The women’s lacrosse team beating Oregon on Saturday to clinch a spot in the NCAA Tournament for the third straight season is one more accolade in what has been a banner year for women’s sports at USNA. The team is 18-2 and went undefeated in conference play, winning their third Patriot League title in only their fifth varsity season. The other upstart women’s team, tennis, finished 20-3 and advanced to the conference finals in their third varsity season. The women’s track team just won the Patriot League championship on Saturday, while the crew team placed second the week before. The basketball team advanced to the NCAA tournament after winning their second straight Patriot League tournament. The soccer team completed another winning season, finishing 13-6-3 and advancing to the Patriot League tournament final. The swimming & diving team set a meet record in winning the Patriot League before moving on to their first ECAC championship. The cross country team won the Patriot League championship and placed 7th at the NCAA Mid-Atlantic Regional Championship, their highest finish since 2000. Our cup runneth over.

That’s a good thing, not just as a fan, but because it’s important to the school that Navy’s women’s programs have success. In order to attract high-achieving women to USNA, it’s vital to show that they can excel in an environment that has traditionally been more appealing to men. Individual women are themselves the best recruiting tool as they go out into the fleet and have successful careers, but athletics are another highly visible way to demonstrate overall kick-assness. Navy’s ladies are doing just that, putting together what might be the most successful year for women’s athletics in service academy history.

I’m not going to look it up. Let’s just accept it as fact and brag about it.