The University of Maryland’s Independent Student Newspaper
THE DIAMONDBACK
Sports Guide
3 Cayden reese
6 paralympic fencer
7 Malik washington 4 Umd sports venue guide
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Glen Miller walks in the endzone during Maryland football’s 27-24 loss to Michigan State on Sept. 7, 2024. (Neelay Sachdeva/The Diamondback)
Cayden Reese grew up with Maryland women’s lacrosse. Now she’ll join it.
By Michael Howes I Recruitingreporter
A sea of white Maryland jerseys dogpiled onto Homewood Field after the Terps’ 2019 women’s lacrosse national championship
Cayden Reese weaved through the stands to meet her mother, longtime Maryland coach Cathy Reese, and join the celebration as confetti poured onto the field.
The 12-year-old watched the Terps cut the nets and hoist the bronze and walnut trophy — the fifth title she saw Maryland win with her mother at the helm. Goalkeeper Megan Taylor embraced the younger Reese with the net draped around her neck and a black championship cap on her head.
“This could be you one day,” Reese recalled Taylor telling her.
Five years later, Reese is one step closer.
Her Sept. 1 commitment to Maryland fulfills a lifelong ambition. Inside Lacrosse’s top-ranked 2026 recruit follows a line of Terp family members, and she now has a chance to win a title with the team she grew up with.
“I’ve always known that I wanted to go to Maryland. It’s kind of been my dream since I was a little kid,” Reese said. “Just being able to wear that uniform, it’s something special since it runs in my family.”
Reese slid into the now-closed Bagel Place of College Park with the team nearly every morning before a home game when she was younger. The future Terp sipped her chocolate milk and enjoyed a chocolate chip muffin at the shop’s green tabletops with her mother’s players.
Team outings, including game day breakfasts, were common for Reese. She watched practices by her mom’s side and fired shots during drills. Reese nestled into empty seats on the team bus next to her favorite players before and after games.
Reese traveled with the Terps on a few road trips each season and even visited Disney World with them in 2011. The 4-year-old strolled through the park with the team and went on the few rides she
wasn’t too afraid of.
“She was around so many great role models, too,” Brian Reese, Cayden Reese’s father, said. “[She’d] always be around a group of fantastic women.”
Cathy Reese was named Maryland’s head coach in 2007. She played in College Park from 1994 to 1998 and spent the next five years as an assistant coach.
She met Brian Reese, also a former lacrosse player at Maryland, during one of their first days on campus. They began dating later in college and got married in 2003. They have four children together, including Riley, a junior defender for Maryland men’s lacrosse.
“I hate to admit it, but she was much better than I was in high school. And she is, for sure, gonna do great here,” Riley Reese said. “She’s earned her way up here, and I’m really proud.”
Cayden Reese already knows what it’s like to play for a parent. Brian Reese coached her at Maryvale Preparatory School for the past two seasons — an experience his daughter said she enjoyed. She appreciates how much her dad pushes her.
Even though her parents’ coaching styles differ, Reese added, she feels prepared to play under her mother, a more encouraging guide.
“I really like playing for my dad because I think he knows the game really well,” Cayden Reese said. “If I can get through my dad, I can definitely get through [playing for] my mom.”
As a child, the Terps chanted her name as she stomped into the locker room beside her mom. Players lined the walls of the square room, sitting at their lockers, preparing for their upcoming game and a pregame speech from Cayden.
“Cayden, Cayden, Cayden, Cayden.”
The younger Reese stood in the middle of the space on top of a rug with a large Maryland logo sprawled under her feet.
“There’s two things I’m good at: kicking butt and eating cookies,” Cayden declared to the team. “We’re all out of cookies, so it’s time to kick some butt.”
(Photo courtesy of Cayden Reese)
A guide to Umd’s sports venues
By: The Diamondback Staff
When the last buzzer blared at Cole Field House in 2002, it ended nearly 50 years of upset wins, tough losses and lasting memories for the University of Maryland’s basketball programs. It was an icon for the sport, as much of a defining feature for Maryland basketball as Charles “Lefty” Driesell or Len Bias.
A venue can be as defining as a team’s record, players or coaching sta . This university’s traditions — including chants and taking the senior photo at SECU Stadium — are bookends to most students’ time in College Park.
Some of Maryland’s athletic venues date back to the 1950s. Others are as new as this decade. The Diamondback has you covered with a guide into the places every Terp sport team calls home.
