Andrews Using Setback as 'Motivational Tool'
Courtesy: VirginiaSports.com
Release: 07/07/2011
By Jeff White
jwhite@virginia.edu

CHARLOTTESVILLE -- After taking 10 days off -- his first extended break since the calendar turned to 2011 -- Robby Andrews resumed training today in his hometown of Englishtown, N.J. He's had many hours to reflect since we last saw him on the track, moments after a disappointing defeat in a nationally televised race, and UVa's middle-distance phenom is excited about the future.

"I was really surprised with how the year turned out, after the way the fall went and even early winter," Andrews said by phone Thursday.

"To know that I was able to get in shape that quickly is really good to know, and it just really makes me wonder what I can do if I have a healthy cross country season and a healthy indoor season and lots of consistent training for 12 months, instead of six months."

To say the past 10 months have been a roller-coaster ride for Andrews, a rising junior, would be an understatement. Plantar fasciitis in his left foot forced him to redshirt during the cross country and indoor track seasons, and when Andrews finally returned to competition, he wasn't sure how the long layoff would affect him.

"Sometimes you kind of forget how to race, almost," Andrews said, "so this whole year, every race I was learning more, and more and more was coming back to me."

Andrews, who as a freshman won the NCAA title in the indoor 800 meters, quickly regained his form. In April, he placed second in the 1500 at the ACC outdoor championships, his time of 3:40.77 only a fraction slower than the winner's 3:40.69.

In May, Andrews anchored UVa's 4x800 team at the storied Penn Relays in Philadelphia, leading the Wahoos to their second straight Championship of America title. Then, in early June, Andrews used his trademark kick to win the 800 in 1:44.71 at the NCAA outdoor championships in Des Moines, Iowa.

"This is probably the biggest win of my career so far," Andrews said that night, and he was honored two days later at Davenport Field during the NCAA baseball super regional between UVa and UC Irvine.

The biggest race of his career? That was probably June 26, when Andrews ran in the 800 final at the USA outdoor championships in Eugene, Ore. The top three finishers were assured spots on Team USA at this summer's world championships.

"I'm running in the big-boy section, with the professional athletes, Nike-sponsored and Reebok-sponsored and adidas-sponsored athletes," Andrews said in Charlottesville before heading to Eugene. "I've never competed against them. I've only been able to watch."

To compete on that stage might have been a dream come true for Andrews, but the race itself was a nightmare. He finished last, in 1:51.68. Nick Symmonds won his fourth straight USA Title, in 1:44.71. UC Irvine's Charles Jock, whom Andrews had edged for the NCAA title in Des Moines, finished third in Eugene.

"Kind of everything that could have gone wrong, did go wrong, as far as how my legs felt," Andrews said Thursday.

"It was really frustrating. It was pretty tough to swallow afterwards, but it's exciting that I was able to be part of that. My dad flew out with my high school coach and my sister, and I had a lot of support there.

"Everyone was cheering for me. Everyone was there backing me up. It just wasn't in the cards, but that doesn't mean it's not going to be in the cards ever again."

Jason Vigilante was in Eugene with Andrews and several other athletes from UVa. The Cavaliers' director of track and cross country saw early in the race that Andrews was not himself.

"He just didn't have his snap," Vigilante said Thursday. "He looked great the first 100, and then everything was downhill after that."

When the race ended, Vigilante recalled, he took a deep breath and thought about what to say to Andrews.

"It's easy for us as coaches to imagine the good results," Vigilante said. "The hardest thing to do is to be prepared for disappointment. And a lot of times when you go to a big meet like this, you have to be prepared when you're going up against Nick Symmonds and all the guys that have kind of established themselves on the world scene.

"So immediately I went and found him. Right as he was starting to do an interview, I called him over and I said, 'Hey, just remember this: You took four months off because of an injury. You have done an incredible job up to this point, and people are going to remember you for that.'

"I said, 'It's very easy to look at this as a disappointment rather than a building experience. Just make sure you keep your achievements in mind as you go forth.' I gave him a big hug, and he went out and gave a very classy interview. I couldn't be happier with how he's handled things and with how he's performed this year."

