I have been trying and trying to put together the usual ugly photoshop of the FOV COY winner, and I've got a perfect record of failure so far. That explains some of the delay in honoring the winner. There just isn't a just-right picture out there like usual. This is probably because women's soccer gets about 1/1000th the coverage of the sports that usually produce the winner.
Pity, because Morgan Brian is probably - not, not probably, definitely - the top UVA athlete of his or her sport of the illustrious FOV era. Brian becomes the second Hoo after Danny Hultzen to be a two-time winner, and she came within three votes of winning last year as well. It can be tough for a non-revenue athlete to overcome a revenue one - or more specifically, a baseball or men's basketball player, as one of them has won the award in four of the previous six years of this thing (including the year Brian shared it with Mike Scott.) This year was no different; Brian had to overcome a surge of support for Josh Sborz, what with leftover warm happy feelings from baseball awesomeness. This was no small feat because national championship.
But then, World Cup. That sat on top of the pile of trophies that Brian hauls around in a dump truck. She didn't just soak up the atmosphere from the bench, either, she was in for 353 of 630-ish possible minutes. That's the kind of talent UVA had on its side for three seasons. It's only fitting that UVA's best athlete in a very long time caps off UVA's best season ever. Both Morgan Brian and the 2014-15 athletic season will be very, very tough to top.
For posterity, the final results and number of votes:
Morgan Brian - 57
Josh Sborz - 40
Ryan Shane - 13
Malcolm Brogdon - 2
Courtney Swan, Tara Vittese - 1
Eric Bird, Quin Blanding, Denny McCarthy, Leah Smith, Nick Sulzer, Jordan Young - 0
Showing posts with label cavalier of the year. Show all posts
Showing posts with label cavalier of the year. Show all posts
Tuesday, October 6, 2015
Monday, August 3, 2015
off the deep end
First, it's time to put on your voting hats. UVA finished its most successful season ever, with six ACC titles (most in the league) and three national titles (also far most in the league) and the Capital One Cup in men's sports. Virginia athletes competed in the U.S. Open, the FIFA Women's World Cup, the FINA world championships. They brought home individual national championships and individual ACC championships to go along with the team ones. They rewrote the school record book. They won trophies for being the top athlete in the country, the top scholar in the conference, the top tournament performer, there were multiple ACC Freshmen of the Year, there were more all-Americans than you can count on your hands.
Now all you have to do is decide the Cavalier of the Year. It's the strongest field I can think of. You get one vote. Use it wisely. To help you with that, here's the list of candidates, with links to their nomination profiles:
Eric Bird
Quin Blanding
Morgan Brian
Malcolm Brogdon
Denny McCarthy
Josh Sborz
Ryan Shane
Leah Smith
Nick Sulzer
Courtney Swan
Tara Vittese
Jordan Young
Voting lasts for two weeks. Enjoy.
*******************************************************
Back to the music. It's August, and that means football preseason. In the past that's meant full-blown ACC previews, but this year I'm backing off. Much of that work will still be done behind the scenes so I can still put out an abbreviated preview. August will still be pretty much football preview month, though, just, differently.
Today we're gonna start with the roster turnover. Not the graduating seniors or the incoming freshmen - we're talking attrition and transfers. And then I'll digress into a bit of a recruiting diatribe because it's such an easy target.
Anyway. Best I can tell, the list of non-senior losses looks like this:
Greyson Lambert
David Watford
Eli Harold
Max Valles
Darius Lee
George Adeosun
Mario Nixon
Dominique Terrell
Jamil Kamara
Michael Biesemier
Jordan Jackson
Caanan Brown
The last three - all front-seven defensive players - would've been redshirt freshmen and simply don't appear on the roster; there is no Googlable article on their departure nor any mention on the official site. Would any have played a major role this year? Rather unlikely. It's basically three lost lottery tickets and a year each of developmental depth.
That's a ton of attrition, though. 13 players, two of which left early for the league. Also two quarterbacks, which is not helpful. Two names that were once-promising receiver talent and never lived up to the hype. A couple medical scholarships. It's a combination of factors, but successful programs do not see that much attrition. If there's a coaching transition this winter, UVA could see that kind of attrition again.
To the staff's credit, though, they were very, very active on the transfer market, plugging quite a few holes with veterans. Again, this is not that healthy. Football is not basketball; it's very, very rare to find an Anthony Gill on the transfer market. Successful programs generally don't see that much in-and-out in from transfers. It's mostly guys who didn't pan out at their first choices. Nevertheless, under the circumstances it's remarkable work by the staff. Just about everyone should play a visible role, and a very important one. UVA's free-agent acquisitions, alphabetically:
-- QB Connor Brewer. Really intriguing pickup here. And badly needed, too, after losing Greyson Lambert. Brewer was a highly-coveted four-star recruit who originally picked Texas. Big-time stuff. After one redshirt year, his OC left and the Longhorns recruited over him, and he used a year of eligibility to transfer close to home to Arizona. It was kind of a poor choice, career-wise - Brewer isn't a runner, but he transferred right into the Rich Rodriguez spread, where he naturally spent two years on the bench. Having graduated from Arizona, he's eligible to play right now with two seasons left on his clock. UVA was looking at having three quarterbacks and Matt Johns being the only one with any experience. Johns enters camp as the starter, and Brewer really doesn't have any game experience to speak of either, but at the very worst he can enter a three-way competition for the backup job. That itself is pretty crucial.
-- TE Charlie Hopkins. Hopkins graduated from Stanford and is eligible right away for one season. Tight end was looking just as desperate as quarterback, and Hopkins, though lightly-used as a receiver, does have a fair amount of game time under his belt. The TE situation was as follows: one little-used converted DE, one never-used converted QB, and three freshmen (one redshirt.) Hopkins should step right in and be a heavy contributor.
-- RB Albert Reid. Thanks to an injury waiver and a degree in hand from Maryland, Reid is immediately eligible as well for two seasons. Taquan Mizzell is the heir apparent at RB, but he still has a metric ton to prove, and other than him there's, again, precious little experience. Reid has a solid resume from his time in College Park and really upgrades the competition.
-- WR T.J. Thorpe. A really intriguing player. Wide receiver really wasn't in need of much of a boost (that changed somewhat with Doni Dowling likely out for a while, but Thorpe was brought in before that happened) but even so, Thorpe has exciting possibilities. He's instantly the fastest guy on the team; his lightning-quick feet set kick return records as a freshman at North Carolina, but his career has been hampered by injury and he never really got far off the ground as a regular WR. This is definitely a boom-or-bust acquisition. It's not hard to believe Thorpe could go for 1,000 yards and just light up ACC defenses. He has that potential. He could also break his foot again or something. It'd be a huge shame, but at least, if that happens, UVA has the depth to absorb the loss. If one of these other guys turns out to be a dud, the position can't really handle the disappointment. With Thorpe, there's nothing but upside.
Those depth chart issues are the source of a lot of London angst. UVA is overloaded in some places and badly undermanned in others. His backers like to argue it's just a lot of bad luck. The incoming 2016 recruiting class says otherwise. A quick count of the 20 players so far:
-- 1 quarterback. Fine. Take one every year, I'll never complain.
-- 1 running back. Also fine, as none graduate this year.
-- 0 fullbacks. Not helpful for a coaching staff claiming to want to establish a power running game.
-- 2 tight ends. Fine. Two graduate this year, the position will at least have bodies if not much experience.
-- 3 OL. It was four, but one dude was basically placeholding in case he didn't get other offers. Replace him and I'm OK with the numbers. They'll need four more again next year, and four the year after that, and maybe the year after that too, but chances are a non-crazy coaching staff will be making those decisions.
-- 0 defensive tackles. Unhelpful.
-- 1 defensive end.
-- 1 linebacker. Normally not enough of either, but the staff went apeshit last year, so piling up at these positions would be wasteful. They need to spread out the huge glob they created, though.
This amount of players does not remotely fill out a team. Good thing, then, that the staff has chosen to pile on eleven WR/DB types!
There's a bit of a necessity at safety. Cornerback technically needs two starters but in real life needs three, so you can pile up a bit there. A bit. Then again I also count six players likely slated for wide receiver. At least you can't say these guys are afraid of competition.
When Tom O'Brien was brought in, word was that he immediately convinced Mike London the O-line needed more bodies, and recruited some. When he left, it was whispered he ended up not doing much. I wonder if the first impression wasn't correct and maybe he was providing some adult supervision after all. The 20-man recruiting class currently has 11 WR/DBs and 9 of everything else. That is completely insane. I can't tell whether London's philosophy is to fill the team with athletes or just if he sees a shiny object at a camp and can't help but offer. Either way, what he's doing is bizarre.
There'll probably be a decommitment or two. It's damn near inevitable. That means I'm probably overreacting and the final result will be rather less crazy. Maybe. The real point is - as much as I like the transfers we've brought in, London is making damn good and sure we'll need plenty more in the future.
Now all you have to do is decide the Cavalier of the Year. It's the strongest field I can think of. You get one vote. Use it wisely. To help you with that, here's the list of candidates, with links to their nomination profiles:
Eric Bird
Quin Blanding
Morgan Brian
Malcolm Brogdon
Denny McCarthy
Josh Sborz
Ryan Shane
Leah Smith
Nick Sulzer
Courtney Swan
Tara Vittese
Jordan Young
Voting lasts for two weeks. Enjoy.
*******************************************************
Back to the music. It's August, and that means football preseason. In the past that's meant full-blown ACC previews, but this year I'm backing off. Much of that work will still be done behind the scenes so I can still put out an abbreviated preview. August will still be pretty much football preview month, though, just, differently.
Today we're gonna start with the roster turnover. Not the graduating seniors or the incoming freshmen - we're talking attrition and transfers. And then I'll digress into a bit of a recruiting diatribe because it's such an easy target.
Anyway. Best I can tell, the list of non-senior losses looks like this:
Greyson Lambert
David Watford
Eli Harold
Max Valles
Darius Lee
George Adeosun
Mario Nixon
Dominique Terrell
Jamil Kamara
Michael Biesemier
Jordan Jackson
Caanan Brown
The last three - all front-seven defensive players - would've been redshirt freshmen and simply don't appear on the roster; there is no Googlable article on their departure nor any mention on the official site. Would any have played a major role this year? Rather unlikely. It's basically three lost lottery tickets and a year each of developmental depth.
That's a ton of attrition, though. 13 players, two of which left early for the league. Also two quarterbacks, which is not helpful. Two names that were once-promising receiver talent and never lived up to the hype. A couple medical scholarships. It's a combination of factors, but successful programs do not see that much attrition. If there's a coaching transition this winter, UVA could see that kind of attrition again.
To the staff's credit, though, they were very, very active on the transfer market, plugging quite a few holes with veterans. Again, this is not that healthy. Football is not basketball; it's very, very rare to find an Anthony Gill on the transfer market. Successful programs generally don't see that much in-and-out in from transfers. It's mostly guys who didn't pan out at their first choices. Nevertheless, under the circumstances it's remarkable work by the staff. Just about everyone should play a visible role, and a very important one. UVA's free-agent acquisitions, alphabetically:
-- QB Connor Brewer. Really intriguing pickup here. And badly needed, too, after losing Greyson Lambert. Brewer was a highly-coveted four-star recruit who originally picked Texas. Big-time stuff. After one redshirt year, his OC left and the Longhorns recruited over him, and he used a year of eligibility to transfer close to home to Arizona. It was kind of a poor choice, career-wise - Brewer isn't a runner, but he transferred right into the Rich Rodriguez spread, where he naturally spent two years on the bench. Having graduated from Arizona, he's eligible to play right now with two seasons left on his clock. UVA was looking at having three quarterbacks and Matt Johns being the only one with any experience. Johns enters camp as the starter, and Brewer really doesn't have any game experience to speak of either, but at the very worst he can enter a three-way competition for the backup job. That itself is pretty crucial.
-- TE Charlie Hopkins. Hopkins graduated from Stanford and is eligible right away for one season. Tight end was looking just as desperate as quarterback, and Hopkins, though lightly-used as a receiver, does have a fair amount of game time under his belt. The TE situation was as follows: one little-used converted DE, one never-used converted QB, and three freshmen (one redshirt.) Hopkins should step right in and be a heavy contributor.
-- RB Albert Reid. Thanks to an injury waiver and a degree in hand from Maryland, Reid is immediately eligible as well for two seasons. Taquan Mizzell is the heir apparent at RB, but he still has a metric ton to prove, and other than him there's, again, precious little experience. Reid has a solid resume from his time in College Park and really upgrades the competition.
-- WR T.J. Thorpe. A really intriguing player. Wide receiver really wasn't in need of much of a boost (that changed somewhat with Doni Dowling likely out for a while, but Thorpe was brought in before that happened) but even so, Thorpe has exciting possibilities. He's instantly the fastest guy on the team; his lightning-quick feet set kick return records as a freshman at North Carolina, but his career has been hampered by injury and he never really got far off the ground as a regular WR. This is definitely a boom-or-bust acquisition. It's not hard to believe Thorpe could go for 1,000 yards and just light up ACC defenses. He has that potential. He could also break his foot again or something. It'd be a huge shame, but at least, if that happens, UVA has the depth to absorb the loss. If one of these other guys turns out to be a dud, the position can't really handle the disappointment. With Thorpe, there's nothing but upside.
Those depth chart issues are the source of a lot of London angst. UVA is overloaded in some places and badly undermanned in others. His backers like to argue it's just a lot of bad luck. The incoming 2016 recruiting class says otherwise. A quick count of the 20 players so far:
-- 1 quarterback. Fine. Take one every year, I'll never complain.
-- 1 running back. Also fine, as none graduate this year.
-- 0 fullbacks. Not helpful for a coaching staff claiming to want to establish a power running game.
-- 2 tight ends. Fine. Two graduate this year, the position will at least have bodies if not much experience.
-- 3 OL. It was four, but one dude was basically placeholding in case he didn't get other offers. Replace him and I'm OK with the numbers. They'll need four more again next year, and four the year after that, and maybe the year after that too, but chances are a non-crazy coaching staff will be making those decisions.
-- 0 defensive tackles. Unhelpful.
-- 1 defensive end.