SECU Stadium
Brandon Schwartzberg I Sportseditor,footballreporter
The name SECU Stadium is new, but the venue is not. It was originally named Byrd Stadium when it opened Sept. 30, 1950 and tweaked to Capital One Field at Byrd Stadium before the 2009 season.
Maryland football and men’s lacrosse’s home most recently underwent a complete rebrand to SECU Stadium in the fall 2022. The seating capacity has transformed from 34,680 to 51,802. While the site has been a regular for men’s lacrosse Final Fours, one of the greatest moments of the field’s history was when Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Phillip visited a football game against North Carolina in 1957.
Ludwig Field
Matthew Neus and Holliday Woodard I Men’sandwomen’ssoccerreporters
Ludwig Field is the home to both Maryland men’s and women’s soccer, one of the premier soccer facilities in the country. Built in 1995, the $2.5 million facility is on the north side of campus and across from the Jones-Hill House.
Xfinity Center
Originally completed in the fall of 2002, Xfinity Center is home to Maryland men’s and women’s basketball, as well as gymnastics. The stadium seats 17,950 fans, with some games ranked within the top-25 nationally in attendance over the course of the Terps’ first five seasons in the Big Ten.
The $125 million facility serves as the second largest arena in the Big Ten. Xfinity Center — which was the Comcast Center until 2014 — replaced Cole Field House as Maryland’s home court.
Ludwig Field is one of the most daunting places to play for visiting teams due to The Crew. The Crew — Maryland soccer’s fans — sit behind both goals and cheers on the Terps for the entire game. Ludwig Field has hosted 10 crowds of more than 7,000 spectators since 2010.
Kehoe Track surrounds Ludwig Field and is the home complex for Maryland track and field. The built-in lighting fixtures make nighttime games popular throughout the season. The field is easily accessible through the back of the University of Mary land campus, with adjacent parking in Lot 1.
The latest update to the facilities was in 2008 with the addition of a press box above the bleacher seats.
Maryland Field Hockey and
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niversity of Maryland Golf Course: (Mateo Pacheco/The
Ben Geff ner I Women’sbasketballreporter
SECU Stadium: (Redox Robinson/The Diamondback)
Field: (Neelay Sachdeva/The Diamondback)
nity Center: (Daryl Perry/The Diamondback)
nity Center Pavilion: (Julia Nikhinson/The Diamondback)
Lacrosse Complex
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Xfinity Center Pavilion
Jake Kauderer I Volleyballreporter
Maryland Field Hockey and Lacrosse Complex
Aidan Currie I Fieldhockeyreporter
The Xfinity Center Pavilion opened in 2002 as a small subsection of the Xfinity Center. It is the home for Maryland volleyball and wrestling with a capacity of about 1,500 people. There is one concession stand right near the entrance with bleachers on both sides of the court. The Maryland band stands behind the respective baselines to perform for teams during games.
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Bob “Turtle” Smith Stadium
Michael Howes I Recruitingreporter
The stadium, which opened in 1954, has hosted Maryland baseball for nearly 70 years. It lies in the middle of campus, nestled between Stamp Student Union and SECU Stadium. A new practice facility is under construction adjacent to the stadium, which comes after a recently installed synthetic turf and closed off bullpen on the field.
Just a few minutes walk east of Xfinity Center, “The Plex” houses field hockey and women’s lacrosse, two of Maryland’s most decorated athletic programs. The venue first opened in 2003, but a recent $11 million renovation has given the facility a more modern look.
After its remodeling, the complex now includes updated locker rooms, an improved sports medicine room and the Tricia and Caitlin Green Hall of Champions — all in a two-story building that stands adjacent to the west side of the field. The main seating area runs along the north sideline, but fans often tailgate in campus parking lot 11B before entering.
University of Maryland Golf Course
Faith Harris I Generalassignmentsportsreporter
Located west of University Boulevard, the University of Maryland Golf Course serves as home to the men’s and women’s golf programs. The 150-acre facility opened in 1959, renovated in 2008 and now hosts more than 35,000 rounds of golf each year.
The stadium’s field is named after legendary Maryland coach H. Burton Shipley, who coached the Terps from 1924 to 1960.
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Bob Smith, the stadium’s namesake, is a Maryland baseball alum.
A clubhouse was added to the property in 1999 with a full-service grill, a golf pro shop with Terrapins’ gear and a banquet facility for tournaments. Facilities also include a driving range with 45 stations and more than 5,000 yards of practice putting green.