Nearly two weeks have passed since the race, and Andrews, 20, has no trouble putting it in perspective.

"Overall, it was a very positive experience. You really can't get that kind of experience anywhere else," he said.

"It's only a true loss if you don't gain anything from the experience. So in my mind I gained a lot of information. It's not something I'm going to easily forget. I hope I'm going to wake up every day with the feeling of getting dead last in the final. So it's a very good motivational tool."

To qualify for the final in Eugene, Andrews ran the 800 on June 23 and again the next day. He doesn't believe the qualifying rounds took a toll on him.

"I think it was more the culmination of all the rounds put together from every other race, and all the traveling, just everything," Andrews said.

"Ever since I got back to school after winter break in early January, I was so far behind everybody, I kicked myself in overdrive for the entire six months. That was great for April, May and early June, but after three months of running as much as I could every day and just putting everything I had into each race, it kind of just took its toll, I think."

And so his 10-day break came at an ideal time for Andrews, a kinesiology major who'll be helping out at his father's summer running camp in New Jersey for the next two weeks. When he returns to Charlottesville next month, he'll start training in earnest for the longer -- 8k and 10k -- cross country races.

"I'll be very, very careful with him in cross country," Vigilante said. "He'll run a few races, not the whole season, and we'll try to have him ready when it counts."

Teel Time: Catching up with former UVa All-American Elton Brown
By David Teel
6:12 p.m. EDT, July 8, 2011

Few were as imposing as Elton Brown lead-blocking a Virginia sweep. He was an agile, 6-foot-5, 320-plus-pound guard capable of bulldozing most any defender.

Few are as approachable as Elton Brown in retirement.

He’s 29 now, two years removed from his release by the Arizona Cardinals. He was a consensus first-team All-American in 2004 at Virginia and a two-time winner of the ACC’s Jacobs Blocking Trophy.

I bumped into Brown, a Hampton High graduate, Friday at the Hampton Roads All-Star Football camp at Christopher Newport. This is the event’s 15th year, and Brown is a loyal supporter, working with the campers.

“This is where it all started for me,” he said with his ubiquitous smile. “I know how as a kid I felt when I saw a professional athlete or anyone affiliated with the NFL. You think that it’s possible, that you can make it happen, too.”

Brown made it happen, playing four seasons in Arizona before a cranky right knee, not a surprising injury for an athlete of his size. His last game action for the Cardinals came in 2008-09, their Super Bowl season.

“My right knee I just couldn’t get it back to where it needed to be,” Brown said, wearing red-and-black Cardinals gear. “You love the game, but at the end of the day, your health and family are more important.”

Brown considered a tryout with the United Football League’s Hartford Colonials, but their medical staff advised him against. He returned to Hampton, where he now coaches Pop Warner football and works establishing a foundation he calls First-and-Goal, the latter an acronym for “giving opportunities at life.”

A few weeks back, Virginia informed Brown that this season they’ll honor his No. 61.

“I was shocked then,” Brown said. “That’s worn off, but when it happens I’ll be in awe again.”

And he hopes for many more Saturdays at his old stomping grounds, where his friend and fellow 757 product Mike London is head coach.

“I definitely want to be the offensive line coach at Virginia one of these days,” Brown said.

Teel Time: Hampton receiver Jamall Brown commits to UVa
By David Teel
8:58 p.m. EDT, July 8, 2011

Jamall Brown’s breakout performance at the University of Virginia’s football camp last weekend trumped his injury-marred junior season for Hampton High. The Cavaliers quickly offered him a grant-in-aid, and Brown accepted just as rapidly.

A 6-foot-2, 155-pound wide receiver, Brown said Friday evening that he grew up attending Virginia home games, watching his cousin, Almondo Curry, play defensive back for the Cavaliers.

“That’s where I’ve always wanted to be,” Brown added. “I’m just thankful for the opportunity.”