-- 1 linebacker. Normally not enough of either, but the staff went apeshit last year, so piling up at these positions would be wasteful. They need to spread out the huge glob they created, though.
This amount of players does not remotely fill out a team. Good thing, then, that the staff has chosen to pile on eleven WR/DB types!
There's a bit of a necessity at safety. Cornerback technically needs two starters but in real life needs three, so you can pile up a bit there. A bit. Then again I also count six players likely slated for wide receiver. At least you can't say these guys are afraid of competition.
When Tom O'Brien was brought in, word was that he immediately convinced Mike London the O-line needed more bodies, and recruited some. When he left, it was whispered he ended up not doing much. I wonder if the first impression wasn't correct and maybe he was providing some adult supervision after all. The 20-man recruiting class currently has 11 WR/DBs and 9 of everything else. That is completely insane. I can't tell whether London's philosophy is to fill the team with athletes or just if he sees a shiny object at a camp and can't help but offer. Either way, what he's doing is bizarre.
There'll probably be a decommitment or two. It's damn near inevitable. That means I'm probably overreacting and the final result will be rather less crazy. Maybe. The real point is - as much as I like the transfers we've brought in, London is making damn good and sure we'll need plenty more in the future.
Sunday, August 2, 2015
FOV Cavalier of the Year #11/#12
From Old Virginia celebrates its birthday (a bit late this year) in a unique way: by recognizing one of Virginia's student-athletes as the Cavalier of the Year. What are the criteria for the award? You decide; that's the beauty. I nominate the 12 athletes that I think have been the most outstanding during the latest season of UVA athletics, and provide a short summary of their accomplishments. You choose the winner in a poll that goes up after all 12 have had their moment in the spotlight. The full list of nominees is here.
Over the next few weeks, two athletes at a time will be profiled, and you'll hear about what they've accomplished while representing Mr. Jefferson's University this year. The athletes are presented in a totally random order so as to hopefully not imply any endorsement one way or another. Athletes from all fields are considered; the point is to emphasize that UVA is about excellence across the entire department and doesn't shortchange its so-called non-revenue sports simply because they don't make headlines. Today's athletes: Eric Bird and Jordan Young.
Eric Bird - Men's soccer - Midfield
Team accomplishments:
-- National champions
-- Record 34th straight NCAA tournament appearance
Personal accomplishments:
-- NSCAA 2nd-team all-American
-- 1st-team all-ACC
-- Team leader in goals, points
-- 2nd-round selection in MLS SuperDraft
-- Preseason Herrman Trophy watch list
-- ACC all-academic team (2nd selection)
Maybe we should be rooting extra-hard for men's soccer. In each of the last six seasons, a UVA team has won a national title in all but one of them. In two of those years, the Hoos brought home more than one title; both years, men's soccer was the first.
The Hoos' run to - and through - the College Cup was a chip right off the old Tony Bennett block. Defense, defense, defense, so much so that the College Cup announcers ripped the tactics every chance they got. Eff 'em. These tactics, plus a season that was at best, pretty good, left little chance for statistical stardom; Bird's team-leading goal total was just five, the lowest total for a team leader in forever. Bird also missed most of the NCAA tournament with a groin injury. This team didn't have much firepower.
Nevertheless, Bird was an all-American anyway, for the second year in a row. And for the second year in a row, team captain and all-academic student. And it was just getting here that was hard enough; Bird's first two seasons were effectively wasted by a severe knee injury that saw two torn ligaments and over a year of rehab. From being held up on crutches to holding up both a team and a trophy, that's one hell of a journey.
Jordan Young - Men's track and field - Throws
Team accomplishments:
-- 2nd place at ACC meet
-- 17th place at NCAA championships
-- 5th place in USTFCCCA program standings
Personal accomplishments:
-- 6th-place finish in discus (1st-team all-American)
-- 7th-place finish in hammer throw (1st-team all-American)
-- 10th-place finish in shot put (2nd-team all-American)
-- Only male athlete to qualify for three individual events at NCAAs
-- ACC meet Field MVP
-- Set school records in hammer throw and weight throw
Quietly, the men's track and field program is, pardon the pun, making strides. Good things are happening. This small revolution is being led by guys who chuck heavy things as far as they can. Jordan Young has some competition in the form of fellow sophomore Filip Mihaljevic. Both are changing the school record books, and both look like really strong candidates for the Rio Olympics next year; Young for Canada, Mihaljevic for Croatia.
For now, Young is the more accomplished of the two. He was the only athlete in the country to qualify for three individual events at the NCAAs, and he finished as an all-American in all three. That combined with his trophy for Field MVP at the ACCs firmly establishes him as the conference's top thrower. Only a sophomore, it's likely that what Young is doing now, impressive as it is, is only a precursor to much greater things.
Over the next few weeks, two athletes at a time will be profiled, and you'll hear about what they've accomplished while representing Mr. Jefferson's University this year. The athletes are presented in a totally random order so as to hopefully not imply any endorsement one way or another. Athletes from all fields are considered; the point is to emphasize that UVA is about excellence across the entire department and doesn't shortchange its so-called non-revenue sports simply because they don't make headlines. Today's athletes: Eric Bird and Jordan Young.
Eric Bird - Men's soccer - Midfield
Team accomplishments:
-- National champions
-- Record 34th straight NCAA tournament appearance
Personal accomplishments:
-- NSCAA 2nd-team all-American
-- 1st-team all-ACC
-- Team leader in goals, points
-- 2nd-round selection in MLS SuperDraft
-- Preseason Herrman Trophy watch list
-- ACC all-academic team (2nd selection)
Maybe we should be rooting extra-hard for men's soccer. In each of the last six seasons, a UVA team has won a national title in all but one of them. In two of those years, the Hoos brought home more than one title; both years, men's soccer was the first.
The Hoos' run to - and through - the College Cup was a chip right off the old Tony Bennett block. Defense, defense, defense, so much so that the College Cup announcers ripped the tactics every chance they got. Eff 'em. These tactics, plus a season that was at best, pretty good, left little chance for statistical stardom; Bird's team-leading goal total was just five, the lowest total for a team leader in forever. Bird also missed most of the NCAA tournament with a groin injury. This team didn't have much firepower.
Nevertheless, Bird was an all-American anyway, for the second year in a row. And for the second year in a row, team captain and all-academic student. And it was just getting here that was hard enough; Bird's first two seasons were effectively wasted by a severe knee injury that saw two torn ligaments and over a year of rehab. From being held up on crutches to holding up both a team and a trophy, that's one hell of a journey.
Jordan Young - Men's track and field - Throws
Team accomplishments:
-- 2nd place at ACC meet
-- 17th place at NCAA championships
-- 5th place in USTFCCCA program standings
Personal accomplishments:
-- 6th-place finish in discus (1st-team all-American)
-- 7th-place finish in hammer throw (1st-team all-American)
-- 10th-place finish in shot put (2nd-team all-American)
-- Only male athlete to qualify for three individual events at NCAAs
-- ACC meet Field MVP
-- Set school records in hammer throw and weight throw
Quietly, the men's track and field program is, pardon the pun, making strides. Good things are happening. This small revolution is being led by guys who chuck heavy things as far as they can. Jordan Young has some competition in the form of fellow sophomore Filip Mihaljevic. Both are changing the school record books, and both look like really strong candidates for the Rio Olympics next year; Young for Canada, Mihaljevic for Croatia.
For now, Young is the more accomplished of the two. He was the only athlete in the country to qualify for three individual events at the NCAAs, and he finished as an all-American in all three. That combined with his trophy for Field MVP at the ACCs firmly establishes him as the conference's top thrower. Only a sophomore, it's likely that what Young is doing now, impressive as it is, is only a precursor to much greater things.
Monday, July 27, 2015
FOV Cavalier of the Year #9/#10
From Old Virginia celebrates its birthday (a bit late this year) in a unique way: by recognizing one of Virginia's student-athletes as the Cavalier of the Year. What are the criteria for the award? You decide; that's the beauty. I nominate the 12 athletes that I think have been the most outstanding during the latest season of UVA athletics, and provide a short summary of their accomplishments. You choose the winner in a poll that goes up after all 12 have had their moment in the spotlight. The full list of nominees is here.
Over the next few weeks, two athletes at a time will be profiled, and you'll hear about what they've accomplished while representing Mr. Jefferson's University this year. The athletes are presented in a totally random order so as to hopefully not imply any endorsement one way or another. Athletes from all fields are considered; the point is to emphasize that UVA is about excellence across the entire department and doesn't shortchange its so-called non-revenue sports simply because they don't make headlines. Today's athletes: Ryan Shane and Courtney Swan.
Ryan Shane - Men's tennis
Team accomplishments:
-- National champions
-- ACC champions
-- ACC consecutive-win streak at 139
Personal accomplishments:
-- Singles national champion
-- ITA all-American (singles and doubles)
-- NCAA all-tournament team as no.1 singles
-- First-team all-ACC
-- ITA National Indoor Championship semifinalist
-- ITA Atlantic Regional singles champion
-- ITA Atlantic Regional doubles champion
Another year, another UVA tennis player completely dominating the national tennis scene. Two years ago it was Jarmere Jenkins taking home a dump truck of assorted trophies. Now it's Ryan Shane's turn to stake a very obvious claim as the best player on the best team in the country.
And Shane did something Jenkins, for all his hardware, fell just shy of: won the national singles championship. This gives Shane two different legs of tennis's triple crown. Shane is only the second UVA men's tennis player to win the singles title, after the original superstar Somdev Devvarman did it twice. And quite a few players (most of them from Stanford) have won the singles title after their team won the national championship, but Shane, of course, is the first UVA player to pull off the feat.
Since Devvarman's championships, UVA has brought home six individual tennis titles - in that span, no other school has more than three. So what Ryan Shane has done might not separate him much from his very illustrious predecessors (this is like praise with faint damnation), except in the unique combination of hardware he has. But with every Ryan Shane that goes through, UVA separates further and further from the pack as currently the pre-eminent tennis program in the country.
Courtney Swan - Women's lacrosse - Attack
Team accomplishments:
-- NCAA second round
Personal accomplishments:
-- IWCLA 2nd-team all-American
-- IWCLA 1st-team all-region
-- 2nd-team all-ACC
-- ACC leader in assists per game
-- Tewaaraton Award nominee
-- VaSID 1st-team all-state
-- ACC women's lacrosse Scholar-Athlete of the Year
-- Capital One 3rd-team academic all-American
-- UVA's nominee for NCAA Woman of the Year
The women's lacrosse team pulled together quite a few individual accomplishments this year; picking one player out of the bunch isn't easy. Rachel Vander Kolk was ACC Freshman of the Year. Casey Bocklet was first-team all-everything. Courtney Swan, obviously, was no slouch at all on the field, making a bunch of all-something teams herself and catching the eye of the Tewaaraton people, too. And the ACC's top playmaker, leading the league in assists per game, always counts for something.
But you know how this nomination process goes, and winning something like Scholar-Athlete of the Year - emphasis on Scholar - makes the choice pretty easy after all. Swan is as much a boss in the classroom as on the field - maybe more, which is saying something. ACC recognition as your sport's top student is a big deal. So is the Weaver-James-Corrigan Award, a $5,000 grant towards grad school that the ACC hands out to three athletes per school per year. (She's going to be an orthopedic doc.) Swan is a past winner of the NCAA's Elite 89 award as well, which is an automatic handout to the athlete at each national championship with the highest GPA. And UVA has recognized her scholarhood too, making her the school's choice for NCAA Woman of the Year, which, by the way, her lack of a win should not be construed as "only" a nomination, since the award hasn't been handed out yet. I try to mean it when I say these nominations are for all-around awesomeness; Courtney Swan makes it easy to back up my words.
Over the next few weeks, two athletes at a time will be profiled, and you'll hear about what they've accomplished while representing Mr. Jefferson's University this year. The athletes are presented in a totally random order so as to hopefully not imply any endorsement one way or another. Athletes from all fields are considered; the point is to emphasize that UVA is about excellence across the entire department and doesn't shortchange its so-called non-revenue sports simply because they don't make headlines. Today's athletes: Ryan Shane and Courtney Swan.
Ryan Shane - Men's tennis
Team accomplishments:
-- National champions
-- ACC champions
-- ACC consecutive-win streak at 139
Personal accomplishments:
-- Singles national champion
-- ITA all-American (singles and doubles)
-- NCAA all-tournament team as no.1 singles
-- First-team all-ACC
-- ITA National Indoor Championship semifinalist
-- ITA Atlantic Regional singles champion
-- ITA Atlantic Regional doubles champion
Another year, another UVA tennis player completely dominating the national tennis scene. Two years ago it was Jarmere Jenkins taking home a dump truck of assorted trophies. Now it's Ryan Shane's turn to stake a very obvious claim as the best player on the best team in the country.
And Shane did something Jenkins, for all his hardware, fell just shy of: won the national singles championship. This gives Shane two different legs of tennis's triple crown. Shane is only the second UVA men's tennis player to win the singles title, after the original superstar Somdev Devvarman did it twice. And quite a few players (most of them from Stanford) have won the singles title after their team won the national championship, but Shane, of course, is the first UVA player to pull off the feat.
Since Devvarman's championships, UVA has brought home six individual tennis titles - in that span, no other school has more than three. So what Ryan Shane has done might not separate him much from his very illustrious predecessors (this is like praise with faint damnation), except in the unique combination of hardware he has. But with every Ryan Shane that goes through, UVA separates further and further from the pack as currently the pre-eminent tennis program in the country.
Courtney Swan - Women's lacrosse - Attack
Team accomplishments:
-- NCAA second round
Personal accomplishments:
-- IWCLA 2nd-team all-American
-- IWCLA 1st-team all-region
-- 2nd-team all-ACC
-- ACC leader in assists per game
-- Tewaaraton Award nominee
-- VaSID 1st-team all-state
-- ACC women's lacrosse Scholar-Athlete of the Year
-- Capital One 3rd-team academic all-American
-- UVA's nominee for NCAA Woman of the Year
The women's lacrosse team pulled together quite a few individual accomplishments this year; picking one player out of the bunch isn't easy. Rachel Vander Kolk was ACC Freshman of the Year. Casey Bocklet was first-team all-everything. Courtney Swan, obviously, was no slouch at all on the field, making a bunch of all-something teams herself and catching the eye of the Tewaaraton people, too. And the ACC's top playmaker, leading the league in assists per game, always counts for something.