UMD student, fencer Noah Hanssen discusses ‘Surreal’ experience at 2024 Paralympics
As University of Maryland students prepared for the new school year, Noah Hanssen fulfilled a lifelong dream in Paris.
The 24-year-old public policy graduate student competed as a fencer in the 2024 Paralympic Games. Hanssen was the youngest member of the United States’ wheelchair fencing team and was the only student or alum from this university to compete in the games.
“I am still processing that happened,” Hanssen said. “It feels good, but it’s been just a surreal experience.”
His first bout in the men’s individual sabre B event was on Sept. 3 at Paris’ Grand Palais stadium, where he lost to eventual gold medalist Feng Yanke, who represented China. In the event, which is one of three competitive fencing types, fencers use sabre weapons to hit their opponent above the waist.
Hanssen won his next match and eventually placed 10th in the event. Over the next four days, Hanssen also placed 16th in the men’s individual epee event and ninth in the men’s team foil competition.
“I’m quite happy with how I fenced,” Hanssen said. “Definitely showed a lot of improvement.”
Hanssen used to sword fight with his friends and family as a child, he said.
He began historical fencing, or European martial arts, as a high school sophomore and quickly found a passion for the sport. He began to compete in 2018 and joined this university’s fencing club during his freshman year.
Hanssen competed in the 2024 Paralympic wheelchair fencing qualifying cycle, which took place in the two years before the Paris games. In May, Hanssen won zonal championships in São Paulo, which qualified him for the Paralympic team.
After he qualified, Hanssen said he spent the bulk of his summer training with U.S. parafencing head coach Eric Soyka as well as his training partner Matthew Chin, a sophomore finance major at this university.
Working with Hanssen is “absolutely wonderful,” Soyka said. The pair have trained across the country in Arizona, New York and Colorado.
“He’s able to explain and express where [his] limitations may be,” Soyka said. “He’s willing to try ideas to see if there’s going to be new ways of helping him get something better.”
Hanssen received support from his fencing club colleagues at this university while he competed in Paris.
Peter DeLalio, the fencing club’s president, said many members carefully watched the competition and were impressed with Hanssen’s skill and power.
“Trying to do the moves that he’s doing and the people that he’s facing are doing is almost impossible,” the junior chemistry, economics and math major said. “It’s a league of its own.”
By Oliver Mack I Staff writer
When he wasn’t traveling internationally to compete, Hanssen taught new fencing club members who showed up to practice consistently, DeLalio noted.
Hanssen would conduct private lessons and help club members with their technique, DeLalio said. He added that Hanssen’s advanced level allowed him to catch mistakes that others wouldn’t notice.
“If you met a member of fencing club and they’ve been there for a year or longer, they have been taught by Noah at some point or at least had the chance to face him,” DeLalio said.
Brian Falvey, the fencing club’s sabre team captain, said the whole club was excited for Hanssen to compete in the games.
Hanssen’s expertise in bladework was an asset to the club, Falvey, a senior mechanical engineering major, said.
“At the beginning, our footwork wasn’t amazing,” Falvey said.“But even though our footwork was atrocious, we were really good at bladework because Noah
could teach us bladework.”
Hanssen said most of his parafencing experience has likely been against able-bodied opponents. While able-bodied fencing emphasizes footwork, parafencing focuses on bladework, he said.
Hanssen said he left Paris proud of his performance, but always looks to improve.
Though he has not ruled out competing in the 2028 Paralympic Games in Los Angeles, Hanssen said he wants to focus on his master’s degree.
Hanssen returned from Paris on Sept. 9 and attended his first class of the fall semester later that night, he said.
“The introductions of ‘Hey sorry, I’m back from the Paralympics,’ are just gonna be a weird thing for everyone,” he said.
CORRECTION:Duetoaneditingerror,apreviousversionofthisstorymisspelledEricSoyka’slastname.This storyhasbeenupdated.
Paralympic fencer Noah Hanssen poses for a portrait in front of McKeldin Library on Sept. 10, 2024. (Kaya Bogot/The Diamondback)
Meet Malik Washington, the driving force behind Maryland football’s recruiting resurgence
Aaron Campbell heard the buzz about Malik Washington, a high-level eighth grade quarterback, long before they ever worked together. Washington played for the Maryland Heat, a local youth football team, and had offers to nearly every private high school in the state.
