Good morning. Here’s the latest from around the lacrosse world:
1. All signs point to Tobacco Road.
Duke’s men and North Carolina’s women sit atop the Nike/US Lacrosse Division I Men’s and Women’s Preseason Top 20 rankings, respectively. US Lacrosse Magazine released the lists Wednesday.
Both teams were active in the offseason, landing the top transfers in the portal and bringing back the majority of their seniors for another go around.
2. Former U.S. national team player Alyssa Murray was named a candidate for The World Games “Greatest Athlete of All Time” award — an acknowledgement of Murray’s team- and tournament-best 19 points in the 2017 World Games in Wroclaw, Poland.
3. The IWLCA concluded its first-ever coaching symposium for students of color, “Future Leaders of the Game,” on Tuesday. Cincinnati coach Gina Oliver Thomas, the former U.S. national team player and two-time world champion, was the keynote speaker.
The symposium is part of an effort to diversify the pool of coaches in women’s lacrosse. Shenandoah assistant Taylor Paige, who is Black, wrote about why representation matters in the latest installment of “Behind the Whistle,” the IWLCA blog.