But you know how this nomination process goes, and winning something like Scholar-Athlete of the Year - emphasis on Scholar - makes the choice pretty easy after all. Swan is as much a boss in the classroom as on the field - maybe more, which is saying something. ACC recognition as your sport's top student is a big deal. So is the Weaver-James-Corrigan Award, a $5,000 grant towards grad school that the ACC hands out to three athletes per school per year. (She's going to be an orthopedic doc.) Swan is a past winner of the NCAA's Elite 89 award as well, which is an automatic handout to the athlete at each national championship with the highest GPA. And UVA has recognized her scholarhood too, making her the school's choice for NCAA Woman of the Year, which, by the way, her lack of a win should not be construed as "only" a nomination, since the award hasn't been handed out yet. I try to mean it when I say these nominations are for all-around awesomeness; Courtney Swan makes it easy to back up my words.
Friday, July 24, 2015
FOV Cavalier of the Year #7/#8
From Old Virginia celebrates its birthday (a bit late this year) in a unique way: by recognizing one of Virginia's student-athletes as the Cavalier of the Year. What are the criteria for the award? You decide; that's the beauty. I nominate the 12 athletes that I think have been the most outstanding during the latest season of UVA athletics, and provide a short summary of their accomplishments. You choose the winner in a poll that goes up after all 12 have had their moment in the spotlight. The full list of nominees is here.
Over the next few weeks, two athletes at a time will be profiled, and you'll hear about what they've accomplished while representing Mr. Jefferson's University this year. The athletes are presented in a totally random order so as to hopefully not imply any endorsement one way or another. Athletes from all fields are considered; the point is to emphasize that UVA is about excellence across the entire department and doesn't shortchange its so-called non-revenue sports simply because they don't make headlines. Today's athletes: Denny McCarthy and Tara Vittese.
Denny McCarthy - Men's golf
Team accomplishments:
-- 18th at NCAA championships
-- Winners of Northern Intercollegiate tournament
Personal accomplishments:
-- Qualified for US Open
-- 29th at NCAA championships
-- Member of winning US team at World Amateur Team Championships
-- Honorable mention NCAA all-American
-- PING 3rd-team all-American
-- VaSID 1st-team all-state
Keeping UVA fans interested in golf events thus far has been Steve Marino, a 2002 graduate. He'll soon be joined - nay, has already been joined - by the recently graduated Denny McCarthy. McCarthy certainly did reasonably well this year in his collegiate exploits, helping the Hoos outperform their ranking at the NCAAs and finish 18th. He also was one of the top golfers at the World Amateur Team Championships and helped the US defend the Eisenhower Trophy there.
Not to be outdone by other UVA luminaries in the extra-curriculars, though, McCarthy went out and qualified for the US Open at Chambers Bay. And while winning the whole thing would've been worthy of a Carl Spackler narration, McCarthy performed admirably, finishing tied for second-highest on the leaderboard among amateurs (by one stroke). He ended up in the top one-third of the field and made the cut (which several former majors champions did not do), and if you asked what Lee Westwood, Ernie Els, Phil Mickelson, Colin Montgomerie, Bubba Watson, Lee Janzen, Darren Clarke, and Tiger Woods all have in common, it's finishing behind McCarthy at the Open.
I don't know if that last one's still a thing, actually. Regardless, an impressive major debut. McCarthy surely has some PGA Tour wins in his future, and fans of UVA and golf can look forward to following him around the tour.
Tara Vittese - Field hockey - Midfield
Team accomplishments:
-- Top seed in ACC tournament
Personal accomplishments:
-- ACC Freshman of the Year
-- NHFCA 1st-team all-American
-- 1st-team all-ACC
-- VaSID state player of the year, rookie of the year
-- Two-time ACC player of the week
Admittedly, UVA's field hockey team is in a relatively rough stretch right now. Despite being this year's top seed, they still haven't won an ACC tourney game in who knows how long, and missed out on the NCAA's this year.
That said, the ingredients are right there to come screaming back. Tara Vittese is the youngest of a whole family of UVA field hockey players, and well on her way to being the best of the bunch. She's the fifth UVA player to take ACC Freshman of the Year honors (and second in a row, hence the bright future for the team), and everyone saw this coming because she's also the first UVA freshman ever to be named a preseason all-American. She didn't disappoint, keeping the honor in the postseason too.
Vittese also smashed the freshman assist record with 17 (formerly 11), a total not seen in UVA field hockey since 1999 when Carrie Goodloe had 19. I'd call her one of the top up-and-coming players in the country, but really she's just one of the top players in the country, period. Being only a freshman, she has a ton of room for growth, which is scary for the rest of the league.
Over the next few weeks, two athletes at a time will be profiled, and you'll hear about what they've accomplished while representing Mr. Jefferson's University this year. The athletes are presented in a totally random order so as to hopefully not imply any endorsement one way or another. Athletes from all fields are considered; the point is to emphasize that UVA is about excellence across the entire department and doesn't shortchange its so-called non-revenue sports simply because they don't make headlines. Today's athletes: Denny McCarthy and Tara Vittese.
Denny McCarthy - Men's golf
Team accomplishments:
-- 18th at NCAA championships
-- Winners of Northern Intercollegiate tournament
Personal accomplishments:
-- Qualified for US Open
-- 29th at NCAA championships
-- Member of winning US team at World Amateur Team Championships
-- Honorable mention NCAA all-American
-- PING 3rd-team all-American
-- VaSID 1st-team all-state
Keeping UVA fans interested in golf events thus far has been Steve Marino, a 2002 graduate. He'll soon be joined - nay, has already been joined - by the recently graduated Denny McCarthy. McCarthy certainly did reasonably well this year in his collegiate exploits, helping the Hoos outperform their ranking at the NCAAs and finish 18th. He also was one of the top golfers at the World Amateur Team Championships and helped the US defend the Eisenhower Trophy there.
Not to be outdone by other UVA luminaries in the extra-curriculars, though, McCarthy went out and qualified for the US Open at Chambers Bay. And while winning the whole thing would've been worthy of a Carl Spackler narration, McCarthy performed admirably, finishing tied for second-highest on the leaderboard among amateurs (by one stroke). He ended up in the top one-third of the field and made the cut (which several former majors champions did not do), and if you asked what Lee Westwood, Ernie Els, Phil Mickelson, Colin Montgomerie, Bubba Watson, Lee Janzen, Darren Clarke, and Tiger Woods all have in common, it's finishing behind McCarthy at the Open.
I don't know if that last one's still a thing, actually. Regardless, an impressive major debut. McCarthy surely has some PGA Tour wins in his future, and fans of UVA and golf can look forward to following him around the tour.
Tara Vittese - Field hockey - Midfield
Team accomplishments:
-- Top seed in ACC tournament
Personal accomplishments:
-- ACC Freshman of the Year
-- NHFCA 1st-team all-American
-- 1st-team all-ACC
-- VaSID state player of the year, rookie of the year
-- Two-time ACC player of the week
Admittedly, UVA's field hockey team is in a relatively rough stretch right now. Despite being this year's top seed, they still haven't won an ACC tourney game in who knows how long, and missed out on the NCAA's this year.
That said, the ingredients are right there to come screaming back. Tara Vittese is the youngest of a whole family of UVA field hockey players, and well on her way to being the best of the bunch. She's the fifth UVA player to take ACC Freshman of the Year honors (and second in a row, hence the bright future for the team), and everyone saw this coming because she's also the first UVA freshman ever to be named a preseason all-American. She didn't disappoint, keeping the honor in the postseason too.
Vittese also smashed the freshman assist record with 17 (formerly 11), a total not seen in UVA field hockey since 1999 when Carrie Goodloe had 19. I'd call her one of the top up-and-coming players in the country, but really she's just one of the top players in the country, period. Being only a freshman, she has a ton of room for growth, which is scary for the rest of the league.
Thursday, July 16, 2015
FOV Cavalier of the Year #5/#6
From Old Virginia celebrates its birthday (a bit late this year) in a unique way: by recognizing one of Virginia's student-athletes as the Cavalier of the Year. What are the criteria for the award? You decide; that's the beauty. I nominate the 12 athletes that I think have been the most outstanding during the latest season of UVA athletics, and provide a short summary of their accomplishments. You choose the winner in a poll that goes up after all 12 have had their moment in the spotlight. The full list of nominees is here.
Over the next few weeks, two athletes at a time will be profiled, and you'll hear about what they've accomplished while representing Mr. Jefferson's University this year. The athletes are presented in a totally random order so as to hopefully not imply any endorsement one way or another. Athletes from all fields are considered; the point is to emphasize that UVA is about excellence across the entire department and doesn't shortchange its so-called non-revenue sports simply because they don't make headlines. Today's athletes: Malcolm Brogdon and Quin Blanding.
Malcolm Brogdon - Men's basketball - Guard
Team accomplishments:
-- ACC regular season champion
Personal accomplishments:
-- First-team all-ACC (coaches and media)
-- All-ACC defensive team (coaches and media)
-- ACC Defensive Co-Player of the Year (coaches)
-- USBWA second-team all-American and first-team all-district
-- NABC second-team all-American and first-team all-district
-- VaSID first team all-state
-- WINA Award as UVA's top male athlete
-- Allstate NABC Good Works Team
The basketball team did something this year that no other team has ever done: bring back-to-back ACC regular season titles outside the state of North Carolina. Virginia basketball is arriving on the map the same way Virginia baseball did about six years ago.
The steady leadership hand of Malcolm Brogdon has a hell of a lot to do with it. Obviously. Brogdon is a perfect fit for Tony Bennett's style of ball: a level-headed demeanor that belies a bulldog mentality. For a guard, he's freakish big and strong, and for a freakish big and strong guard, he's incredibly difficult to shake when defending on the ball. Aided, I'm sure, by his game-sealing steal against Wake Forest, Brogdon hauled down defensive accolades as quickly as he hauled down regular ones. The coaches and media all agreed, he was one of the top five players in the ACC and top ten in the country, and the ACC coaches made him DPOY along with Syracuse's excellent big man Rakeem Christmas.
That's Tonyball, alright. Here's another Tony Bennett staple, this from the official site brag articles:
"During his four years at Virginia, Brogdon has volunteered as a reader and mentor to fifth grade students at Broadus Elementary School in Charlottesville and served as a mentor at the Charlottesville Boys and Girls Club. Brogdon, who is a dual-degree student in the Accelerated Bachelor/MPP Program in the Batten School of Leadership and Public Policy at UVa, has made two separate mission trips to South Africa and Malawi, and Ghana. In addition, Brogdon served as a mentor in both the W.E.B. DuBois Society and Norcross Elementary school in Georgia, and was also a counselor at the East Lake YMCA summer camp in his hometown of Atlanta."
That's how you get on the Good Works team, which is populated by only five D-I players out of approximately four thousand. Who else combines being one of the top ten players in the country with being one of the top five awesome basketball people in the country? Nobody, obviously. That kind of rare combination is why being a UVA fan is so much fun these days.
Quin Blanding - Football - Free safety
Team accomplishments:
-- Actually won some games
Personal accomplishments:
-- Second-team all-ACC (coaches and media)
-- ACC Defensive Freshman of the Year (coaches and media)
-- Scout.com National Defensive Freshman of the Year
-- FWAA, ESPN, Scout, and 247Sports freshman all-American
-- Team tackles and interceptions leader
To put it a bit mildly, not everything in the Mike London era has gone as planned. Most of his big-time recruits have gotten slow starts before rounding into form, or simply not panned out at all. Quin Blanding is the very explosive exception to the rule.
Blanding was a superstar recruit, one of (if not the) top high school safeties in the country. But free safety is a tough place for a freshman - it's the last line of defense and requires split second decisions that often mean touchdowns if you guess wrong. Hardly mattered: Blanding blew past even the most unreasonable expectations.
Wearing #3 - a tall order, as the number is closely associated with a beloved near-legend in Anthony Poindexter - Blanding stood out even on a defense loaded with talent. Most of the time when a safety leads the team in tackles, that's a bad sign, but the defense in front of Blanding was loaded with extremely smart veterans and some physical freaks, and was legitimately good in nearly all aspects. And still the tackles competition wasn't even close, as Blanding finished 15 ahead of senior safety Anthony Harris.
The people who notice these things, noticed. Blanding was a runaway choice as FDPOY, as the only freshman to make any kind of all-ACC team, 1st, 2nd, or 3rd, and 48 votes ahead of the next-highest freshman in the voting. He was on every freshman all-America team you can think of. And of course (though I shouldn't mention it because technically these are 2015-16 accomplishments) he's on every award watch list and preseason all-whatever team in the football universe. Singlehandedly bringing cachet and respectability to the football program is a pretty titanic accomplishment.
Over the next few weeks, two athletes at a time will be profiled, and you'll hear about what they've accomplished while representing Mr. Jefferson's University this year. The athletes are presented in a totally random order so as to hopefully not imply any endorsement one way or another. Athletes from all fields are considered; the point is to emphasize that UVA is about excellence across the entire department and doesn't shortchange its so-called non-revenue sports simply because they don't make headlines. Today's athletes: Malcolm Brogdon and Quin Blanding.
Malcolm Brogdon - Men's basketball - Guard
Team accomplishments:
-- ACC regular season champion
Personal accomplishments:
-- First-team all-ACC (coaches and media)
-- All-ACC defensive team (coaches and media)
-- ACC Defensive Co-Player of the Year (coaches)
-- USBWA second-team all-American and first-team all-district
-- NABC second-team all-American and first-team all-district
-- VaSID first team all-state
-- WINA Award as UVA's top male athlete
-- Allstate NABC Good Works Team
The basketball team did something this year that no other team has ever done: bring back-to-back ACC regular season titles outside the state of North Carolina. Virginia basketball is arriving on the map the same way Virginia baseball did about six years ago.
