Entering the seventh season in the history of Radford Women's Lacrosse, Grace Gleason and Margaret Gleason own nearly eight percent of recorded career offensive records.
 
The two sisters both rank in the top 10 in career points and shots. Grace holds spots in the top 10 for career goals, draw controls, free position goals and man-up goals; Margaret ranks number five in career assists and her 15 assists in 2021 is the sixth-highest total in school history. When the Gleason sisters were asked about these accomplishments, though, it was clear that while the stats are great and can help to inform the story of two sisters whose bond extends onto the field – it is far from the whole story.
 
The story of the Gleason sisters is, in a way, the story of the Radford Highlander lacrosse program: It's a Family Thing.
 
Roots
The Gleason sisters grew up in the Nashville suburb of Brentwood, Tenn. and played their high school lacrosse at Ravenwood High School. For them, sports – and success in sports – runs in the family. There are a total of five Gleason siblings who play or have played college sports: their sister Nicole played lacrosse at Marquette and their brothers Kevin and Jack played lacrosse at Augustana and football at the Air Force Academy, respectively. Not to mention that their dad, Kevin, played football at Southern Illinois University. Kevin often jokes with his sisters about the perceived physicality of the women's game, knowing full well that women's lacrosse is just as, if not more, physical, taxing, fast paced – and don't forget exciting – as the men's game.
 
Grace and Margaret's connection to Radford begins with their time playing high school lacrosse, as it turns out. Grace's best friend in high school was fellow Radford lacrosse standout Katie Bendrick. That trio was preceded at Radford by another former Ravenwood teammate, Megan Hawken, who started 60 games for the Highlanders – fifth most in program history – from 2017-2020.
 
Coming to a school the size of Radford is pretty easy when one sister is already there – and it's a no-brainer when you're coming to the New River Valley to join a band of sisters in pursuit of something bigger than any individual stats or records.
 
Finding Success
The 2021 Radford Women's Lacrosse season was a landmark one. For the first time ever, the Highlanders not only had a winning record in conference play at 4-2 but went to the Big South Tournament as the three seed and knocked off the number-two seeded Campbell Camels, 15-14. The win was the first in program history over Campbell and gave the Highlanders a chance to play for a Big South title against perennial-favorite High Point (who has won six of eight contested conference tournaments).
 
The Hollywood version of this tale includes a miraculous, triumphant upset victory for the underdog. But this isn't Hollywood and losing to a program like High Point does not make a season a failure. Quite the contrary, for two big reasons.
 
First, that Radford was even in the game was nothing short of extraordinary. For a program in its sixth year of existence to show that growth and make it to that moment is a testament to the character of the players and coaches who got it there.
 
Second, that's not where this story ends – not even close.
 
What's Next?
When Grace and Margaret were asked what's next for Radford and where can this program go from here, they didn't hesitate.
 
"The conference championship game, again," Grace said.
 
Margaret added, providing some context, "We know the feeling of being at the bottom because when we were 0-9, we didn't think we were going to make the conference championship… but also going and beating Campbell by one, that was one of the best moments in our program ever – so we know what it's like to be on top as well."
 
Of course, getting back to the Big South title game would in all likelihood involve another date with the Panthers, but that's part of the challenge and as Margaret says, "It helps us build as a team… our schedule is tough but at the end of the day it makes our team more competitive, and I think it makes our team closer too."
 
Certainly, there's a pressure to that, but it's not going to stop this team from doing what this team does. With the transition from Coach Haley Hardy, who got this program off the ground, to Samantha Hurley, the emphasis is on continued growth, not dramatic change – and this team is having fun doing it.
 
Margaret emphasized that while the 2022 squad is very young, that doesn't mean they don't get along or that upperclassmen and underclassmen won't be friends, saying, "The culture of being close with everyone, having the same respect for everyone, being weird – our team is so weird, and that's what makes our team so close is that we can be like that with each other because everyone will be so comfortable with each other."
 
Grace added that, "We win together, we lose together, and no matter what we do it together."
 
That sentiment seems to reflect the family atmosphere of the Radford lacrosse program. These players genuinely enjoy spending time together and those off the field relationships contribute to success and better communication on the field – like understanding that when a teammate points out a missed play it is for the betterment of the whole team; it's because the players care about each other, Margaret says.
 
Though, Coach Hurley concedes that the sisters are harder on each other than they are other members of the team in a productive way, saying, "They're very tough on each other. They're not like 'oh, sister are you okay?' They're like 'What the heck are you doing? Why am I beating you right now? You're being slow.' And they take it well. They're strong characters that they can take that from anybody but they definitely give it to each other more… I think it's really cool that they hold all these records because they're constantly chasing and pushing each other… I don't think it's a coincidence at all that they're neck-and-neck."
 
That doesn't guarantee that Radford will win the conference, or that the program will make it back to the title game right away, but it does show growth. It takes that level of buying into the process to get somewhere you've never gone before.

Setting the Legacy
Six seasons. The entire history of Radford Women's Lacrosse. That's not a ton of time to build traditions and create a legacy, but for Grace and Margaret, that opportunity to set the legacy of the Highlanders' program is an exciting one.
 
"It gives us the freedom to say, 'we're going to make our own way in the conference,'" said Margaret. "I feel like it's more fuel to our fire that people look at us as a seventh-year program like, 'they can't do it, they can't make it to the conference championship.' … no, we want to go out and prove to ourselves – we want to put Radford on the map."
 
The sisters emphasize that their pursuits are not as much about chasing the old guard in the conference, but instead about pursuing what they want Radford to be.
 
"We can make expectations for ourselves – just because we are a newer program doesn't mean we can't give Campbell a run for their money…" said Grace, continuing. "[they] see us like 'oh it's just Radford, they're the underdog,' and then when you see us come out on top it's like, yeah we can compete with you guys."
 
Continuing Tradition
The Gleason sisters are the third pair of siblings to play lacrosse at Radford. 2022 teammate Katie Carroll is one of the other two pairs, following in the footsteps of her sister Lindsey Carroll, the school record holder in career points who graduated last season.
 
Grace and Margaret Gleason carry a torch with a glow indicative of a program that is more than just a sports team. Radford Women's Lacrosse is a young program full of young players with newfound confidence. They are on their way, and no matter what happens this season, they're doing it together.