Gene McCabe

Title: Owner/Director

Gene McCabe is in his 13th season as the head men’s lacrosse coach at Washington and Lee.  He also currently serves as the President of the United States Intercollegiate Lacrosse Coaches Association (USILA).

McCabe claims the most wins in program history, posting a 144-73 (.664) overall record across his first 12 seasons.  He also boasts four NCAA Tournament bids and two ODAC Tournament titles.  He has guided W&L to double-digit wins in nine of his 12 seasons, including each of the last seven years, which have included three appearances in the ODAC Championship game.

The 2018 season featured a high-scoring offense that averaged 13.95 goals per game and set a new school record for goals scored in a season (279), breaking the record set by his third W&L team in 2009.  The Generals finished 15-5 overall, won the ODAC regular season title and advanced to the third round of the NCAA Tournament before falling to Dickinson in overtime by a score of 10-9.  For their efforts, McCabe and his staff were recognized as the IMLCA South Region Coaching Staff of the Year.

The 2017 squad also claimed the ODAC regular season crown and finished with a 10-7 overall record.  The Generals averaged 15.6 goals per outing and finished with 265 goals, the ffith-best total in program history.

McCabe's 2016 team started slow with a 2-2 record after four games, but went on to win 13 of its next 14 games to claim the ODAC title and advance to the NCAA Tournament.  The Generals knocked off Sewanee in the opening round, before falling to York in the second round.  W&L finished the season with a 16-4 record, tying the program record for wins in a season.

The Generals also advanced to the NCAA Tournament in 2013 under McCabe's leadership, also tying the school record for wins with a 16-5 overall mark.  W&L knocked off top-ranked Salisbury during the regular season and advanced to the ODAC title contest before dropping a 10-9 decision to Roanoke in the finale.  The Generals received an at-large bid to the NCAA Tournament and defeated Sewanee, before falling to Salisbury in the second round.

McCabe's 2012 team was a young outfit that jelled late in the season, winning four of its final five games to finish as the conference runner-up.  Along the way, W&L knocked off third-seeded Hampden-Sydney and second-seeded Roanoke in the conference tournament.

In his third season, McCabe helped W&L capture the ODAC Championship with a 15-14 overtime win over top-ranked and previously unbeaten Roanoke. The Generals advanced to the second round of the NCAA Tournament before falling to Gettysburg. The Generals completed the season ranked sixth nationally and McCabe was selected as the ODAC Coach of the Year.

McCabe's 2014, 2011 and 2008 teams all earned the No. 2 seed in the ODAC tournament and during his tenure, W&L has continued to play one of the toughest schedules in Division III.

McCabe was no stranger to W&L lacrosse upon arriving in the summer of 2006.  He had previously served as an assistant lacrosse and football coach for the Generals from 1998-2001.  During his three seasons with the lacrosse team, the Generals posted a 43-5 (.896) overall record and a 17-1 mark in the Old Dominion Athletic Conference while achieving a No. 1 National Ranking in 1999 and 2001.  Additionally, W&L won two ODAC Championships and participated in the NCAA Tournament twice, advancing to the semifinals in 2000.

After a successful run with the Generals, McCabe left for Hamilton College in January of 2002, steering the Continentals to a 54-18 (.750) overall record.  His 2003 team finished the season with a school-record 15 wins (15-3), claimed the Liberty League title and advanced to the NCAA Quarterfinals.  For his efforts, McCabe was named the Liberty League Coach of the Year and USILA Division III National Coach of the Year.  McCabe and his staff were also selected the Liberty League Coaching Staff of the Year following an 11-3 season in 2006.  In his five seasons, McCabe mentored seven Continentals to USILA All-America accolades.

McCabe graduated from Bates College in 1995 with a bachelor's degree in European history. At Bates, he lettered in both lacrosse and football. He resides in Lexington and has four daughters; Kaelan, Molly, Ava and Georgia.  Kaelan is currently a sophomore at W&L.

Learn more about Coach McCabe here.

Mike Cerino

Title: Owner/Director

Michael Cerino became the fifth Director of Athletics in the history of Limestone College in the fall of 2008, and later added the title of Vice President for Intercollegiate Athletics in 2011 to better reflect the broad spectrum of his responsibilities.

Entering his 10^th year at the helm of the Limestone College Athletics Department, Cerino has led the charge in making the Saints one of the most competitive athletic programs in NCAA Division II. Over the last five years, Limestone has ranked in the top 20-percent of the NACDA Learfield Sports Director’s Cup standings, including a top-25 finish during the 2016-17 season.