The steady leadership hand of Malcolm Brogdon has a hell of a lot to do with it. Obviously. Brogdon is a perfect fit for Tony Bennett's style of ball: a level-headed demeanor that belies a bulldog mentality. For a guard, he's freakish big and strong, and for a freakish big and strong guard, he's incredibly difficult to shake when defending on the ball. Aided, I'm sure, by his game-sealing steal against Wake Forest, Brogdon hauled down defensive accolades as quickly as he hauled down regular ones. The coaches and media all agreed, he was one of the top five players in the ACC and top ten in the country, and the ACC coaches made him DPOY along with Syracuse's excellent big man Rakeem Christmas.
That's Tonyball, alright. Here's another Tony Bennett staple, this from the official site brag articles:
"During his four years at Virginia, Brogdon has volunteered as a reader and mentor to fifth grade students at Broadus Elementary School in Charlottesville and served as a mentor at the Charlottesville Boys and Girls Club. Brogdon, who is a dual-degree student in the Accelerated Bachelor/MPP Program in the Batten School of Leadership and Public Policy at UVa, has made two separate mission trips to South Africa and Malawi, and Ghana. In addition, Brogdon served as a mentor in both the W.E.B. DuBois Society and Norcross Elementary school in Georgia, and was also a counselor at the East Lake YMCA summer camp in his hometown of Atlanta."
That's how you get on the Good Works team, which is populated by only five D-I players out of approximately four thousand. Who else combines being one of the top ten players in the country with being one of the top five awesome basketball people in the country? Nobody, obviously. That kind of rare combination is why being a UVA fan is so much fun these days.
Quin Blanding - Football - Free safety
Team accomplishments:
-- Actually won some games
Personal accomplishments:
-- Second-team all-ACC (coaches and media)
-- ACC Defensive Freshman of the Year (coaches and media)
-- Scout.com National Defensive Freshman of the Year
-- FWAA, ESPN, Scout, and 247Sports freshman all-American
-- Team tackles and interceptions leader
To put it a bit mildly, not everything in the Mike London era has gone as planned. Most of his big-time recruits have gotten slow starts before rounding into form, or simply not panned out at all. Quin Blanding is the very explosive exception to the rule.
Blanding was a superstar recruit, one of (if not the) top high school safeties in the country. But free safety is a tough place for a freshman - it's the last line of defense and requires split second decisions that often mean touchdowns if you guess wrong. Hardly mattered: Blanding blew past even the most unreasonable expectations.
Wearing #3 - a tall order, as the number is closely associated with a beloved near-legend in Anthony Poindexter - Blanding stood out even on a defense loaded with talent. Most of the time when a safety leads the team in tackles, that's a bad sign, but the defense in front of Blanding was loaded with extremely smart veterans and some physical freaks, and was legitimately good in nearly all aspects. And still the tackles competition wasn't even close, as Blanding finished 15 ahead of senior safety Anthony Harris.
The people who notice these things, noticed. Blanding was a runaway choice as FDPOY, as the only freshman to make any kind of all-ACC team, 1st, 2nd, or 3rd, and 48 votes ahead of the next-highest freshman in the voting. He was on every freshman all-America team you can think of. And of course (though I shouldn't mention it because technically these are 2015-16 accomplishments) he's on every award watch list and preseason all-whatever team in the football universe. Singlehandedly bringing cachet and respectability to the football program is a pretty titanic accomplishment.
Tuesday, July 14, 2015
FOV Cavalier of the Year #3/#4
From Old Virginia celebrates its birthday (a bit late this year) in a unique way: by recognizing one of Virginia's student-athletes as the Cavalier of the Year. What are the criteria for the award? You decide; that's the beauty. I nominate the 12 athletes that I think have been the most outstanding during the latest season of UVA athletics, and provide a short summary of their accomplishments. You choose the winner in a poll that goes up after all 12 have had their moment in the spotlight. The full list of nominees is here.
Over the next few weeks, two athletes at a time will be profiled, and you'll hear about what they've accomplished while representing Mr. Jefferson's University this year. The athletes are presented in a totally random order so as to hopefully not imply any endorsement one way or another. Athletes from all fields are considered; the point is to emphasize that UVA is about excellence across the entire department and doesn't shortchange its so-called non-revenue sports simply because they don't make headlines. Today's athletes: Morgan Brian and Leah Smith.
Morgan Brian - Women's soccer - Midfielder
Team accomplishments:
-- College Cup runner-up
Personal accomplishments:
-- World Cup winner with Team USA
-- MAC Herrmann Trophy winner (2nd award)
-- Mary Garber Award winner as ACC's top female athlete
-- Top Drawer Soccer women's Player of the Year (2nd award)
-- US Soccer Young Female Athlete of the Year
-- NSCAA first team all-American (3rd award)
-- 1st overall selection in NWSL draft
-- VaSID State Player of the Year (2nd award)
-- IMP Award for UVA female athlete of the year
-- ACC all-academic women's soccer team (3rd award)
Paige Selenski remains the only four-time nominee for a Cavalier of the Year award, but Morgan Brian would've easily done the same if she'd played enough during her sophomore season. Alas, she missed half the NCAA season because she was busy winning gold for the national U-20 team at the U-20 World Cup.
This year her national team obligations didn't get too much in the way of her schoolwork. As you might guess from the completely absurd list of accolades for Best at Everything, above. She's the fourth repeat winner of the MAC Herrmann Trophy (soccer's Heisman) and only the second repeat winner of the Top Drawer Soccer thing. Oh, and a World Cup, let's just casually throw that out there. And how many athletes with trophy piles thirty feet high also win honors for their work in the classroom?
Her freshman year, she was also co-winner of this blog's Cavalier of the Year award thanks to a Facebook campaign (I also gave it to Mike Scott as the runaway choice of people who didn't click through from Facebook), and in her FOVCOY profile I wrote: "She's the first UVA women's soccer player to win the national FOY award, and it's pretty clear UVA has itself a bright rising star for a few years to come." The way Brian has gone the past few years, I think it's one of my better predictions. The Facebook campaigners might have been a little ahead of themselves, handing Brian an FOVCOY win in her "least deserving" year, because after a four year career and all that stuff she's won, she's become very much the pride of UVA in ways that no other recent athlete can really say. I don't really campaign - much - for a winner of this award, but it's my un-humble opinion that Morgan Brian is UVA's top athlete in the FOV era - and for who knows how much before that?
Leah Smith - Women's swimming - Freestyle
Team accomplishments:
-- 5th place at NCAA championships
-- 8th straight ACC title
Personal accomplishments:
-- National champion in 500-yard and 1,650-yard freestyle
-- National 7th place and all-American in 200-yard freestyle
-- ACC champion in 1,650, 500, and 200 freestyle and 800-yard free relay
-- Undefeated all year in 500, 1,000, and 1,650-yard freestyles
-- NCAA, ACC, UVA record holder in 500-yard freestyle
-- ACC and UVA record holder in 1,650 freestyle and 800 free relay
-- World University Games gold medalist in 400-meter freestyle and 800-meter free relay
-- All-ACC academic team
First of all, do you notice a pattern here? So far we've covered several athletes who are literally - by some measures or by all of them - the greatest to play their sport at UVA, and they've been academic honorees too.
Leah Smith is no different. Only a sophomore, she's already not only one of UVA's best-ever swimmers, but quite literally the greatest female collegiate swimmer ever, at least where the 500-yard freestyle is concerned. That's the title that comes with the record, after all. She's also rewriting ACC record books with a fury. The swimming program is going through a rough patch on the men's side, but you wouldn't know it by looking at the women; they just came off their best-ever season with a fifth-place finish nationally and Leah Smith leading the way.
This summer she and a few teammates went to the World University Games and came back with more gold-colored hardware, and she's nowhere near done as her next stop is the World Championships in Russia. UVA has had some outstanding swimmers - Lauren Perdue comes immediately to mind - but it sure looks like Leah Smith will stand head and shoulders above the crowd when she's done.
Over the next few weeks, two athletes at a time will be profiled, and you'll hear about what they've accomplished while representing Mr. Jefferson's University this year. The athletes are presented in a totally random order so as to hopefully not imply any endorsement one way or another. Athletes from all fields are considered; the point is to emphasize that UVA is about excellence across the entire department and doesn't shortchange its so-called non-revenue sports simply because they don't make headlines. Today's athletes: Morgan Brian and Leah Smith.
Morgan Brian - Women's soccer - Midfielder
Team accomplishments:
-- College Cup runner-up
Personal accomplishments:
-- World Cup winner with Team USA
-- MAC Herrmann Trophy winner (2nd award)
-- Mary Garber Award winner as ACC's top female athlete
-- Top Drawer Soccer women's Player of the Year (2nd award)
-- US Soccer Young Female Athlete of the Year
-- NSCAA first team all-American (3rd award)
-- 1st overall selection in NWSL draft
-- VaSID State Player of the Year (2nd award)
-- IMP Award for UVA female athlete of the year
-- ACC all-academic women's soccer team (3rd award)
Paige Selenski remains the only four-time nominee for a Cavalier of the Year award, but Morgan Brian would've easily done the same if she'd played enough during her sophomore season. Alas, she missed half the NCAA season because she was busy winning gold for the national U-20 team at the U-20 World Cup.
This year her national team obligations didn't get too much in the way of her schoolwork. As you might guess from the completely absurd list of accolades for Best at Everything, above. She's the fourth repeat winner of the MAC Herrmann Trophy (soccer's Heisman) and only the second repeat winner of the Top Drawer Soccer thing. Oh, and a World Cup, let's just casually throw that out there. And how many athletes with trophy piles thirty feet high also win honors for their work in the classroom?
Her freshman year, she was also co-winner of this blog's Cavalier of the Year award thanks to a Facebook campaign (I also gave it to Mike Scott as the runaway choice of people who didn't click through from Facebook), and in her FOVCOY profile I wrote: "She's the first UVA women's soccer player to win the national FOY award, and it's pretty clear UVA has itself a bright rising star for a few years to come." The way Brian has gone the past few years, I think it's one of my better predictions. The Facebook campaigners might have been a little ahead of themselves, handing Brian an FOVCOY win in her "least deserving" year, because after a four year career and all that stuff she's won, she's become very much the pride of UVA in ways that no other recent athlete can really say. I don't really campaign - much - for a winner of this award, but it's my un-humble opinion that Morgan Brian is UVA's top athlete in the FOV era - and for who knows how much before that?
Leah Smith - Women's swimming - Freestyle
Team accomplishments:
-- 5th place at NCAA championships
-- 8th straight ACC title
Personal accomplishments:
-- National champion in 500-yard and 1,650-yard freestyle
-- National 7th place and all-American in 200-yard freestyle
-- ACC champion in 1,650, 500, and 200 freestyle and 800-yard free relay
-- Undefeated all year in 500, 1,000, and 1,650-yard freestyles
-- NCAA, ACC, UVA record holder in 500-yard freestyle
-- ACC and UVA record holder in 1,650 freestyle and 800 free relay
-- World University Games gold medalist in 400-meter freestyle and 800-meter free relay
-- All-ACC academic team
First of all, do you notice a pattern here? So far we've covered several athletes who are literally - by some measures or by all of them - the greatest to play their sport at UVA, and they've been academic honorees too.
Leah Smith is no different. Only a sophomore, she's already not only one of UVA's best-ever swimmers, but quite literally the greatest female collegiate swimmer ever, at least where the 500-yard freestyle is concerned. That's the title that comes with the record, after all. She's also rewriting ACC record books with a fury. The swimming program is going through a rough patch on the men's side, but you wouldn't know it by looking at the women; they just came off their best-ever season with a fifth-place finish nationally and Leah Smith leading the way.
This summer she and a few teammates went to the World University Games and came back with more gold-colored hardware, and she's nowhere near done as her next stop is the World Championships in Russia. UVA has had some outstanding swimmers - Lauren Perdue comes immediately to mind - but it sure looks like Leah Smith will stand head and shoulders above the crowd when she's done.
Friday, July 10, 2015
FOV Cavalier of the Year #1/#2
From Old Virginia celebrates its birthday (a bit late this year) in a unique way: by recognizing one of Virginia's student-athletes as the Cavalier of the Year. What are the criteria for the award? You decide; that's the beauty. I nominate the 12 athletes that I think have been the most outstanding during the latest season of UVA athletics, and provide a short summary of their accomplishments. You choose the winner in a poll that goes up after all 12 have had their moment in the spotlight. The full list of nominees is here.
Over the next few weeks, two athletes at a time will be profiled, and you'll hear about what they've accomplished while representing Mr. Jefferson's University this year. The athletes are presented in a totally random order so as to hopefully not imply any endorsement one way or another. Athletes from all fields are considered; the point is to emphasize that UVA is about excellence across the entire department and doesn't shortchange its so-called non-revenue sports simply because they don't make headlines. Today's athletes: Josh Sborz and Nick Sulzer.
Josh Sborz - Baseball - Pitcher
Team accomplishments:
-- National champions
Personal accomplishments:
-- College World Series Most Outstanding Player
-- Second-team all-ACC
-- ACC saves leader (tied)
-- NCBWA Stopper of the Year watch list
-- 74th overall pick in MLB draft
After a couple cracks at it that fell a bit short, UVA won a College World Series this year - the 23rd national title won by the school and probably the highest-profile of the bunch. It wasn't easy (not that it ever is, but the road was a very unlikely one) and there's no way it happens without Josh Sborz.
Sborz's MOP title really only covers the games played in Omaha, but it might as well have been for the whole tournament. When the regular season ended, his stat line read 12 saves, ERA 2.49, and a 2-2 record. Sborz opened the postseason by shutting out Georgia Tech in a seven-inning complete game that ended by mercy rule. He then pitched in every game in the Lake Elsinore regional, once in the super-regional, and in four of seven games in Omaha. That's a total of nine postseason games, and Sborz:
- earned a win or a save in all but one of them
- didn't allow a single earned run (and only one unearned one)
- allowed 7 hits, walked 7, struck out 24, in 26 innings, for an ERA of 0.00 and a WHIP of 0.54.
At the end of it all, the new stat line is 15 saves, ERA of 1.60, and a 7-2 record.
Brandon Waddell easily had the gutsiest performances in the tournament. Nathan Kirby, the best story. But I can't think of a more dominant postseason anyone has had in a UVA baseball uniform than this one. Sborz flipped easily from the bullpen to a starter's role and back, and his presence as a nigh-unhittable super-reliever is probably the single biggest reason (out of a huge host of very big reasons) that UVA brought a trophy home from Omaha.
