The University of Mary Washington celebrated its Men’s Basketball team’s NCAA Division III national championship win with a Fan Fest event that brought the community to UMW’s Anderson Center. The day held a flurry of festivities, including autograph and photo opportunities with the No. 1 team, the Eagles. Photo by Tom Rothenberg.
The University of Mary Washington’s Anderson Center was jumping last weekend with a crowd ready to celebrate a victory. And it was a big one.
The breathtaking buzzer-beating basket that won the Eagles Men’s Basketball team its first-ever NCAA Division III championship in Indianapolis on Easter Sunday sparked hugs and high-fives from coast to coast. Back home on Saturday, a community gathered to honor these love-of-the-sport student-athletes and their incredible run to the title.
“It wasn’t just a basket. It was a moment that will be talked about for decades to come,” Fredericksburg Mayor Kerry Devine ’84 said of the historic win, made even more special for a team with no seniors. “You played with heart, you played with grit, and you played for the name on the front of your jersey. You have made Fredericksburg a championship city.”
The entire team – players and coaches – took a victory lap through town on an Eagle-spirit-trimmed trolley, with fans snapping pictures and flashing signs of support along the route. But when the vehicle, led by a police escort, chugged its way off of College Avenue and into the Fan Fest event in the Anderson Center parking lot, the party was really on. Read more about UMW Fan Fest.
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