (football), Miette Veldman (volleyball), Caroline Cahill (field hockey), Diede Remijnse (field hockey), Kylie Moulin (women's tennis) and Hannah Shifflett (softball).
16 of 17 teams exceeded the department's APR benchmark of 960 with a department single-year APR score of 990, which exceeds the NCAA revenue distribution requirement of 985). Six different sport programs posted their best multi-year APR score in program history, while 11 of 17 programs had a perfect single-year score of 1,000. Football hit its best single-year score in program history at 993.
As part of the Dukes Lead program, student-athletes completed 7,085 hours of community volunteerism. JMU ranked 4^th for community engagement among approximately 100 Division I programs subscribing to the Helper-Helper app with 11 top-10 finishes within their sport for field hockey (1), softball (2), men's soccer (2), track & field and cross country (3), men's basketball (3), men's tennis (4), women's golf (5), lacrosse (6), women's tennis (8), baseball (8) and men's golf (10).
Carly Lyvers (women's golf) was one of two CAA student-athletes selected to attend the NCAA Student-Athlete Leadership Forum in November in Houston. She was also selected to the NCAA Postgraduate Internship Program.
Isabella Bogdan of track & field attended the NCAA Career in Sports Forum while Isabel Anbar of swimming & diving was selected to participate in the Women's Sports Foundation Mentoring Program.
The JMU Athletics Diversity and Inclusion Council continued its work, which included a June 2021 workshop for coaches, administration and staff with a group called "A Long Talk" with discussion focusing on maintaining a culture of anti-racism.
JMU started construction in October for expansion of its Sentara Park facility to add game day locker rooms, concessions and improved sports medicine space. In January, JMU also revamped the strength and conditioning area of the Plecker Athletics Performance Center. In March, JMU began renovation of the Convocation Center, which will include the competition venue for volleyball, training space for track & field as well as offices, locker rooms, meeting rooms, sports medicine and strength and conditioning for men's soccer, women's soccer, field hockey, lacrosse, cross country, track & field and volleyball. In late June, JMU announced that construction would begin on July 5 for an expansion at softball's Veterans Memorial Park, to include increased seating to 1,500, improved lighting, expanded press box and new wall padding.
Associate A.D. Tom Kuster was awarded in late July 2021 with the John Randolph Award from the CAA. He later added the Hall of Fame Award from the Virginia Athletic Trainers' Association in January. Kuster passed away from cancer on May 17, 2022.
On April 9, Director of Athletics Jeff Bourne was honored with the 2022 Distinguished Alumnus Award from his alma mater, Bridgewater College.
JMU Athletics announced a partnership with Anthony Travel, which will use its industry-leading resources to assist the department with all administrative and team travel, a boost particularly beneficial in light of the move to the Sun Belt Conference.

Award Lists

Conference Champions (2)

Swimming & Diving (ECAC)
Outdoor Track & Field (ECAC)

Conference Regular-Season Champions (3)

Field Hockey
Football (Co-)
Lacrosse

NCAA Appearances (5)

Cross Country
Football
Swimming & Diving
Lacrosse
Track & Field

National Player of the Year

Cole Johnson – Football (CFPA National Performer of the Year)
Ethan Ratke – Football (Fred Mitchell Award, best kicker all divisions outside of FBS)

All-Americans (14)

Eveline Zwager – Field Hockey
Ethan Ratke – Football
Bryce Carter – Football
Cole Johnson – Football
Greg Ross – Football
Mike Greene – Football
Kyle Davis – Football
Antwane Wells, Jr. – Football
Liam Fornadel – Football
Diamante Tucker-Dorsey – Football
Kris Thornton – Football
Molly Dougherty – Lacrosse
Isabella Peterson – Lacrosse
Mairead Durkin – Lacrosse

CoSIDA Academic All-District (6)

Cole Johnson – Football
Miette Veldman – Volleyball
Hannah Shifflett – Softball
Caroline Cahill – Field Hockey
Diede Remijnse – Field Hockey
Kylie Moulin – Women's Tennis

CAA Players of the Year (7)

Miëtte Veldman – Volleyball
Eveline Zwager – Field Hockey
Isabella Peterson – Lacrosse
Mairead Durkin – Lacrosse (Defensive)
Molly Dougherty – Lacrosse (Goalkeeper)
Holden Koons – Men's Tennis
Hannah Shifflett - Softball

CAA Coaches of the Year (1)

Christy Morgan – Field Hockey

VaSID Players of the Year (5)

Tyler Clegg – Men's Soccer (Defensive)
Ethan Ratke – Football (Special Teams)
Miëtte Veldman – Volleyball
Isabella Peterson – Lacrosse
Mairead Durkin – Lacrosse (Defensive)

VaSID Coaches of the Year (3)

Curt Cignetti – Football
Lauren Steinbrecher – Volleyball
Shelly Klaes - Lacrosse

VaSID Rookie of the Year (1)

Antwane Wells, Jr. – Football (Offensive)

Other Awards:

Dane Pedersen – ECAC Coach of the Meet
Jess Payne – ECAC Swimmer of the Meet

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