Nick Sulzer - Wrestling - 165 lbs.
Team accomplishments:
-- ACC champions
-- 19th place at NCAA nationals
Personal accomplishments:
-- ACC champion at 165 lbs
-- NCAA 5th place at 165 lbs
-- Third straight all-American status
-- Finished career with second-most wins (122) in program history
-- Finished career with most NCAA wins (15) and NCAA championship bouts (24) in program history
-- One-time ACC Wrestler of the Week
-- Academic all-ACC wrestling team
Sulzer checks in with his second COY nomination, having been passed the mantle from Chris Henrich as the program's marquee wrestler. Ten years ago that would've been no real accomplishment. UVA is now a national program, having finished in the top 25 at the NCAAs in most recent years and adding a couple ACC championships to the total. This year's win wasn't even close. UVA didn't go in as the favorite or even second-favorite, but the eventual margin of victory was more than comfortable.
Nick Sulzer was a senior this year, so his accomplishments include some pretty impressive final career marks. He's a two-time ACC champion and three-time all-American, and set UVA records for number of wins and total bouts at the NCAA championships as well. This season he had a sparkling 32-4 record with 18 of the wins on major decisions. That wrapped up a career of 122 total wins, second only to Henrich. And, Sulzer has multiple entries not only on the lists of top wrestling accolades, but academic accolades too. Sulzer's main accomplishment, though, just might be ensuring the UVA wrestling program has staying power as a national player.
Over the next few weeks, two athletes at a time will be profiled, and you'll hear about what they've accomplished while representing Mr. Jefferson's University this year. The athletes are presented in a totally random order so as to hopefully not imply any endorsement one way or another. Athletes from all fields are considered; the point is to emphasize that UVA is about excellence across the entire department and doesn't shortchange its so-called non-revenue sports simply because they don't make headlines. Today's athletes: Josh Sborz and Nick Sulzer.
Josh Sborz - Baseball - Pitcher
Team accomplishments:
-- National champions
Personal accomplishments:
-- College World Series Most Outstanding Player
-- Second-team all-ACC
-- ACC saves leader (tied)
-- NCBWA Stopper of the Year watch list
-- 74th overall pick in MLB draft
After a couple cracks at it that fell a bit short, UVA won a College World Series this year - the 23rd national title won by the school and probably the highest-profile of the bunch. It wasn't easy (not that it ever is, but the road was a very unlikely one) and there's no way it happens without Josh Sborz.
Sborz's MOP title really only covers the games played in Omaha, but it might as well have been for the whole tournament. When the regular season ended, his stat line read 12 saves, ERA 2.49, and a 2-2 record. Sborz opened the postseason by shutting out Georgia Tech in a seven-inning complete game that ended by mercy rule. He then pitched in every game in the Lake Elsinore regional, once in the super-regional, and in four of seven games in Omaha. That's a total of nine postseason games, and Sborz:
- earned a win or a save in all but one of them
- didn't allow a single earned run (and only one unearned one)
- allowed 7 hits, walked 7, struck out 24, in 26 innings, for an ERA of 0.00 and a WHIP of 0.54.
At the end of it all, the new stat line is 15 saves, ERA of 1.60, and a 7-2 record.
Brandon Waddell easily had the gutsiest performances in the tournament. Nathan Kirby, the best story. But I can't think of a more dominant postseason anyone has had in a UVA baseball uniform than this one. Sborz flipped easily from the bullpen to a starter's role and back, and his presence as a nigh-unhittable super-reliever is probably the single biggest reason (out of a huge host of very big reasons) that UVA brought a trophy home from Omaha.
Nick Sulzer - Wrestling - 165 lbs.
Team accomplishments:
-- ACC champions
-- 19th place at NCAA nationals
Personal accomplishments:
-- ACC champion at 165 lbs
-- NCAA 5th place at 165 lbs
-- Third straight all-American status
-- Finished career with second-most wins (122) in program history
-- Finished career with most NCAA wins (15) and NCAA championship bouts (24) in program history
-- One-time ACC Wrestler of the Week
-- Academic all-ACC wrestling team
Sulzer checks in with his second COY nomination, having been passed the mantle from Chris Henrich as the program's marquee wrestler. Ten years ago that would've been no real accomplishment. UVA is now a national program, having finished in the top 25 at the NCAAs in most recent years and adding a couple ACC championships to the total. This year's win wasn't even close. UVA didn't go in as the favorite or even second-favorite, but the eventual margin of victory was more than comfortable.
Nick Sulzer was a senior this year, so his accomplishments include some pretty impressive final career marks. He's a two-time ACC champion and three-time all-American, and set UVA records for number of wins and total bouts at the NCAA championships as well. This season he had a sparkling 32-4 record with 18 of the wins on major decisions. That wrapped up a career of 122 total wins, second only to Henrich. And, Sulzer has multiple entries not only on the lists of top wrestling accolades, but academic accolades too. Sulzer's main accomplishment, though, just might be ensuring the UVA wrestling program has staying power as a national player.
Tuesday, July 7, 2015
2014-2015 Cavalier of the Year nominations
Ha. You were afraid it wouldn't happen this year. UVA put three (!!!) national championship trophies in the case this year - an unprecedented number, which led to winning the men's Capital One Cup, and therefore certainly the best-ever season in UVA sports. Now we just have to put the finishing touches on it. We just had to wait until the baseball team finished - annoying, I know, but what ya gonna do? This way, we have a few things going on during the summer we can count, too.
You know how this goes, but in case you forgot: I nominate 12 athletes, you pick the winner after reading the capsules. I get to interpret the results how I like, which means that if I think it's close enough or if there's reason to do so, I might announce co-winners.
First, a list of previous winners:
2009: Danny Hultzen (baseball)
2010: Diego Restrepo (men's soccer)
2011: Danny Hultzen (baseball)
2012: Mike Scott (men's hoops) / Morgan Brian (women's soccer)
2013: Jarmere Jenkins (men's tennis)
2014: Joe Harris (men's hoops)
I also like to highlight Paige Selenski, thus far the only four-year nominee. Going into the seventh year of the award, I continue to be awfully pleased that non-rev sports fare so well in the voting. The whole point of this, after all, is to put them on the same pedestal as the glamor sports.
Now, the unveiling of this year's list:
Eric Bird - Men's soccer
Quin Blanding - Football
Morgan Brian - Women's soccer
Malcolm Brogdon - Men's basketball
Denny McCarthy - Men's golf
Josh Sborz - Baseball
Ryan Shane - Men's tennis
Leah Smith - Women's swimming
Nick Sulzer - Wrestling
Courtney Swan - Women's lacrosse
Tara Vittese - Field hockey
Jordan Young - Men's track and field
I feel like I say this every year, cause that's kind of the nature of the beast, but this is one hell of a field of nominees. There's three team national champions plus an individual national champion, a World Cup winner and Herrmann Trophy winner, a tourney Most Outstanding Player, a gold medalist, a couple program record-setters, and I think literally all but one of them is some kind of all-American. I'll be profiling them two at a time in the coming days. Good luck figuring this one out.
You know how this goes, but in case you forgot: I nominate 12 athletes, you pick the winner after reading the capsules. I get to interpret the results how I like, which means that if I think it's close enough or if there's reason to do so, I might announce co-winners.
First, a list of previous winners:
2009: Danny Hultzen (baseball)
2010: Diego Restrepo (men's soccer)
2011: Danny Hultzen (baseball)
2012: Mike Scott (men's hoops) / Morgan Brian (women's soccer)
2013: Jarmere Jenkins (men's tennis)
2014: Joe Harris (men's hoops)
I also like to highlight Paige Selenski, thus far the only four-year nominee. Going into the seventh year of the award, I continue to be awfully pleased that non-rev sports fare so well in the voting. The whole point of this, after all, is to put them on the same pedestal as the glamor sports.
Now, the unveiling of this year's list:
Eric Bird - Men's soccer
Quin Blanding - Football
Morgan Brian - Women's soccer
Malcolm Brogdon - Men's basketball
Denny McCarthy - Men's golf
Josh Sborz - Baseball
Ryan Shane - Men's tennis
Leah Smith - Women's swimming
Nick Sulzer - Wrestling
Courtney Swan - Women's lacrosse
Tara Vittese - Field hockey
Jordan Young - Men's track and field
I feel like I say this every year, cause that's kind of the nature of the beast, but this is one hell of a field of nominees. There's three team national champions plus an individual national champion, a World Cup winner and Herrmann Trophy winner, a tourney Most Outstanding Player, a gold medalist, a couple program record-setters, and I think literally all but one of them is some kind of all-American. I'll be profiling them two at a time in the coming days. Good luck figuring this one out.
Wednesday, July 23, 2014
2013-2014 Cavalier of the Year
There's one last thing to do before plunging headlong into the 2014-2015 season and the pre-basketball autumn diversion that begins it. There's an award to hand out, and, due to popular demand, it comes once again with the traditional crappy photoshop of the winner:
This was definitely one of the more interesting votes we've had. From the get-go it was a three-way race, and I think Joe Harris's candidacy was assisted just enough by his signature on a three-year contract with the Cleveland Cavaliers in recent days. Two of those years are guaranteed, a very rare move for a second-round pick in the NBA and as much of a guarantee as you'll ever see that Harris has made the team. Cleveland has been working on Harris's supporting cast ever since drafting him. For now he'll have to do with some castoff from the Miami Heat, but Joe has faced down similar challenges in the past and I'm sure he'll be willing to share some of his shots.
Harris was actually not my own vote for the winner, but I think his story is a fantastic one regardless. We have been phenomenally privileged to watch his career in Charlottesville - the kid from Chelan, Washington, who took a chance on a struggling program, worked his butt off for four years and rewarded himself, his coach, and his fans with a long-sought championship, taken from the ACC's Darth Vader under some of the brightest spotlights in the country. And now he gets to go play with basketball's biggest star on basketball's biggest stage. Four years of humble and hard-working, excellent basketball, rewarded with a championship and a multi-million dollar contract - it's a story you never seen in college hoops anymore.
For posterity, here are the voting results:
Joe Harris - 39
Morgan Brian - 36
Danielle Collins - 24
Jasmine Burton - 12
Nathan Kirby - 5
Kevin Parks - 3
Mark Cockerton, Alex Domijan, JB Kolod - 1
Elly Buckley, Denny McCarthy, Nick Sulzer, Courtney Swan - 0
Harris wins with one of the lowest (if not the lowest) vote totals in voting history, but that's much more a testament to the strength of the competition this year. Collins put a national championship trophy in the case and Brian is one of the 8 or 10 best players of her sport in the whole country, not just in college. Congrats to the winner and the nominees for once again representing the University of Virginia with nothing but the best.
This was definitely one of the more interesting votes we've had. From the get-go it was a three-way race, and I think Joe Harris's candidacy was assisted just enough by his signature on a three-year contract with the Cleveland Cavaliers in recent days. Two of those years are guaranteed, a very rare move for a second-round pick in the NBA and as much of a guarantee as you'll ever see that Harris has made the team. Cleveland has been working on Harris's supporting cast ever since drafting him. For now he'll have to do with some castoff from the Miami Heat, but Joe has faced down similar challenges in the past and I'm sure he'll be willing to share some of his shots.
Harris was actually not my own vote for the winner, but I think his story is a fantastic one regardless. We have been phenomenally privileged to watch his career in Charlottesville - the kid from Chelan, Washington, who took a chance on a struggling program, worked his butt off for four years and rewarded himself, his coach, and his fans with a long-sought championship, taken from the ACC's Darth Vader under some of the brightest spotlights in the country. And now he gets to go play with basketball's biggest star on basketball's biggest stage. Four years of humble and hard-working, excellent basketball, rewarded with a championship and a multi-million dollar contract - it's a story you never seen in college hoops anymore.
For posterity, here are the voting results:
Joe Harris - 39
Morgan Brian - 36
Danielle Collins - 24
Jasmine Burton - 12
Nathan Kirby - 5
Kevin Parks - 3
Mark Cockerton, Alex Domijan, JB Kolod - 1
Elly Buckley, Denny McCarthy, Nick Sulzer, Courtney Swan - 0
Harris wins with one of the lowest (if not the lowest) vote totals in voting history, but that's much more a testament to the strength of the competition this year. Collins put a national championship trophy in the case and Brian is one of the 8 or 10 best players of her sport in the whole country, not just in college. Congrats to the winner and the nominees for once again representing the University of Virginia with nothing but the best.
Wednesday, July 9, 2014
vote for the 2013-2014 Cavalier of the Year
You've read the bios, or at least, you've got no excuse for not doing so, and now it's time to choose. I leave the selection of the Cavalier of the Year in your capable hands. For a refresher, here's a link to each of the candidates:
Morgan Brian - Women's soccer
Jasmine Burton - Volleyball
Elly Buckley - Field hockey
Mark Cockerton - Men's lacrosse
Danielle Collins - Women's tennis
Alex Domijan - Men's tennis
Joe Harris - Men's basketball
Nathan Kirby - Baseball
JB Kolod - Men's diving
Denny McCarthy - Men's golf
Kevin Parks - Football
Nick Sulzer - Wrestling
Courtney Swan - Women's lacrosse
There's a national champion here, there's a national player of the year, several conference players of the year, one conference freshman of the year, multiple all-Americans, and I'd say no fewer than three who can legitimately be called the best to ever suit up for UVA at their sport.
(That bears repeating: Three of these athletes, and honestly, the potential is there for more depending on how they do later on, are UVA's best in our history. That's truly outstanding.)
A few requests, which are the same every year;
-- One person, one vote, please. Honor system.
-- If you so fervently believe in your chosen candidate that you want to campaign for them, I have no problem with this. I encourage this. But I'd appreciate a note in the comments with a link, especially if you're doing so on Facebook, so I can follow along.
-- As always, I get to interpret the voting how I like, of which the most probable outcome by far is that there's a shared award. I trust this doesn't offend anyone. It hasn't yet.
Voting will close on Thursday, July 23 at 5:00 PM, so that I can get busy writing up the winner and then spend one weekend relaxing before it's actually time to start the football previews.