Limestone most recently captured its third straight Joby Hawn Cup, an award given to the top overall athletics department in Conference Carolinas, and a fourth trophy in five years. In addition to bringing home the overall Cup Championship during the 2016-17 season, the Saints also swept both the men’s and women’s trophy for the first time in Department history.

During his tenure, the Blue and Gold has won three NCAA Division II Men’s Lacrosse National Championships and four individual national titles. In addition to the men’s swim team winning individual events in 2009, the Saints captured two individual national crowns in men’s indoor track & field and wrestling during the 2017 Winter Championships.

Under Cerino’s leadership, the Athletics Department has undergone a vigorous transformation that includes the addition of several new sports and vast improvements and expansion of athletic facilities through strategic fundraising efforts. He has also been steadfast in growing the Department’s staff needed to support 25 intercollegiate sports and over 800 student-athletes.

Limestone has added a nationally competitive field hockey program and a men’s volleyball team that competes for a NCAA Division I National Championship. In 2013, he was instrumental in adding football as the 25^th sponsored sport at Limestone while adding a dance team and a competitive cheerleading squad.

Through various fundraising initiatives, he continues to spearhead a campaign to improve and expand athletic facilities at Limestone. During the first phase of the strategic plan, the College turfed and installed lights on Saints Field – the home of Limestone men’s and women’s soccer, field hockey, and men’s and women’s lacrosse – and renovated Founders Federal Credit Union Stadium, home of Limestone baseball.

The crowning jewel of the first phase, however, is the Bob Campbell Field House, a 23,000-square foot building that houses locker rooms for all of Limestone’s field sports, an equipment room, an officials locker room, a concession stand, a ticket sales box office, and public restrooms.

Completed in 2014, the Bob Campbell Field House features the nerve center of Limestone Athletics as it houses several administrative offices, including the Vice President for Intercollegiate Athletics, compliance, facilities, and development and marketing. The field house also includes office space for Limestone’s field teams and the newly renovated Dave and Nancy Rilling Hall of Fame Room.

The Dave and Nancy Rilling Hall of Fame Room proudly displays many of the Saints’ conference trophies and individual awards and honors members of the Limestone Athletics Hall of Fame with a plaque recognizing the individual and team accomplishments of each inductee. The room also serves as a meeting space and is equipped to host press conferences. Adding quality staff has also been an area of improvement under Cerino. Limestone Athletics has been able to add full-time staff members to several support departments including compliance, athletic training, media relations, equipment, strength & conditioning, and facilities. This has allowed staff to focus on innovative ways to improve the student-athlete experience at Limestone.

In addition to overseeing the athletics department, Cerino enjoyed a 15-year tenure as the head coach of Limestone’s highly successful men’s lacrosse program. Building the program from scratch in 1989, he guided the Saints to their first NCAA Division II National Championship in 2000. Cerino is the second all-time winningest coach in program history and finished his coaching career with an overall record of 128-66.

During his coaching career, he guided two elite programs, Limestone College and Washington and Lee University, to NCAA Tournament appearances and compiled an overall collegiate record of 181-90 (.668) over 20 seasons, winning a total of eight conference championships in the process.

Cerino was inducted in the Pfeiffer University Athletics Hall of Fame in 2010 for his contributions as a student-athlete and has been inducted twice in the Limestone College Athletics Hall of Fame – Class of 2004 as a head coach and again in the Class of 2011 as a member of the 2000 National Championship Men’s Lacrosse Team. He was inducted into the US Lacrosse South Carolina Chapter Hall of Fame in 2013 for his efforts in bringing and growing the sport of lacrosse in the state.

In addition to numerous coaching honors, Cerino earned Street and Smith’s College Lacrosse USA Division II Coach of the Year honors and was a three-time recipient of the Jim “Ace” Adams National Sportsmanship Award.

He currently serves as the general manager of the Charlotte Hounds of Major League Lacrosse, and was the organization’s first head coach. Cerino guided the franchise to the 2013 MLL Championship Game in the team’s second year of existence.

A native of Cold Spring Harbor, N.Y., Cerino currently resides in Greer, S.C., with his wife Christine and his three children, Ryan, Caitlyn and Allison. His son, Ryan, is entering his junior year as a member of the Bryant University lacrosse team.