By R.L. Bynum
Carolina’s field hockey and women’s tennis teams were two of the national championship teams honored at the White House on Monday.
Vice President Kamala Harris welcomed 19 championship teams at a ceremony outside of the White House as the attendees battled a drizzle. Speaking before Harris was NCAA president Charlie Baker. Logan Eggleston of the Texas women’s volleyball team spoke after Harris and presented a national championship trophy to the vice president.
All of the teams had players on four rows behind the lectern. Three UNC athletes were on the first row: Erin Matson, the 2022 National Player of the Year and Honda Award winner who played on the field hockey team that won the title and is now the head coach, and the national-championship doubles team of Fiona Crawley and Carson Tanguilig.
In the below photos, the field hockey players are wearing white pants and the tennis players black pants.
Later, the players and coaches went to Capitol Hill, and met with members of North Carolina’s Congressional delegation.
Carolina’s field hockey team won the 2022 NCAA title with a 2–1 win over Northwestern on Nov. 20 in Storrs, Conn. It was the Tar Heels’ 10th championship and fourth in the past five years.
UNC, which finished the season 21–0, has won more titles than any other Division I field hockey program. After 42 years at the program’s helm, Karen Shelton retired as the sport’s all-time leader in career victories in December. Matson, the 2022 National Player of the Year and Honda Award winner, became the program’s coach in January.
Carolina’s women’s tennis team won the 2023 NCAA title with a 4–1 win over N.C. State in Orlando, Fla., on May 20 for the program’s first NCAA title, finishing 35–1 in dual matches.
A week later, the Tar Heels added another trophy as Crawley and Tanguilig defeated teammates Reese Brantmeier and Elizabeth Scotty to win the NCAA doubles crown.
The tennis title marked the 49th total NCAA championship for the Tar Heels, the 36th by a UNC women’s team. The 2022–23 school year is the 12th time in school history that multiple UNC teams have won NCAA titles in the same academic year.
Photos courtesy of UNC Athletics Communications (ceremony shot is a screenshot)
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