Morgan Brian - Women's soccer
Jasmine Burton - Volleyball
Elly Buckley - Field hockey
Mark Cockerton - Men's lacrosse
Danielle Collins - Women's tennis
Alex Domijan - Men's tennis
Joe Harris - Men's basketball
Nathan Kirby - Baseball
JB Kolod - Men's diving
Denny McCarthy - Men's golf
Kevin Parks - Football
Nick Sulzer - Wrestling
Courtney Swan - Women's lacrosse
There's a national champion here, there's a national player of the year, several conference players of the year, one conference freshman of the year, multiple all-Americans, and I'd say no fewer than three who can legitimately be called the best to ever suit up for UVA at their sport.
(That bears repeating: Three of these athletes, and honestly, the potential is there for more depending on how they do later on, are UVA's best in our history. That's truly outstanding.)
A few requests, which are the same every year;
-- One person, one vote, please. Honor system.
-- If you so fervently believe in your chosen candidate that you want to campaign for them, I have no problem with this. I encourage this. But I'd appreciate a note in the comments with a link, especially if you're doing so on Facebook, so I can follow along.
-- As always, I get to interpret the voting how I like, of which the most probable outcome by far is that there's a shared award. I trust this doesn't offend anyone. It hasn't yet.
Voting will close on Thursday, July 23 at 5:00 PM, so that I can get busy writing up the winner and then spend one weekend relaxing before it's actually time to start the football previews.
Wednesday, July 2, 2014
FOV Cavalier of the Year #9/#10
From Old Virginia celebrates its birthday in a unique way: by recognizing one of Virginia's student-athletes as the Cavalier of the Year. What are the criteria for the award? You decide; that's the beauty. I nominate the 12 athletes that I think have been the most outstanding during the latest season of UVA athletics, and provide a short summary of their accomplishments. You choose the winner in a poll that goes up after all 12 have had their moment in the spotlight. The full list of nominees is here.
Over the next few weeks, two athletes at a time will be profiled, and you'll hear about what they've accomplished while representing Mr. Jefferson's University this year. The athletes are presented in a totally random order so as to hopefully not imply any endorsement one way or another. Athletes from all fields are considered; the point is to emphasize that UVA is about excellence across the entire department and doesn't shortchange its so-called non-revenue sports simply because they don't make headlines. Today's athletes: Nathan Kirby and JB Kolod.
Nathan Kirby - Baseball - Starting pitcher
Team accomplishments:
-- College World Series
-- National runner-up
Personal accomplishments:
-- ACC Co-Pitcher of the Year
-- Louisville Slugger All-American
-- Invited to Team USA Collegiate National Team
-- One-time Collegiate Baseball National Player of the Week
-- Threw no-hitter against Pittsburgh
Normally I hate that I usually write up the baseball nominee before the team has finished playing, because I want to fit in their whole season of accomplishments. Now I hate that I waited til after they were done. I wouldn't want the final result, and the final innings thrown by Kirby, to color anyone's perception here.
Truth is, Kirby was the best player UVa had all season, and it wasn't even close, which is really saying something considering the talent level here. He pulled off an amazing turnaround from a less than stellar freshman season, and this year, validated every ounce of the excitement level surrounding him as a recruit and then some. Kirby was virtually unhittable most of the year and literally unhittable on one special night in Pittsburgh, during which he not only no-hit the Panthers but issued only one walk - that and a first-inning error were the only things spoiling a perfect game. Kirby struck out 18 hitters in that effort, one fewer than the school (and ACC) record for one game. The ACC doesn't name a single player of the year, preferring to divide it between pitchers and position players, and couldn't settle on just one pitcher, either. Nevertheless, Kirby now has the chance to become the second player to win two ACC Pitcher of the Year awards - following in the footsteps of none other than Danny Hultzen.
JB Kolod - Men's swimming and diving - Diver
Team accomplishments:
-- 26th at NCAA championship meet
Personal accomplishments:
-- National 7th-place finish in 3-meter diving
-- National 10th-place finish in platform diving
-- First UVa diver to earn multiple all-American honors in one year
-- Set UVa records in 1-meter and 3-meter diving
-- One-time ACC Male Diver of the Week
I don't normally like to put things this way in this forum, but, the men's swim team was nowhere near up to snuff this year. Normally what happens at the NCAA meet is that a whole bunch of our swimmers go out there and bring home a gob of points, usually enough to finish somewhere between 5th and 15th. Our divers aren't usually part of this deal.
This year - it was the other way around. The swimmers were almost totally unrepresented in the point-scoring portion of the meet, and it fell to JB Kolod to carry the team, which he did, earning 19 of UVa's 23 points.
Kolod's two top-ten finishes gave him all-American status in those events; not only is he the first UVa diver ever to do that twice in one year, but those are also the highest finishes ever for a UVa diver. (Technically, the platform finish is honorable mention AA; you get the whole thing for a top-8 finish. Still - the point remains.) That, plus his springboard records, is enough to easily cement Kolod as the greatest diver in UVa's history. Earn that title and rescue a floundering effort at the national championship meet to boot - there's absolutely no doubting Kolod's credentials for Cavalier of the Year.
Over the next few weeks, two athletes at a time will be profiled, and you'll hear about what they've accomplished while representing Mr. Jefferson's University this year. The athletes are presented in a totally random order so as to hopefully not imply any endorsement one way or another. Athletes from all fields are considered; the point is to emphasize that UVA is about excellence across the entire department and doesn't shortchange its so-called non-revenue sports simply because they don't make headlines. Today's athletes: Nathan Kirby and JB Kolod.
Nathan Kirby - Baseball - Starting pitcher
Team accomplishments:
-- College World Series
-- National runner-up
Personal accomplishments:
-- ACC Co-Pitcher of the Year
-- Louisville Slugger All-American
-- Invited to Team USA Collegiate National Team
-- One-time Collegiate Baseball National Player of the Week
-- Threw no-hitter against Pittsburgh
Normally I hate that I usually write up the baseball nominee before the team has finished playing, because I want to fit in their whole season of accomplishments. Now I hate that I waited til after they were done. I wouldn't want the final result, and the final innings thrown by Kirby, to color anyone's perception here.
Truth is, Kirby was the best player UVa had all season, and it wasn't even close, which is really saying something considering the talent level here. He pulled off an amazing turnaround from a less than stellar freshman season, and this year, validated every ounce of the excitement level surrounding him as a recruit and then some. Kirby was virtually unhittable most of the year and literally unhittable on one special night in Pittsburgh, during which he not only no-hit the Panthers but issued only one walk - that and a first-inning error were the only things spoiling a perfect game. Kirby struck out 18 hitters in that effort, one fewer than the school (and ACC) record for one game. The ACC doesn't name a single player of the year, preferring to divide it between pitchers and position players, and couldn't settle on just one pitcher, either. Nevertheless, Kirby now has the chance to become the second player to win two ACC Pitcher of the Year awards - following in the footsteps of none other than Danny Hultzen.
JB Kolod - Men's swimming and diving - Diver
Team accomplishments:
-- 26th at NCAA championship meet
Personal accomplishments:
-- National 7th-place finish in 3-meter diving
-- National 10th-place finish in platform diving
-- First UVa diver to earn multiple all-American honors in one year
-- Set UVa records in 1-meter and 3-meter diving
-- One-time ACC Male Diver of the Week
I don't normally like to put things this way in this forum, but, the men's swim team was nowhere near up to snuff this year. Normally what happens at the NCAA meet is that a whole bunch of our swimmers go out there and bring home a gob of points, usually enough to finish somewhere between 5th and 15th. Our divers aren't usually part of this deal.
This year - it was the other way around. The swimmers were almost totally unrepresented in the point-scoring portion of the meet, and it fell to JB Kolod to carry the team, which he did, earning 19 of UVa's 23 points.
Kolod's two top-ten finishes gave him all-American status in those events; not only is he the first UVa diver ever to do that twice in one year, but those are also the highest finishes ever for a UVa diver. (Technically, the platform finish is honorable mention AA; you get the whole thing for a top-8 finish. Still - the point remains.) That, plus his springboard records, is enough to easily cement Kolod as the greatest diver in UVa's history. Earn that title and rescue a floundering effort at the national championship meet to boot - there's absolutely no doubting Kolod's credentials for Cavalier of the Year.
Friday, June 27, 2014
FOV Cavalier of the Year #7/#8
From Old Virginia celebrates its birthday in a unique way: by recognizing one of Virginia's student-athletes as the Cavalier of the Year. What are the criteria for the award? You decide; that's the beauty. I nominate the 12 athletes that I think have been the most outstanding during the latest season of UVA athletics, and provide a short summary of their accomplishments. You choose the winner in a poll that goes up after all 12 have had their moment in the spotlight. The full list of nominees is here.
Over the next few weeks, two athletes at a time will be profiled, and you'll hear about what they've accomplished while representing Mr. Jefferson's University this year. The athletes are presented in a totally random order so as to hopefully not imply any endorsement one way or another. Athletes from all fields are considered; the point is to emphasize that UVA is about excellence across the entire department and doesn't shortchange its so-called non-revenue sports simply because they don't make headlines. Today's athletes: Elly Buckley and Alex Domijan.
Elly Buckley - Field hockey - Forward
Team accomplishments:
-- NCAA tournament
-- Ranked #4 midseason
Personal accomplishments:
-- Fourth all-American recognition
-- Fourth all-ACC recognition
-- Two-time ACC Player of the Week
-- NFHCA all-South
-- VaSID Player of the Year
When Paige Selenski graduated, UVa's field hockey team had a huge void to fill. It wasn't a real big mystery who would do the job, though. Elly Buckley has spent her last three years playing Scottie Pippen. You can't really say she played in Selenski's shadow, long though that shadow may have been; this year Buckley became the fourth player in UVa history to be a four-time all-American. Clearly people have been taking notice, throughout her career.
Interestingly, the conference has 13 players in its history that've been four-time all-Americans, but only 11 that've been four-time all-ACC; Buckley is on both lists. She was an easy choice, having led the conference in goals, and, I didn't even know they kept track of this stuff for players other than goalies, but, defensive saves as well. Truly an all-around star; Buckley was everything to the UVa field hockey team this year.
Alex Domijan - Men's tennis - #1 singles/doubles
Team accomplishments:
-- ACC champions
-- NCAA semifinals
-- Set ACC all-sport record for consecutive conference wins
Personal accomplishments:
-- ACC Player of the Year
-- VaSID Player of the Year
-- ITA Atlantic Region Senior Player of the Year
-- ITA/Rafael Osuna Sportsmanship Award
-- 6th seed in NCAA individual singles tournament
Another sport, another best player in the ACC for UVa. We are getting so embarrassingly full of them that it almost seems like generosity to have let someone else win it in football. There's no such magnanimity in men's tennis, though - on their way to their 8th straight ACC championship, the UVa men's tennis team became the most dominant team of any kind in ACC history. They finished the season with their consecutive win streak over ACC competition at 122.
Alex Domijan finished his own season with a dominant 26-3 mark in singles play, and 22-4 in doubles; he was ranked #9 in the country after the year wrapped up. He pulled in multiple POY recognitions, and that Sportsmanship Award is for "sportsmanship, character, excellent academics and outstanding tennis playing accomplishments." Domijan is following in the footsteps of giants here; Somdev Devvarman and Sanam Singh also won that award. He's clearly proven himself a worthy heir to the legacy of past UVa tennis stars.
Over the next few weeks, two athletes at a time will be profiled, and you'll hear about what they've accomplished while representing Mr. Jefferson's University this year. The athletes are presented in a totally random order so as to hopefully not imply any endorsement one way or another. Athletes from all fields are considered; the point is to emphasize that UVA is about excellence across the entire department and doesn't shortchange its so-called non-revenue sports simply because they don't make headlines. Today's athletes: Elly Buckley and Alex Domijan.
Elly Buckley - Field hockey - Forward
Team accomplishments:
-- NCAA tournament
-- Ranked #4 midseason
Personal accomplishments:
-- Fourth all-American recognition
-- Fourth all-ACC recognition
-- Two-time ACC Player of the Week
-- NFHCA all-South
-- VaSID Player of the Year
When Paige Selenski graduated, UVa's field hockey team had a huge void to fill. It wasn't a real big mystery who would do the job, though. Elly Buckley has spent her last three years playing Scottie Pippen. You can't really say she played in Selenski's shadow, long though that shadow may have been; this year Buckley became the fourth player in UVa history to be a four-time all-American. Clearly people have been taking notice, throughout her career.
Interestingly, the conference has 13 players in its history that've been four-time all-Americans, but only 11 that've been four-time all-ACC; Buckley is on both lists. She was an easy choice, having led the conference in goals, and, I didn't even know they kept track of this stuff for players other than goalies, but, defensive saves as well. Truly an all-around star; Buckley was everything to the UVa field hockey team this year.
Alex Domijan - Men's tennis - #1 singles/doubles
Team accomplishments:
-- ACC champions
-- NCAA semifinals
-- Set ACC all-sport record for consecutive conference wins
Personal accomplishments:
-- ACC Player of the Year
-- VaSID Player of the Year
-- ITA Atlantic Region Senior Player of the Year
-- ITA/Rafael Osuna Sportsmanship Award
-- 6th seed in NCAA individual singles tournament
Another sport, another best player in the ACC for UVa. We are getting so embarrassingly full of them that it almost seems like generosity to have let someone else win it in football. There's no such magnanimity in men's tennis, though - on their way to their 8th straight ACC championship, the UVa men's tennis team became the most dominant team of any kind in ACC history. They finished the season with their consecutive win streak over ACC competition at 122.
Alex Domijan finished his own season with a dominant 26-3 mark in singles play, and 22-4 in doubles; he was ranked #9 in the country after the year wrapped up. He pulled in multiple POY recognitions, and that Sportsmanship Award is for "sportsmanship, character, excellent academics and outstanding tennis playing accomplishments." Domijan is following in the footsteps of giants here; Somdev Devvarman and Sanam Singh also won that award. He's clearly proven himself a worthy heir to the legacy of past UVa tennis stars.
