EVANSTON, Ill. – In the moments after the Johns Hopkins women's lacrosse team defeated Stony Brook, 13-12, to advance to Championship Weekend for the first time in the Division I era of the program, Blue Jay head coach Tim McCormack estimates that he received more than 400 texts from family, friends, and alumni congratulating the fourth-year head coach and his team.
 
He estimates that it took him all of two full days to respond to the well wishes as he prepared the Blue Jays to face top-ranked Northwestern in the national semifinals on May 22, at 4:30 p.m. (CT).
 
For McCormack, the chance to compete on Championship Weekend is the culmination of a deep and enduring connection to a world-class university, a nationally recognized lacrosse program, and an administration committed to upholding the institution's proud traditions.
 
Above all, it reflects the meaningful relationships he builds with the women he selects to carry that tradition forward.
 
"For me growing up, Hopkins was such a known brand in the sport of lacrosse," said McCormack. "In middle school and high school, I would watch them play. As someone who had respect for the history of the sport, I knew what it meant here. I felt that energy when I arrived here myself and I knew that with the support provided to our program from our administration we could be successful."
 
A goalie by trade during his playing career at the University of Massachusetts, McCormack inherited a powerhouse program from Janine Tucker, the all-time winningest coach in program history. Tucker guided the Blue Jays to 313 victories and 14 appearances in the NCAA Tournament. She led the Blue Jays to 93 wins and seven NCAA Tournament appearances in her final nine seasons at the helm of the program.
 
Where McCormack has taken the program since he was named the fourth head coach in program history on June 7, 2022, is exactly where the JHU administration and alumni hope to be on Memorial Day weekend each year: Championship Weekend.
 
At 17-4, Hopkins is enjoying the best season in program history. The 17 wins this season are the most in school history, breaking the former record set in 1994. That year, the Blue Jays advanced to the NCAA Division III Semifinals and finished with a 16-1 record.
 
The 17 wins mark just the third time since JHU moved to Division I in 1999 that the Blue Jays have at least 14 wins. Since 1999, Hopkins has had just four seasons of 13 or more wins - two of those have come in the last two seasons under McCormack.
 
Throughout the course of the storied 50-year history of the program, the success starts and ends with the student-athletes who have worn, and who currently wear, the spirit blue, white, and black colors that have traditionally been associated with the athletics teams at Johns Hopkins.
 
Current junior Lacey Downey realized early on while she was being recruited that Johns Hopkins was the right university, and right program, for her to achieve her lofty goals.
 
"What makes Johns Hopkins so special is the passion and pride people have in everything they do," said Downey, who earned First Team All-America honors this season. "We are surrounded by some of the smartest and most driven people in the world. Being able to walk among those people and knowing that lacrosse gave me that opportunity is really special to me. From the lacrosse side, we are building something together under Coach McCormack and making the first Final Four in program history has made it even more meaningful."
 
Senior Ava Angello, who originally committed to Tucker's staff while she was in high school, arrived on campus in the fall of 2022 as a member of McCormack's first class of student-athletes.
 
Angello, too, understood the enormity of becoming a student and a lacrosse player at one of the most unique schools in the nation.
 
"Johns Hopkins has a tradition of success for its student-athletes," said Angello, a Tewaaraton Award nominee and a First Team All-American this season. "From athletics to academics you are competing at the highest level. Having the chance to compete at the highest level on the field and get a world-class education is an opportunity you cannot pass up on. The culture that this team has and the environment our coaches instill is something that is very special and you cannot find anywhere else."
 
Angello quickly came to understand the type of person she was going to play for and the type of person he embodies.
 
"Coach McCormack cares for the program and also cares about who we are as individuals," said Angello. "Something that I learned very quickly is the evolution and the expert knowledge Coach McCormack has for the game of lacrosse. He loves the game more than anyone I know and is always coming up with creative ideas from offensive plays to defensive schemes."
 
As a coach who is in position to recruit the best of the best when it comes to academics at Johns Hopkins, McCormack certainly understands that responsibility.
 