Brown earned that opportunity at Virginia’s camp. He caught only six passes for 136 yards last season, but that’s because he sustained a broken wrist early in the season, relegating him to defense-only, in the secondary, for most of the year.

“I think ol’ Jamall fits anywhere,” Hampton coach Mike Smith said. “I know he’ll do well at Virginia. He’s such a good athlete. … Good speed, great hands.”

Smith anticipated more offers for Brown, who said he was also hearing from Richmond, James Madison, North Carolina State and Virginia Tech. But the lure of Charlottesville, and Virginia coach Mike London’s sales pitch, prevailed.

“Coach London really inspired me,” Brown said. “(The decision) takes a lot of pressure off my senior year.”

The commitment also reunites him with quarterback David Watford, Hampton’s quarterback last seasons and a freshman at UVa.

Brown’s pledge is the Cavaliers’ 14th for the 2012 incoming class, the eighth from in-state and the first from a prospect labeled a wide receiver.

Teel Time: Records against final top 25 revealing for Hokies, UVa football
By David Teel
5:40 a.m. EDT, July 8, 2011

Eye strain notwithstanding, researching a college football program’s record against the top 25 is not manual labor. Most, if not all, conference and school media guides note such results, albeit often in agate type.

But those records reflect the polls at kickoff. Might a more revealing measure be your record against opponents that FINISHED among the top 25?

That’s certainly how NCAA tournament selection committees operate. When the men’s and women’s basketball panels cite a team’s record against the RPI’s top 50, that’s the top 50 at regular season’s end, not the top 50 when you played a particular opponent.

For example, when Virginia defeated Minnesota in last year’s ACC-Big Ten Challenge, the Gophers were 10th in the RPI. Great win, right?

By regular season’s end, Minnesota was 85th. So no top-50 victory for the Cavaliers.

Conversely, when Virginia Tech defeated Penn State in December, the Nittany Lions were 67th. Yawn. But they closed at 39th, giving the Hokies a quality win by committee standards.

This train of thought, by the way, was prompted by a chart on a college football trivia website. It shows the records of all current Bowl Subdivision programs versus the final 25 (Associated Press or coaches’ poll) from 2006-10.

At 9-10, Tech is far and away the ACC’s best, and only Auburn (13-10), Southern California (12-6), Ohio State (12-8), Texas (11-7), Boise State (8-3) and TCU (7-6) are over .500.

So let’s see how the commonwealth’s two FBS programs fare by the two standards, only we’ll start the clock in 2004, the season Virginia Tech joined Virginia as an ACC member.

In the seven seasons since, the Hokies are a sterling 19-12 versus teams that were among the AP's top 25 at kickoff. Against the top 10, Tech is a credible 5-8.

But against the final 25, the Hokies are 14-14. Versus the top 10, they’re a meager 2-8, the victories over West Virginia in 2005 and Boston College in the 2007 ACC championship game.

The in-season to end-of-season change cost Tech three top-10 victories: Miami in 2004 and ’09, and Clemson in 2006. That Tigers’ squad, rated 10th when the Hokies beat them 24-7, finished the year unranked.

Virginia’s numbers dip dramatically, too. Since 2004, the Cavaliers are 7-17 against opponents ranked at kickoff, not horrible for a program in transition.

But versus teams among the year-end top 25, Virginia is 2-20, the lone wins over Florida State in 2005 and Georgia Tech in 2008.

Judge for yourself which standard is best. Each has merits, especially when you consider injuries, suspensions, etc.

But there’s no question which is the most demanding.

Here’s a season-by-season breakdown for Tech and Virginia against the final 25, which you won’t find in any media guide.

VIRGINIA TECH

2004: Lost to No. 1 USC and No.2 Auburn; beat No. 11 Miami and No. 23 Virginia.

2005: Beat No. 5 West Virginia, No. 18 Boston College and No. 19 Louisville; lost to No. 17 Miami and No. 23 Florida State.

2006: Beat No. 18 Wake Forest; lost to No. 20 Boston College and No. 23 Georgia.