Monday, June 23, 2014
FOV Cavalier of the Year #5/#6
From Old Virginia celebrates its birthday in a unique way: by recognizing one of Virginia's student-athletes as the Cavalier of the Year. What are the criteria for the award? You decide; that's the beauty. I nominate the 12 athletes that I think have been the most outstanding during the latest season of UVA athletics, and provide a short summary of their accomplishments. You choose the winner in a poll that goes up after all 12 have had their moment in the spotlight. The full list of nominees is here.
Over the next few weeks, two athletes at a time will be profiled, and you'll hear about what they've accomplished while representing Mr. Jefferson's University this year. The athletes are presented in a totally random order so as to hopefully not imply any endorsement one way or another. Athletes from all fields are considered; the point is to emphasize that UVA is about excellence across the entire department and doesn't shortchange its so-called non-revenue sports simply because they don't make headlines. Today's athletes: Nick Sulzer and Morgan Brian.
Nick Sulzer - Wrestling - 165 lbs.
Team accomplishments:
-- 3rd at ACC championships
-- Tied for 23rd at NCAA championships
-- First-ever Virginia Duals championship
Personal accomplishments:
-- ACC champion at 165 lbs.
-- National 4th place at 165 lbs.
-- 165 lb. champion at Las Vegas Invitational
-- 165 lb. 3rd place at Southern Scuffle
-- Second all-time UVa wrestler to earn multiple all-American recognitions
-- One-time ACC Wrestler of the Week
-- NWCA All-Academic team
Like volleyball, only a little further into the process, wrestling is a team we've had the pleasure of watching rise from obscurity to contention and a place on the national scene. Chris Henrich put UVa wrestling on the map with an ACC championship, and now we're into the second generation, if you will. Nick Sulzer is the one leading the way.
Not that there aren't other quality wrestlers on the team - Sulzer's wasn't the only individual ACC title - but no UVa wrestler this year finished anywhere near as high as Sulzer at NCAAs. Of UVa's 18.5 points, Sulzer's 4th-place finish earned 13.5 of them. Various other championships and invitationals established Sulzer as one of the top wrestlers in his weight class in the country. 4th in the country and tops in the ACC - that's an easy call for a nomination, and if that don't suit you and you want more, there's that all-academic recognition too. Exactly what we love to see out of our top student-athletes.
Morgan Brian - Women's soccer - Midfielder
Team accomplishments:
-- ACC champions
-- Reached NCAA College Cup (that is, Final Four)
Personal accomplishments:
-- MAC Herrmann Trophy winner
-- NSCAA all-American
-- VaSID Player of the Year
-- Finalist for U.S. Soccer Young Female Athlete of the Year
-- Top Drawer Soccer and Soccer America Women's Player of the Year
-- First-team all-ACC
-- NCAA all-tournament team
-- ACC all-tournament team
-- IMP Award as UVa's top female athlete
-- ACC scoring leader
-- Tied UVa single-season record for assists
-- 11 caps and two goals with USWNT
-- ACC all-academic team
Danielle Collins got a lot of rightly deserved pub in the comments section when I first announced the nominees, and I don't want to take one single thing away from her national title. But - the MAC Herrmann Trophy is soccer's Heisman, and that's kind of like a national championship too, right? Morgan Brian becomes the first female soccer player at UVa to win that award, joining really illustrious company on the men's side like Tony Meola and Claudio Reyna. Her win also makes UVa only the third school to have both men and women winners of the trophy.
When you're the best damn college player in the country - pretty much unanimously, really - further accolades come like a waterfall. There are some I didn't even bother with, like all-region recognition that was sort of implied by all-American recognition. Brian already has her eye on bigger things - she's become a fixture on the USWNT, and not the U-23 squad even though she's only 21, but the varsity, the real deal. She's the youngest player currently on the team and has started all 8 games she's appeared in during 2014, after making her debut last summer. This is a gal from whom we should expect big, big things when she eventually graduates - and still she's only a rising senior. I don't know who I'm going to vote for, and I don't reveal my vote til the winner is announced anyway, but damn if I wouldn't find it hard to vote against Morgan Brian.
Over the next few weeks, two athletes at a time will be profiled, and you'll hear about what they've accomplished while representing Mr. Jefferson's University this year. The athletes are presented in a totally random order so as to hopefully not imply any endorsement one way or another. Athletes from all fields are considered; the point is to emphasize that UVA is about excellence across the entire department and doesn't shortchange its so-called non-revenue sports simply because they don't make headlines. Today's athletes: Nick Sulzer and Morgan Brian.
Nick Sulzer - Wrestling - 165 lbs.
Team accomplishments:
-- 3rd at ACC championships
-- Tied for 23rd at NCAA championships
-- First-ever Virginia Duals championship
Personal accomplishments:
-- ACC champion at 165 lbs.
-- National 4th place at 165 lbs.
-- 165 lb. champion at Las Vegas Invitational
-- 165 lb. 3rd place at Southern Scuffle
-- Second all-time UVa wrestler to earn multiple all-American recognitions
-- One-time ACC Wrestler of the Week
-- NWCA All-Academic team
Like volleyball, only a little further into the process, wrestling is a team we've had the pleasure of watching rise from obscurity to contention and a place on the national scene. Chris Henrich put UVa wrestling on the map with an ACC championship, and now we're into the second generation, if you will. Nick Sulzer is the one leading the way.
Not that there aren't other quality wrestlers on the team - Sulzer's wasn't the only individual ACC title - but no UVa wrestler this year finished anywhere near as high as Sulzer at NCAAs. Of UVa's 18.5 points, Sulzer's 4th-place finish earned 13.5 of them. Various other championships and invitationals established Sulzer as one of the top wrestlers in his weight class in the country. 4th in the country and tops in the ACC - that's an easy call for a nomination, and if that don't suit you and you want more, there's that all-academic recognition too. Exactly what we love to see out of our top student-athletes.
Morgan Brian - Women's soccer - Midfielder
Team accomplishments:
-- ACC champions
-- Reached NCAA College Cup (that is, Final Four)
Personal accomplishments:
-- MAC Herrmann Trophy winner
-- NSCAA all-American
-- VaSID Player of the Year
-- Finalist for U.S. Soccer Young Female Athlete of the Year
-- Top Drawer Soccer and Soccer America Women's Player of the Year
-- First-team all-ACC
-- NCAA all-tournament team
-- ACC all-tournament team
-- IMP Award as UVa's top female athlete
-- ACC scoring leader
-- Tied UVa single-season record for assists
-- 11 caps and two goals with USWNT
-- ACC all-academic team
Danielle Collins got a lot of rightly deserved pub in the comments section when I first announced the nominees, and I don't want to take one single thing away from her national title. But - the MAC Herrmann Trophy is soccer's Heisman, and that's kind of like a national championship too, right? Morgan Brian becomes the first female soccer player at UVa to win that award, joining really illustrious company on the men's side like Tony Meola and Claudio Reyna. Her win also makes UVa only the third school to have both men and women winners of the trophy.
When you're the best damn college player in the country - pretty much unanimously, really - further accolades come like a waterfall. There are some I didn't even bother with, like all-region recognition that was sort of implied by all-American recognition. Brian already has her eye on bigger things - she's become a fixture on the USWNT, and not the U-23 squad even though she's only 21, but the varsity, the real deal. She's the youngest player currently on the team and has started all 8 games she's appeared in during 2014, after making her debut last summer. This is a gal from whom we should expect big, big things when she eventually graduates - and still she's only a rising senior. I don't know who I'm going to vote for, and I don't reveal my vote til the winner is announced anyway, but damn if I wouldn't find it hard to vote against Morgan Brian.
Saturday, June 21, 2014
FOV Cavalier of the Year #3/#4
From Old Virginia celebrates its birthday in a unique way: by recognizing one of Virginia's student-athletes as the Cavalier of the Year. What are the criteria for the award? You decide; that's the beauty. I nominate the 12 athletes that I think have been the most outstanding during the latest season of UVA athletics, and provide a short summary of their accomplishments. You choose the winner in a poll that goes up after all 12 have had their moment in the spotlight. The full list of nominees is here.
Over the next few weeks, two athletes at a time will be profiled, and you'll hear about what they've accomplished while representing Mr. Jefferson's University this year. The athletes are presented in a totally random order so as to hopefully not imply any endorsement one way or another. Athletes from all fields are considered; the point is to emphasize that UVA is about excellence across the entire department and doesn't shortchange its so-called non-revenue sports simply because they don't make headlines. Today's athletes: Joe Harris and Jasmine Burton.
Joe Harris - Men's basketball - Small forward
Team accomplishments:
-- ACC regular-season and tournament champions
-- NCAA tournament #1 seed
-- NCAA Sweet Sixteen
Personal accomplishments:
-- 2nd-team all-ACC (coaches)
-- 3rd-team all-ACC (media)
-- ACC Tournament MVP
-- USBWA District 3 team
-- NABC Good Works team
-- Lowe's Senior CLASS candidate
-- WINA Award (top UVa men's athlete)
This is theoretically my big chance to wax poetic about the career of a UVa basketball player who'll surely be remembered as one of the all-time greats, and here I am failing to find the words. Maybe that's a compliment in and of itself. True, now, Joe Harris didn't have quite the individual season he had as a junior, but you have to admit the team that he captained improved a little.
Harris finished his career 11th on UVa's all-time scoring list, comfortably between Curtis Staples and J.R. Reynolds, and his senior year was his second on various all-ACC lists. He capped his individual achievements with an MVP plaque at the ACC tournament, which was no sop to his status as a team leader - he averaged 15.7 points during the tourney, three of which came as the coup de grace to Duke's comeback chances.
The athletic program itself then honored Harris as the school's top male athlete, which by itself makes a pretty good case for Harris's selection as COY as well. There's a bit of a lifetime-achievement aspect to Harris's nomination here; from the time he decided to take a chance on traveling 3,000 miles to a school he'd never given a thought to until he stood atop the podium in Greensboro, Harris has had one of the most enjoyable-to-follow UVa careers of any that ever suited up. But anyone who leads the charge in bringing a long, long-awaited ACC basketball championship back to UVa is a damn good candidate just on the strength of one fantastic weekend.
Jasmine Burton - Volleyball - Outside hitter
Team accomplishments:
-- First ACC winning record since 2008
Personal accomplishments:
-- ACC Freshman of the Year
-- VaSID Freshman of the Year
-- 3rd team all-ACC
-- Two-time ACC Freshman of the Week
I think the number of words I've ever written about the volleyball team could fit on one sheet of paper, in big type. No volleyball player has ever been nominated for FOV COY. Time to change that. This is a team on the rise, earning an 11-9 record in the ACC after spending a long time as a doormat. A big part of that was a very good freshman class, which was led by Jasmine Burton.
ACC Freshman of the Year is a common award for an FOV COY nominee, but Burton, I think, rises a little higher than many such nominees. She had competition for that award even on her own team, but she won it not just by being a good freshman player but by being one of the team's best, period. Only two players on the roster of 18 started more matches, and Burton was third on the team in most major statistics.
The best accomplishment, though: helping to lead a UVa team back to relevancy. If the point here is pride in the whole program, that doesn't leave room for any stragglers. I'm pleased to see the volleyball team starting to make noise again, and hopefully Burton and her classmates build on that momentum for a few years.
Over the next few weeks, two athletes at a time will be profiled, and you'll hear about what they've accomplished while representing Mr. Jefferson's University this year. The athletes are presented in a totally random order so as to hopefully not imply any endorsement one way or another. Athletes from all fields are considered; the point is to emphasize that UVA is about excellence across the entire department and doesn't shortchange its so-called non-revenue sports simply because they don't make headlines. Today's athletes: Joe Harris and Jasmine Burton.
Joe Harris - Men's basketball - Small forward
Team accomplishments:
-- ACC regular-season and tournament champions
-- NCAA tournament #1 seed
-- NCAA Sweet Sixteen
Personal accomplishments:
-- 2nd-team all-ACC (coaches)
-- 3rd-team all-ACC (media)
-- ACC Tournament MVP
-- USBWA District 3 team
-- NABC Good Works team
-- Lowe's Senior CLASS candidate
-- WINA Award (top UVa men's athlete)
This is theoretically my big chance to wax poetic about the career of a UVa basketball player who'll surely be remembered as one of the all-time greats, and here I am failing to find the words. Maybe that's a compliment in and of itself. True, now, Joe Harris didn't have quite the individual season he had as a junior, but you have to admit the team that he captained improved a little.
Harris finished his career 11th on UVa's all-time scoring list, comfortably between Curtis Staples and J.R. Reynolds, and his senior year was his second on various all-ACC lists. He capped his individual achievements with an MVP plaque at the ACC tournament, which was no sop to his status as a team leader - he averaged 15.7 points during the tourney, three of which came as the coup de grace to Duke's comeback chances.
The athletic program itself then honored Harris as the school's top male athlete, which by itself makes a pretty good case for Harris's selection as COY as well. There's a bit of a lifetime-achievement aspect to Harris's nomination here; from the time he decided to take a chance on traveling 3,000 miles to a school he'd never given a thought to until he stood atop the podium in Greensboro, Harris has had one of the most enjoyable-to-follow UVa careers of any that ever suited up. But anyone who leads the charge in bringing a long, long-awaited ACC basketball championship back to UVa is a damn good candidate just on the strength of one fantastic weekend.
Jasmine Burton - Volleyball - Outside hitter
Team accomplishments:
-- First ACC winning record since 2008
Personal accomplishments:
-- ACC Freshman of the Year
-- VaSID Freshman of the Year
-- 3rd team all-ACC
-- Two-time ACC Freshman of the Week
I think the number of words I've ever written about the volleyball team could fit on one sheet of paper, in big type. No volleyball player has ever been nominated for FOV COY. Time to change that. This is a team on the rise, earning an 11-9 record in the ACC after spending a long time as a doormat. A big part of that was a very good freshman class, which was led by Jasmine Burton.
ACC Freshman of the Year is a common award for an FOV COY nominee, but Burton, I think, rises a little higher than many such nominees. She had competition for that award even on her own team, but she won it not just by being a good freshman player but by being one of the team's best, period. Only two players on the roster of 18 started more matches, and Burton was third on the team in most major statistics.