"The recruiting pitch has always been the same," said McCormack. "You will leave here with one of the best educations in the world, connected to the strongest alumni network for future jobs. You will be a part of a lacrosse program where you will get developed to become the best player you can be and have a lot of fun doing it."
 
Tewaaraton Award Finalist and First Team All-American Reagan O'Brien sees a lot of herself in McCormack. As one of the top defenders in all of college lacrosse, she is a lot like her coach and is an on-the-field leader.
 
"I see a fire in him," said O'Brien. "He wanted to build something that was his but also ours; something that we could be proud of and that feeling always stuck with me. He was ready to make strides and create such a strong program. He had faith in us, and we had faith in him. He has proven every day that I made the right decision, trusting him on that first day."
 
"He has taught and instilled values within me that I will carry with me throughout my entire life. He has not only made me a better lacrosse player, but I believe a better person. He has created a space for mistakes as well as a place to learn and grow. He has continued to make a team culture which is something that we can all be proud of. He holds me to a very high standard. He challenges me and shows me that there is another level that I can get to. He has confidence in me. He believes that I can do great things, so focusing on the small things will make me a stronger."
 
Each of its 24 nationally competitive athletic programs feels the support of the Johns Hopkins administration with every contest they win and with every national championship they win.
 
Jennifer S. Baker, the Associate Vice Provost for Student Affairs and Director of Athletics & Recreation, understands the demands of running a top-tier athletics program within one of the world's most prestigious academic institutions. 
 
Baker graduated from the United States Naval Academy with a degree in aerospace engineering and was a member of the Academy's women's lacrosse club team.  She helped lead the club lacrosse team to a national championship while at the Naval Academy. 
 
In nearly seven full years under Baker, two of which were significantly impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic, Johns Hopkins teams have won five national championships and 75 conference titles, including a school-record 15 in 2023-24, and claimed the program's first Learfield Directors' Cup title in 2022-23.  Johns Hopkins followed its initial Directors' Cup crown with a repeat in 2023-24.
 
Individually, Blue Jay athletes have earned 16 national championships, 19 NCAA Postgraduate Scholarships, 134 CSC/CoSIDA Academic All-America honors and more than 375 individuals have earned All-America status.
 
"When I set out to hire our next head coach, one of my top priorities given all of the recent rule changes in women's lacrosse was finding someone who saw, and thought about, the game differently," said Baker. "Enter Tim McCormack.  From our first conversation, I was struck by what a student of both sport and human performance he was.  He walked me through the ways in which he translates concepts from other sports to lacrosse, the original metrics he'd created to drive on-field decision making and optimize athlete health and performance, as well as the structure of his practices."
 
"It was clear that Tim was an innovator, genuinely curious, and willing to take risks.  I believed in his vision for our program, and the foundation on which he wanted to grow it – a love of the game -  that aligned with everything Janine Tucker had instilled during her tenure at the helm of the program.  Tim told me he wanted to change how the game was played, and I absolutely believe he's doing so. I've been so proud to watch him lead the continued evolution of Blue Jay Lacrosse."
 
From his first day on campus in 2022, McCormack has been in lockstep with Baker and the Johns Hopkins administration.
 
"We get incredible support from our administration," said McCormack. "They are there for us in every way. Jen Baker is an unbelievable leader with a great vision that trickles down to our entire athletic department."
 
The story of the Johns Hopkins women's lacrosse team is most appropriately summed up by O'Brien, current All-American in the field and an Academic All-Big Ten selection in the classroom.
 
"I think the 50th anniversary (of women's lacrosse) really showed me how special Hopkins is and how special Hopkins lacrosse is," said O'Brien. "Meeting all of the alums, previous coaches and people who care about the program showed us how truly special this program is. Hopkins is such a special school because we are in the middle of making history on the athletic fields. Not many people can say that they go to a top 10 university academically as well as athletically. Hopkins has given me so many opportunities both on and off the field, and I am forever indebted to the university."