Virginia’s various sports teams have had a great summer so far. The ACC has announced a major overhaul of the conference schedule for soccer, and both men’s and women’s soccer athletes are making a name for themselves around the world. In addition, several Cavalier teams saw success in the area of transfers and recruiting, and Virginia capped off another strong year in sports by finishing 11th in the Director’s Cup.
The football schedule was reformed, dissolving the existing divisional structure
The Atlantic Coast Conference announced a new type of football schedule, which will take place from 2023 to 2026. For example, the Atlantic and Coastal divisions will be eliminated and, instead, the teams will play the same three opponents every year – and Virginia’s top opponents. being Louisville, North Carolina and Virginia Tech – while playing a home-and-away game with 10 other teams over a four-year span.
“I am very grateful that our student-athletes will have the opportunity to experience a game day environment at every ACC facility,” Coach Tony Elliott said.
The intended goal of the model is to allow each team to play a home and away game for each team, among other goals.
“The new model creates several improvements for ACC football, which will benefit the league, our student-athletes and our fans,” Athletic Director Carla Williams said.
Statistics and athletes on the national stage, winning a place in the World Athletics Games
Meanwhile, another Virginia men’s track and field star is making headlines. After junior discus thrower Claudio Romero won the NCAA national championship earlier in June, senior javelin thrower Ethan Dabbs won the gold medal in the javelin at the USATF Outdoor Championships, which took place on June 26.
Dabbs was in fifth place with one throw to go when he threw 81.29 meters to jump into first place and win his first national championship. Even more interesting is the journey Dabbs faces to get back to his best postseason game.
Dabbs had surgery last year on his throwing arm and has worked his way back into championship form. This season, Dabbs set the ACC record and the ACC Championship, throwing 82.93 meters. Additionally, he was voted Virginia’s defensive player of the year by his teammates this season.
Following her championship performance, Dabbs will compete in the World Athletics Championships representing the United States in the javelin starting on July 21. The competitions will be held in Eugene, Ore. Dabbs will join Romero at the tournament, where Romero will be representing Chile after scoring first in the season.
In addition to Dabbs, freshman Mia Barnett competed at the USATF U20 Outdoor Championships, where she finished second in the 1500 meters. Barnett set a new Virginia record this year in the 800 meters. and will look to improve on his impressive junior season.
Current and former soccer players compete in the Concacaf Championship
The Virginia women’s soccer team has four athletes competing in the Concacaf Women’s Championship, which began on July 4. Three of the athletes are alumnae – Diana Ordoñez, Becky Sauerbrunn and Emily Sonnett. The fourth and final Cavalier is fifth-year defender Claire Constant. Ordoñez represents Mexico, Sauerbrunn and Sonnett represent the United States, and Constant represents Haiti.
When the group stage ended and all four athletes competed together in group A, the United States won the group and advanced to the finals. Each athlete made at least one start, and Sonnett scored the United States’ first goal in their playoff game against Costa Rica.
The Cavaliers have been successful in transfers and recruiting
In other recent news, the Virginia men’s basketball team has secured its first commitment for the 2023 recruiting class. Blake Buchanan, of Coeur D’Alene, Idaho, announced his commitment to Virginia on July 3 at Gonzaga.
Buchanan is Idaho’s top prospect, a 6-foot-10 power forward/center and is selected as the 107th overall pick in the 2023 class. He is the first addition to the 2023 class as the Cavaliers ts’ but to match or better the 2022 class that was one of the best Coach Tony Bennett ever had at Virginia.
After a very successful season, Virginia swimming and diving continues to improve. The women’s team won the NCAA national championship for the second consecutive year on March 19, while the men’s team finished 10th overall. The women’s team now adds two transfers to an already large squad, while the men’s team has just received transfer news.
Georgia junior transfer Maxine Parker and UCLA junior transfer Sam Baron both transferred to Virginia in May and will join the women’s team. Meanwhile, the men’s team got the good news that rising Tim Connery, a Texas transfer, will be joining the team. Connery announced his transfer on July 4 and won the Big 12 Individual Championship in the 100-yard butterfly during the spring.
The final standings for the Manager’s Cup have been released
In conclusion, Virginia athletics as a whole had a very successful year. The final standings for the LEARFIELD Managers’ Cup were announced by the National Association of Sports Managers on 30 June. Virginia finished 11th overall, the same spot the Cavaliers finished last year. The NCAA team championships in men’s tennis and women’s swimming and diving played a large role in Virginia’s final placing.
Virginia placed in the top 25 for the 15th straight year. The Director’s Cup points are accumulated from the last NCAA school in 19 sports. The four sports must be men’s and women’s basketball, baseball and volleyball.
