Amidst the clamor of the crowd celebrating Coach Carroll LaHaye’s 500th career victory, one could almost hear and audible sigh of relief and it seemed as if a weight had been lifted from the rafters of Crenshaw Gymnasium. The milestone mark was at last achieved. Take a deep breath. Now we can move on.

  LaHaye has never been a records person. After 30 years on the bench, the only time the coach concentrates on the number of wins is as the regular season winds down and the possibility of post season appearances relies on such figures.

  But at the same time LaHaye realized the number of wins and losses are very important to players, fans and alumni who support her team. To them, the 500 win plateau was something they could take pride in; something they brag about and something for them to cherish.

  Because LaHaye is such a respected figure on the Ashland campus, everyone wanted the record mark for her.

  “We talk about how much we wanted to do it for Coach,” said senior center Taylor Wieczorek. “We were just fighting to get it for her.”

  Coming into the season LaHaye had 494 wins and expectations were that the record mark would be quickly attained. A banner was hung over the entrance to the women’s locker room for all to see. It counted up the win total towards 500. Needing only six wins to break the barrier, history had shown a LaHaye coached squad could easily attain that mark by early December at the latest.

  But the Yellow Jackets did not perform up to expectations coming out of the gate. Seeking chemistry and aligning all the pieces of the puzzle brought on early losses. By the end of November the number on the banner had increased by one. Early December came and went and the team had only gotten halfway to their goal. With each loss the pressure magnified. Instead being of a sign of accomplishment, the banner soon became a reminder of deficiencies. Three wins away the drive to achieve the milestone seemed to turn into a millstone.

  The Yellow Jackets appeared to press themselves. They played hard, they gave 100 percent but at the same time they seemed uptight. Easy shots bounced off the rim and turnovers accumulated.  R-MC was simply not playing good basketball, which could easily be contributed to the intense desire to reach 500.

  “There was definitely pressure that we put on ourselves, from the fans, from the alumni,” said senior forward Molly Brown. “Everyone wanted this for coach and we wish we could have got this sooner.

  “Maybe we were a little bit timid, on our heels, just nervous and anxious because we all really, really wanted this for her because she deserves it,” Brown said.

  Wieczorek agreed. “I think we felt a little bit of pressure just because Coach LaHaye really deserves it,” she said. “She’s done so much over the years. But there’s always the pressure every game to win it because that’s what we’re here to do. So it wasn’t a ton of pressure it’s just a regular game and we have to win every one. That’s how we looked at it.”

  Still, the players reminded themselves of the goal before taking the floor. “Every game we’d come in as a team, gather in the locker room and say, ‘Let’s do this for Coach’,” said senior guard Maggie Roy. “But once we got out there you kind of forget about everything. It’s like a blessing and a curse.”

  Christmas, then New Years came and went and the ever present banner had increased by one win. “It was just a constant reminder,” Brown said.

  For LaHaye, it was the last situation she wanted to put her team in. “I really think it’s been hanging over my players more than it’s been hanging over me,” she said. “I think they put a lot of pressure on themselves this year to help me get to this point and I really regret that because I just wanted them to have fun. I have four seniors that are really special people and I think that they’ve taken the pressure on themselves and I wish there was something I could have done to tell them, ‘Let it go. Let it go.’ But they want to excel and they wanted to excel for me.”

  With a win at Emory & Henry, LaHaye’s total moved to 499, but the team faced a huge challenge trying to get No. 500 against Virginia Wesleyan last Tuesday night. Yet playing against the ODAC’s top team, R-MC began to look like themselves once again. In a nip-and-tuck battle, only a late barrage of three straight 3-pointers allowed the Marlins to escape with a victory.

  Then in the course of four days, the Yellow Jackets went from playing the league’s top team to one at the bottom. Facing a 1-8 Roanoke squad, it was virtually a must-win game for R-MC and in the first half the pressure of achieving that elusive 500th victory was evident.

  “People showed up today with the 500 on their shirts and the 500 signs and so it’s like we have to win this game,” Brown said. “They showed up on Tuesday night and we didn’t perform. But there was definitely a lot of pressure.”

  The Yellow Jackets played hard, but ineffective basketball as Roanoke ran out to an early eight point lead.

  Yet, in the final minute of the first half the Yellow Jackets settled down and got back playing to Randolph-Macon basketball. Shots fell, the defense created turnovers and the Yellow Jackets moved head.

  When the final horn sounded, LaHaye did not know what the score was. She only knew that she had won and the milestone as achieved. She wept as her players smothered her in a group hug. Perhaps unknowingly the Coach herself was relieved that the win was now behind her. “I really didn’t think I was going to be as emotional as I was,” she said. “I kind of shocked myself a little bit. I knew it was going to be a special moment because there were so many people here; people from my past who wanted to come back and share it with me and I guess that’s what kind of caught me emotionally.”

  “It feels great,” Wieczorek said. “She has done more for us than we could have ever imagined and we’re all extremely happy that we chose this team.”

  “We all love Coach LaHaye,” Brown said. “She’s a great woman and a great coach. She teaches us as much off the court as on the court. I feel really honored to have picked this program and to have played for her and I was here for her becoming the winningest coach at Randolph-Macon and now her 500th win. She’s a great role model for us and teaches us a lot.”

  “For me, it just feels great to be here and be a part of that,” Roy said. “That’s huge.”

  Even though LaHaye’s name will go in the record book for the 500th win, she was glad to accomplish the milestone for her players. “I know everybody’s on the 500 and I know it’s an accomplishment,” she said. “It is really the people and the relationships and the parents that I’ve been able to get to know and kind of cultivate their daughter and her development and that has meant more to me because that’s what life is all about; so much more than basketball. Sometimes it’s easy to get caught up in the game of basketball because it just catches you emotionally, mentally and physically but you sit back and think about the people and the lives I’ve been a part of it’s pretty dog-gone special.”

  With the milestone now behind them, a new season begins; one without the pressure of achieving a history-making moment; a second season that marks a return to Yellow Jacket basketball.

  “I think there will probably be a little bit more relaxation,” Wieczorek said. “We’re still looking to go to ODACs and win it all so there’s still going to be the pressure to win.”

  On Saturday, less than 24 hours after the milestone win, R-MC hosted a Hollins team that sat above them in the ODAC standings.

  R-MC rolled to a 76-53 win.

  It marked only the second time this season the Yellow Jackets had won back-to-back games and the first contest without a weight hanging over their heads.