But Campbell, a quarterback trainer and the founder of Respect and Honor Academy for quarterbacks, isn’t one to fall for preliminary hype. He needed to see it with his own eyes.
So in Washington’s first training session, Campbell placed the teenager in his oldest age group — a cluster of high school and college quarterbacks. Washington’s first three throws were some of the worst Campbell had ever seen.
Each ball rolled off his fingertips and skipped across the grass. Some of his peers shared a laugh. Campbell shot a side-eyed gaze. Washington hung his head and trudged to the side.
“It was bad, and he was embarrassed,” Campbell said. “I’m like, ‘Okay, this kid is all hype.’”
Washington muttered to himself, picked his head up and returned to the field. He finished the harsh workout while trading trash talk with the other players.
Campbell said most kids in that situation would never come back. Washington returned the next day.
“He’s an eighth grader doing this,” Campbell said. “That’s not normal.”
Much about Washington isn’t normal.
He led Archbishop Spalding to its first-ever Maryland Interscholastic Athletic Association Class A championship, then did the same the next year. He’s a two-sport athlete who also starred on the Cavaliers’ basketball team the past two seasons. He has a 3.7 GPA and runs a free annual summer clinic for youth football players.
By Harrison Rich I Sportseditor,men’sbasketballreporter
Since Washington’s June 28 commitment, a handful of other four-star prospects have followed. Bryce Jenkins, Zymear Smith, Jaylen Gilchrist and Messiah Delhomme all announced their commitments to Maryland. Coach Michael Locksley has reeled in more local four-star recruits in the last two months than he has in any other class since his arrival in 2018.
Washington’s local connections run deep within Maryland’s class. The quarterback played with running back commits Iverson Howard and Bud Coombs on the Maryland Heat. He’s high school teammates with cornerback Jayden Shipps and defensive lineman Delmar White.
Maryland hired DJ Durkin as its new head coach in December, and Locksley departed for a job on Alabama’s staff. Haskins flipped his commitment to Ohio State one month later. Fellow Maryland native four-star Keandre Jones did the same. Maryland lost its best two players in the class.
Despite the fallout, that year offered a hint of Locksley’s recruiting vision: a DMV-centric attack anchored by a high-level quarterback. Nearly a decade later, his 2025 class can actualize that plan, with Washington at the head.
“He’s the type of kid that people gravitate around, and he’s a leader. I mean, it shows in everything that he does,” Campbell said. “Him walking into Maryland with the movement that coach Locks is trying to get off the ground, he’s definitely a person who can be the face of that.”
“Some guys around here that are my age or a little bit younger than me — some of those guys in the [2026, 2027] class — they could realize, if we can stay home and get it done, why not stay home and get it done?” Washington said.
“He’s the type of kid where, if you don’t think he can do it, he’s going to show you that he can,” Campbell said. “And then he’s going to tell you that he did it.”
Perhaps most uniquely, he’s leading a movement — one that’s allowing the Terps to keep some of the Washington, D.C.,-Maryland-Virginia area’s best players at home.
On May 15, 2015, four-star quarterback Dwayne Haskins verbally committed to Maryland. Locksley, Maryland’s then-offensive coordinator, was Haskins’ primary recruiter, and the two were said to have a close relationship. Then-Maryland coach Randy Edsall was fired that October and Locksley finished the season as interim coach.
The Terps have notched backto-back eight-win seasons for the first time since 2002. They’ve won three consecutive bowl games for the first time in program history. It’s a program that’s shown flashes but has yet to break through on a national level. Maryland cracked the Associated Press Top 25 just once since it joined the Big Ten in 2014.
Spalding had a similar trajectory. The Cavaliers moved from the MIAA B to the MIAA A Conference in 2011. They saw some success after hiring coach Kyle Schmitt in 2013 but were never considered a hotbed for local recruits.
When choosing which high school to attend, local powerhouses like St. Frances didn’t sway Washington. He chose Spalding because he forged strong relationships with the coaches, lived nearby and wanted to lead the team to greater heights.
Washington hopes to continue his impact at Spalding with a similar one at Maryland — a school that hasn’t won a conference championship since 2001.
“I think that’s kind of how I am as a person. I like going to places that I can help become something more than it already is,” Washington said. “That’s really my ultimate goal, is to build it up, leave it better than I found it and leave it better for the next guys.”
at an Archbishop Spalding football workshop on July 18, 2024, Malik Washington watches one of his throws. (Photo courtesy of Caleb Sawyer)