The best accomplishment, though: helping to lead a UVa team back to relevancy. If the point here is pride in the whole program, that doesn't leave room for any stragglers. I'm pleased to see the volleyball team starting to make noise again, and hopefully Burton and her classmates build on that momentum for a few years.
Tuesday, June 17, 2014
FOV Cavalier of the Year #1/#2
Over the next few weeks, two athletes at a time will be profiled, and you'll hear about what they've accomplished while representing Mr. Jefferson's University this year. The athletes are presented in a totally random order so as to hopefully not imply any endorsement one way or another. Athletes from all fields are considered; the point is to emphasize that UVA is about excellence across the entire department and doesn't shortchange its so-called non-revenue sports simply because they don't make headlines. Today's athletes: Kevin Parks and Danielle Collins.
Kevin Parks - Football - Running back
Team accomplishments:
-- let's just skip this part
Personal accomplishments:
-- Consensus all-ACC selection (media, coaches, Phil Steele, Athlon
-- VaSID all-state
-- First UVA player with 1,000 rushing yards since 2004
-- 2nd in ACC in rushing yards
I'll tell you right off, I debated myself over and over about whether the football representative should be Parks or Ant Harris. Harris was first-team-everything and even an all-American to some, on the strength of his eight interceptions. That is an astounding stat. And the fact that a 2-10 team can have two strong candidates for this is equally astounding. I have, in the past, omitted football from the nomination list on the grounds of not having any deserving candidates, so it's not like I have to have one.
I picked Parks for two reasons. One, the 1,000 yards (to say nothing of 329 receiving yards) is a season-long grind; eight picks is rare and really hard to do, and not to minimize the accomplishment, but it's eight bolts of lightning. If Harris had had four, he'd never have had all those accolades, so in a way, he's there because of four plays. Parks was just simply excellent all season long. And two, sometimes the nomination is a lifetime-achievement thing. It's worth highlighting that not only did Parks provide a season-long bright spot in a dark and dismal season, but he's been building up to that for a while. He might've hit the 1,000-yard mark in an earlier season if he weren't splitting carries in the past, and remember: Parks set national records as a high-schooler: most 100-yard games, most carries, and third-most yards. Old Spice - why Old Spice, I don't know, but Old Spice - named him the national player of the year as a senior.
So if I couldn't call him a COY nominee then, I'll do it now, on the occasion of breaking a 10-year-old drought. Parks has proven himself a workhorse and a leader - he's a team captain - and pretty much exemplifies the attitude you want out of the guys (and gals) representing the school.
Danielle Collins - Women's tennis - No.2 singles
Team accomplishments:
-- ACC champions
-- Reached NCAA quarterfinals
Personal accomplishments:
-- National singles champion
-- All-American (obviously)
-- All-ACC
-- ITA Atlantic Region Player to Watch
-- ITA Atlantic Region singles champion
-- Two-time ACC Player of the Week
Maybe we're not a lacrosse or basketball or baseball school. Maybe we're a tennis school. The men have had an outstanding team for a while now, but the women are starting to catch up. Remember, it took a little while for the team to land its first team national title, but had some individual champions before then. Here come the women, following that path.
It's hard to argue with a ring, to be honest, and Danielle Collins has one now. She's only a sophomore, too - though a first-year Hoo, having transferred in from Florida this year. Unofficially, I think this is the first time I've had a nominee in their first year after transferring in. Collins actually played mostly #2 singles for the year, not #1, and Julie Elbaba did advance far enough to be an all-American herself, but, y'know, ring. There's quite an assortment of other accolades, too, as Collins had a really good indoor season as well. But when you start talking national championships, it starts to overshadow everything else you - and perhaps the other candidates - have done.
Wednesday, June 11, 2014
2013-2014 Cavalier of the Year nominations
Sometime around this time of year is the blog's official birthday, and we're celebrating six years strong this month. And like every year, it's time to hand out an award as if it matters. This works like so: I provide 12 nominations. Sometimes I provide 13 if I can't decide. The whole point is to celebrate the all-around excellence of the athletic program, so it's not cheating if I expand the list at times; really, it's cheating if I don't.
The nominees then get their own post, two at a time, wherein I explain why each of them is awesome, and then I open up the voting; the final award is picked (mostly) by the voters. I reserve the right to interpret the votes how I like; a "go vote for this person" campaign will not be ignored but it has resulted in a split award in the past. This is for fun and there is no trophy or trip to the Bahamas (YET) so I can do that.
Past winners have come from a variety of teams, which is absolutely ideal for an award like this. Here is the list:
2009: Danny Hultzen (baseball)
2010: Diego Restrepo (men's soccer)
2011: Danny Hultzen (baseball)
2012: Mike Scott (men's hoops), Morgan Brian (women's soccer)
2013: Jarmere Jenkins (men's tennis)
Additionally, there's been one four-time nominee, which itself is a pretty neat thing; that would be Paige Selenski of field hockey.
Without further ado, these are this year's nominees in alphabetical order:
Morgan Brian - Women's soccer
Jasmine Burton - Volleyball
Elly Buckley - Field hockey
Mark Cockerton - Men's lacrosse
Danielle Collins - Women's tennis
Alex Domijan - Men's tennis
Joe Harris - Men's basketball
Nathan Kirby - Baseball
JB Kolod - Men's diving
Denny McCarthy - Men's golf
Kevin Parks - Football
Nick Sulzer - Wrestling
Courtney Swan - Women's lacrosse
Yes, 13 again. A sign that we're just about bursting at the seams, again, with quality athletes. And there aren't even any swimmers this year, which is probably a first. One thing I know is a first: there's never been a volleyball nominee before. That's a team on the rise, though, deserving of some recognition and putting forth a deserving nominee to receive it.
Over the next, oh, couple of weeks or so, each nominee will be profiled and appropriately lauded for their accomplishments. Voting will then open for about another two weeks, and the winner will be announced mid-July-ish. Happy reading.
The nominees then get their own post, two at a time, wherein I explain why each of them is awesome, and then I open up the voting; the final award is picked (mostly) by the voters. I reserve the right to interpret the votes how I like; a "go vote for this person" campaign will not be ignored but it has resulted in a split award in the past. This is for fun and there is no trophy or trip to the Bahamas (YET) so I can do that.
Past winners have come from a variety of teams, which is absolutely ideal for an award like this. Here is the list:
2009: Danny Hultzen (baseball)
2010: Diego Restrepo (men's soccer)
2011: Danny Hultzen (baseball)
2012: Mike Scott (men's hoops), Morgan Brian (women's soccer)
2013: Jarmere Jenkins (men's tennis)
Additionally, there's been one four-time nominee, which itself is a pretty neat thing; that would be Paige Selenski of field hockey.
Without further ado, these are this year's nominees in alphabetical order:
Morgan Brian - Women's soccer
Jasmine Burton - Volleyball
Elly Buckley - Field hockey
Mark Cockerton - Men's lacrosse
Danielle Collins - Women's tennis
Alex Domijan - Men's tennis
Joe Harris - Men's basketball
Nathan Kirby - Baseball
JB Kolod - Men's diving
Denny McCarthy - Men's golf
Kevin Parks - Football
Nick Sulzer - Wrestling
Courtney Swan - Women's lacrosse
Yes, 13 again. A sign that we're just about bursting at the seams, again, with quality athletes. And there aren't even any swimmers this year, which is probably a first. One thing I know is a first: there's never been a volleyball nominee before. That's a team on the rise, though, deserving of some recognition and putting forth a deserving nominee to receive it.
Over the next, oh, couple of weeks or so, each nominee will be profiled and appropriately lauded for their accomplishments. Voting will then open for about another two weeks, and the winner will be announced mid-July-ish. Happy reading.
Wednesday, July 10, 2013
2012-2013 Cavalier of the Year
Last year there was just one intrepid soul that voted for Jarmere Jenkins. That person can congratulate himself or herself for being into tennis before it was cool. Jenkins's national championships - plural, as he earned both the team and doubles trophy and came within a hair of earning the singles trophy as well - were enough to sway this year's voting public into making him the FOV Cavalier of the Year.
Frankly, this award has turned out exactly as I'd hoped. The winners have come from five different sports and only one is a traditional revenue sport; we have baseball (twice), men's soccer, women's soccer, men's basketball, and now, men's tennis. Does it suck that our football team isn't ever good enough to produce stronger candidates? Yeah, kinda. But the one year they were pretty good, women's soccer still beat them out with a better player. I'd like a better football team, but I can't help it that UVA is so dang exceptional at pumping out really good athletes everywhere else.
Jarmere Jenkins is as worthy a candidate as you'll ever see for the award, and for the record, yes, I voted for him too. One vote, same as you. I thought it was a shame Caroline Miller didn't earn more votes, as I figured her for the second-best choice, and we also really ought to give like a lifetime achievement award to Paige Selenski for being the first four-time nominee. Of all the athletes I've ever nominated, Selenski has had probably the best UVA career.
But Jenkins, man: national champion. You can't beat it. Here are the voting totals for posterity:
Jarmere Jenkins: 81
Joe Harris: 30
Mike Papi: 19
Paige Selenski: 8
Steve Greer: 6
Caroline Miller: 5
Brittany Altomare, Melanie Mitchell, Luke Papendick: 1
Will Bates, Casey Bocklet, Scott McWilliams: 0
Frankly, this award has turned out exactly as I'd hoped. The winners have come from five different sports and only one is a traditional revenue sport; we have baseball (twice), men's soccer, women's soccer, men's basketball, and now, men's tennis. Does it suck that our football team isn't ever good enough to produce stronger candidates? Yeah, kinda. But the one year they were pretty good, women's soccer still beat them out with a better player. I'd like a better football team, but I can't help it that UVA is so dang exceptional at pumping out really good athletes everywhere else.
Jarmere Jenkins is as worthy a candidate as you'll ever see for the award, and for the record, yes, I voted for him too. One vote, same as you. I thought it was a shame Caroline Miller didn't earn more votes, as I figured her for the second-best choice, and we also really ought to give like a lifetime achievement award to Paige Selenski for being the first four-time nominee. Of all the athletes I've ever nominated, Selenski has had probably the best UVA career.
But Jenkins, man: national champion. You can't beat it. Here are the voting totals for posterity:
Jarmere Jenkins: 81
Joe Harris: 30
Mike Papi: 19
Paige Selenski: 8
Steve Greer: 6
Caroline Miller: 5
Brittany Altomare, Melanie Mitchell, Luke Papendick: 1
Will Bates, Casey Bocklet, Scott McWilliams: 0
Saturday, June 22, 2013
vote for the 2012-2013 Cavalier of the Year
All 12 profiles have now been published, for each of the FOV Cavalier of the Year nominees. Now is the time for action. Your job is to vote. You should check out the profiles of each of the candidates below, if you haven't done so already:
Brittany Altomare - Women's golf
Will Bates - Men's soccer
Casey Bocklet - Women's lacrosse
Steve Greer - Football
Joe Harris - Men's basketball
Jarmere Jenkins - Men's tennis
Scott McWilliams - Men's lacrosse
Caroline Miller - Women's soccer
Melanie Mitchell - Softball
Mike Papi - Baseball
Luke Papendick - Men's swimming
Paige Selenski - Field hockey
I think this is a strong list of candidates. Very strong. One of the better lists we've had, actually. You have one ACC Freshman of the Year, three ACC Players of the Year. Three of these candidates set UVA all-time career records. Many were the best - say, top-ten or top-five - in the country at some particular event or statistic. One is a national champion - twice. Nearly all of them were at least all-ACC second team, most on the first team. Several were all-Americans.
A little reminder of a few rules I need to lay down:
-- One person, one vote, OK? Maybe you know how to get slick and fix your cookies and whatnot, but, look, honor system.
-- If you decide to champion a particular candidate, that is fine; I ask that you put a link to the page where you're doing so in the comments of this post. Especially if you do so on Facebook.
-- I reserve the right to interpret the voting results however I like. That doesn't mean I'm just going to switch the winner to whomever I feel like. I do know who I think should win, but I'm keeping that info to myself. It's more along the lines of last year, when Morgan Brian was the top vote-getter but it was also clear that Mike Scott was the choice of the regular readership, so I made it a double award. That sort of thing.
Voting will stay open for two weeks-plus. It will close on Sunday, July 7.
For one of those weeks, I'm going on a hiatus. It's summer, it's not like you'll miss me that much. I have a week-long vacation next week - a big sailing trip. Racing, actually. It's the summer, it's what I do in the summer. When I get back, I have plenty of stuff planned. Til then, happy voting.
Brittany Altomare - Women's golf
Will Bates - Men's soccer
Casey Bocklet - Women's lacrosse
Steve Greer - Football
Joe Harris - Men's basketball
Jarmere Jenkins - Men's tennis
Scott McWilliams - Men's lacrosse
Caroline Miller - Women's soccer
Melanie Mitchell - Softball
Mike Papi - Baseball
Luke Papendick - Men's swimming
Paige Selenski - Field hockey
I think this is a strong list of candidates. Very strong. One of the better lists we've had, actually. You have one ACC Freshman of the Year, three ACC Players of the Year. Three of these candidates set UVA all-time career records. Many were the best - say, top-ten or top-five - in the country at some particular event or statistic. One is a national champion - twice. Nearly all of them were at least all-ACC second team, most on the first team. Several were all-Americans.
A little reminder of a few rules I need to lay down:
-- One person, one vote, OK? Maybe you know how to get slick and fix your cookies and whatnot, but, look, honor system.
-- If you decide to champion a particular candidate, that is fine; I ask that you put a link to the page where you're doing so in the comments of this post. Especially if you do so on Facebook.
-- I reserve the right to interpret the voting results however I like. That doesn't mean I'm just going to switch the winner to whomever I feel like. I do know who I think should win, but I'm keeping that info to myself. It's more along the lines of last year, when Morgan Brian was the top vote-getter but it was also clear that Mike Scott was the choice of the regular readership, so I made it a double award. That sort of thing.
Voting will stay open for two weeks-plus. It will close on Sunday, July 7.
For one of those weeks, I'm going on a hiatus. It's summer, it's not like you'll miss me that much. I have a week-long vacation next week - a big sailing trip. Racing, actually. It's the summer, it's what I do in the summer. When I get back, I have plenty of stuff planned. Til then, happy voting.
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