2007: Lost to No. 1 LSU, No. 7 Kansas and No. 10 Boston College (regular season); beat No. 10 Boston College (ACC title game) and No. 21 Clemson.

2008: Beat No. 17 Cincinnati and No. 22 Georgia Tech; lost to No. 21 Florida State.

2009: Lost to No. 1 Alabama and No. 13 Georgia Tech; beat No. 14 Nebraska and No. 19 Miami.

2010: Lost to No. 4 Stanford and No. 9 Boise State; beat No. 17 Florida State and No. 25 North Carolina State.

VIRGINIA

2004: Lost to No. 10 Virginia Tech, No. 11 Miami, No. 15 Florida State and No. 22 Fresno State.

2005: Lost to No. 7 Virginia Tech, No. 17 Miami, No. 18 Boston College; beat No. 23 Florida State.

2006: Lost to No. 19 Virginia Tech.

2007: Lost to No. 9 Virginia Tech and No. 22 Texas Tech.

2008: Lost to No. 3 USC and No. 15 Virginia Tech; beat No. 22 Georgia Tech.

2009: Lost to No. 6 TCU, No. 10 Virginia Tech, No. 13 Georgia Tech, No. 19 Miami and No. 24 Clemson.

2010: Lost to No. 16 Virginia Tech, No. 17 Florida State and No. 23 Maryland.

Mike London Q&A Series Part 3: Defense and special teams
By JAY JENKINS
Published: July 08, 2011

Editor’s note: Jay Jenkins, the Virginia football beat writer for The Daily Progress, had a chance to sit down with UVa coach Mike London for a three-part interview. This is the third and final part of that interview. The first part on Thursday covered London’s thoughts heading into his second season as Virginia coach. Friday’s second part covered the Cavalier offense and today’s final part covers the Virginia defense and special teams.

Question: Virginia has enjoyed some great offensive lines over the past decade, but was part of that success due in part to the tremendous talent that the program maintained on the defensive line? It seems as though that had been an underrated operation for years outside of a few names.

Answer: I think guys like [Nick] Jenkins and [Matt] Conrath are tremendous examples. I think this season that Will Hill is going to be a pleasant surprise because he is probably one of the hardest workers on the team.

The day-in and day-out battles that you have up front, that’s where you win the games.

Q: It seems like the defensive line returns in tact outside of the unexpected loss of Zane Parr, a player that went undrafted after he left school a year early. Is there enough talent there for a 12- or 13-game season?

A: Basically, everyone is coming back on the offensive line and the defensive line and we should play better and we should practice better. We should be more experienced. Those guys battling each other should make themselves better and they will and they have to.

Even as we speak, they are out there on their own doing drills and doing one-on-ones and things like that because they want to be better. We will see. The freshmen are here and August 4 the rest of the guys come in too. It will be here before you know it.

Q: Most analysts would peg cornerback Chase Minnifield, a preseason All-American, as your top defensive player. What will it do for your defense this season to have a star at one of the cornerback spots? Will teams decide to completely avoid him?

A: I think it opens the opportunity for Chase to shine even more than before. He is a guy that says: “Hey, I want you to throw the ball my way.”

One of the things, and I don’t know if too many people know about it, but everybody knows I’m big into the community service part of it and I think that’s what these guys should do, but one of the top players on the team in terms of personal appearances and involvement is Chase Minnifield.

Here you have an All-American on the field but he does things right off the field. He has graduated already in 3½ years. He is one of the leaders in terms of the community service aspect of it.

Q: Does that carry over with a team this young, even though you have some players back in the middle of the 4-3 alignment that started a ton of games last year? Even as a quiet leader, can Chase make a difference leading by example?

A: Chase has it from all angles and he’s a very confident guy. It shows. When you graduate from here at the University of Virginia in 3½ years, you play quietly and you do things in the community and you aren’t out there beating your chest at people that is special.

Q: Do you have to have more this season from your special teams operations? You have some veterans back and it seem logical that you will make a greater impact following a season that saw some surprises in that operation.

A: We have all the legs back. The legs that kick off, the legs that punt and the legs that kick field goals. We are going to ask more of them.

