Princeton University Athletics
Wednesday TigerBlog - You Too Nance?
April 29, 2026 | Tiger Blog
You see this picture?
TigerBlog has shown it a few people who know who's in it and they've all had one of two reactions: 1) there's a lot of goals in that picture or 2) did she end up passing him?
So yes, there are a lot of goals there. And yes, she did pass him.
That would be the MacDonald family. TigerBlog was going to correct that it was the MacDonalds plus him, but then he thought better of that.
And why not? He considers himself an honorary MacDonald, something he earned when he thumped them all in their family card game, Wizard.
This is what TB wrote about it after he played with them the first time:
TB had never heard of it until he sat down to play with the entire MacDonald family. The fact that he didn't know the rules notwithstanding, TB won — three times. And that was after he saw cards thrown, insults hurled, marital choices questioned (at least that's what Linda MacDonald said to her husband Steve) though it was all in good fun. They are a great group, the MacDonalds.
This picture was taken this past Saturday, after the women's lacrosse team's Senior Day win over Dartmouth. It was Jami MacDonald's final Sherrerd Field appearance, after eight years of MacDonalds who dominated at the facility. Her brother Mikey was the 2015 Roper Trophy winner; he still has scored more points in a season at Princeton than any other men's lacrosse player not named Michael Sowers.
Jami, who was named the Ivy League Attacker of the Year yesterday, brings 260 career points into Princeton's Ivy League tournament semifinal against Penn at Yale Saturday. Mikey? He finished his career with 208. Jami also has the edge in goals (158-132) and assists (102-76).
It's going to be a long, long time before siblings will ever reach 468 points (and counting) between them.
There's a different picture from Saturday that TB wants to talk about though. It's this one:
This one is from halftime of the men's game, when, despite the rain, Princeton Athletics honored two longtime legends who will be retiring at the end of this academic year: Karen Malec and Nancy Donigan.
TigerBlog wrote about Karen a few weeks ago, when she first announced that her 36-year career at Princeton was going to be coming to a close. You can read that HERE.
Today is Nancy's turn. TB could actually just do a "find" and "change" for "Karen" to "Nancy," because much of what applies to Karen applies to Nancy, who, by the way, have always been really close friends.
When TB first came to Princeton, Nancy and her husband Joe had two little kids. You can see them all in the picture — with their next generation of little kids. Where did the time go?
Nancy is retiring after 39 years at Princeton, most of which has been spent in the compliance office after starting out in the football office. She was a great athlete in her own right and is a member of the Notre Dame High School (in Lawrenceville) Hall of Fame.
When TB thinks about what to write about Nancy, he comes back to two words: warmth, and smile. Nancy exudes the first and almost always has the second.
TigerBlog has had his share of ups and downs during his time at Princeton. Through it all, Nancy has been a constant as a friend whose support, compassion, humor and kindness have helped sustain TB through those downs.
Much like Karen, Nancy is just fun to be around. She laughs. She jokes. She lives each day devoted to her family and to those closest to her. Whatever she's doing, she maximizes the enjoyment for everyone in her orbit.
On top of who she is, there's the job she's done. Pretty much every athlete who has come through Princeton during her time has no idea who she is. They have no way of knowing that if she didn't do her job the way she did, they would never have gotten a chance to compete as a Tiger. The coaches here certainly know how important she's been for their programs.
When TB heard the news that Nancy was retiring, his first thought was "you too, Nance?" What will Princeton Athletics be without Nancy Donigan? Much like it will be without Karen Malec.
Better for having had them here as long as they were — and yet never really the same again.