You saw that we are not afraid to run fakes, but our punter should punt and have a better average. Our field goal kicker should be able to kick longer field goals. Our kickoff guy should be able to put the ball in the end zone. We are asking everyone else to pick up their game and those units have to do the same things.

It will be exciting to watch and I know that Anthony Poindexter is excited about what the future holds.

Virginia football notes: 'Meet the Team Day' Set for Aug. 14
By DAILY PROGRESS STAFF
Published: July 08, 2011

The Virginia football team will hold its annual “Meet the Team Day” this year on Sunday, Aug. 14. Cavalier fans will have the chance to interact with the players on Virginia’s 2011 squad, head coach Mike London and the other members of the UVa coaching staff.

Meet the Team Day takes place at the Carl Smith Center, home of David A. Harrison III Field at Scott Stadium. Players will be available for photos and autographs from 2 p.m. to 3:30 p.m. Gates to the stadium open at 1:30 p.m.

Parking is free for the event in both the East and West lots adjacent to Scott Stadium.
All fans are invited to Scott Stadium on Saturday, July 16 and Sunday, Aug. 13 for free movie nights. “Secretariat” will be shown, on Saturday, July 16 and “Toy Story 3” on Saturday, Aug. 13.

As many as nine ACC teams could start freshman QBs
Hokies could sign as many as 25
By Doug Doughty

While listening to local radio host Greg Roberts and hearing him obsess about Mike Glennon’s inclusion on the Maxwell Award Watch List, I was motivated to do some research into the state of ACC quarterbacking.
It is Roberts’ contention that “my guy” Tom O’Brien, the North Carolina State football coach, screwed up by not leaving the door open for 2009 ACC Offensive Player of the Year and summer baseball player Russell Wilson to return for a fifth season in 2011.

I’m sure that one of the reasons for O’Brien’s decision was his desire to get moving on the Glennon era. For Glennon to be ranked among the top quarterback hopefuls in the country flies in the face of Roberts’ argument.

The quarterbacks battling for the starting job at Virginia, Michael Rocco and Ross Metheny, were not on the Maxwell Award Watch List. But, it occurred to me that, either individually or collectively, they had more passing attempts than Glennon.

At least for the 2010 season, that was correct.

Rocco played in six games and completed 13 of 25 attempts. Metheny played in five games and was 13-of-17.

Glennon played in three games but had only 13 attempts, completing nine. Entering his fourth year at N.C. State, Glennon has attempted 52 passes in his college career.

You think Glennon lacks experience? Check out prospective North Carolina quarterback Brynn Renner. Renner threw two passes all of last season as a redshirt freshman.

Following is a quarterback-by-quarterback look at the ACC’s prospective starters.

BOSTON COLLEGE: Sophomore Chase Rettig (195 attempts in 2010).

CLEMSON: Sophomore Tajh Boyd (63 attempts in 2010).

DUKE: Junior Sean Renfree (464 attempts in 2010; 514 career attempts).

FLORIDA STATE: Junior E.J. Manuel (106 attempts in 2010; 199 career attempts).

GEORGIA TECH: Sophomore Tevin Washington (61 attempts in 2010).

MARYLAND: Sophomore Danny O’Brien (337 attempts in 2010).

MIAMI: Senior Jacory Harris (270 attempts in 2010; 870 career attempts).

OR MIAMI: Sophomore Stephen Morris (153 attempts in 2010).

NORTH CAROLINA: Sophomore Bryn Renner (two attempts in 2010).

N.C. STATE: Junior Mike Glennon (13 attempts in 2010; 52 career attempts).

VIRGINIA: Sophomore Mike Rocco (25 attempts in 2010).

VIRGINIA TECH: Sophomore Logan Thomas (26 attempts in 2010).

WAKE FOREST: Sophomore Tanner Price (241 attempts in 2010).

IN COMPILING THE above numbers, several thoughts came to mind:

1) If Harris doesn’t start for Miami, there won’t be a senior quarterback starter in the conference. As many as nine teams could start sophomores.

2) Who’s the preseason All-ACC quarterback? Off the top of my head, I’d pick Manuel or O’Brien, but what about Renfree?

3) If you’re Tech or UVa fan, you need to be concerned about your relative inexperience at quarterback. But, you’re not alone. Nobody is more inexperienced at QB than North Carolina.

BEFORE I DECIDED TO take this week’s Notebook Plus in this direction, my aim was to check on the scholarship numbers at Virginia Tech.

The word I got from the Hokies is that they’re at 83 right now and that’s counting several recruits who are completing classwork. Tech already has 15 commitments for 2012 and may go all the way to 25.

Tech has announced 20 signees in each of its last three classes. That follows a 31-member 2008 class that currently numbers 17.

Virginia had a little harder time getting down to 85, but it looks as if the Cavaliers will have space to bring back any fifth-year scholarship player they please.

Spots opened up when signees Adrian Gamble and Kevin Green were directed to Fork Union, Green with an NCAA Clearinghouse matter and not a sliding-scale matter, I’m told. Also, cornerback Devin Wallace and reserve offensive lineman Mike Price were, uh, invited to explore other options after their arrest following a Harrisonburg brawl.

The final scholarship to come off the books was for Hunter Seward, another reserve offensive lineman, whose inattention to program requirements caused him to run afoul of coach Mike London.

POSTGRADUATE FORK UNION football coach John Shuman provided some info on Christian Hackenberg, who actually plays quarterback for the undergrad FUMA team coached by Mickey Sullivan.

Hackenberg, whose father was a walk-on quarterback at Virginia in the late 1980s, transferred from Fluvanna County High School prior to the 2010 season (Fork Union is located in Fluvanna County). Hackenberg (6-3, 195) recently was offered a scholarship by UVa.

Virginia pitcher Roberts signs with Indians
By JAY JENKINS
Published: July 08, 2011

The lone pitcher to throw a perfect game in Virginia baseball history has moved on.

Junior pitcher Will Roberts passed on his final season of eligibility and signed a deal with the Cleveland Indians. The right-hander received $150,000 for signing with the club.

Drafted in the fifth round, Roberts joined the Cavaliers’ weekend rotation in mid-April in a series against Duke and helped push the program to their second trip to the College World Series.

“I am extremely happy for Will,” Virginia coach Brian O’Connor said. “He was tremendous this season in our uniform and he deserved what he got when Cleveland drafted him in that spot. I am so proud of him for what he did in the classroom and on the mound.”

For the year, Roberts logged 105.2 innings on the hill and went 11-2. His two losses came late in the year at North Carolina and in the second game of the College World Series in Omaha, Neb.

Roberts made 18 appearances, fanning 93 batters while walking just 14.

A Richmond native and graduate of Virginia, Roberts retired all 27 batters he faced against George Washington on Mar. 29.

The signing leaves Virginia without two of its starting options on the mound for 2012 and the option that remains unsigned, junior southpaw Danny Hultzen, is expected to agree to a deal with the Seattle Mariners before the Aug. 15 deadline. Hultzen was selected with the No. 2 overall pick after he went 12-3 and fanned 165 batters for the Cavaliers.

Virginia third baseman Steven Proscia, a seventh-round pick, continues to negotiate with Seattle and is not expected to return in 2012.

Six Cavaliers Named to VaSID Academic All-State Team
Courtesy: VirginiaSports.com
Release: 07/08/2011

NEWPORT NEWS, Va.-Six Virginia student-athletes are members of the 2011 Academic All-State Team announced by the Virginia Sports Information Directors Association (VaSID) on Friday (July 8). The Virginia student-athletes include junior Sarah Borchelt (rowing), junior Anna Corrigan (cross country/track and field), senior Stephanie Garcia (cross country/track and field), junior Danny Hultzen (baseball), senior Ayla Smith (track and field) and junior Matt Snyder (wrestling).
The team represents 30 state schools. Each school was allowed to nominate six individuals who had to be at least a sophomore and have a minimum grade point average of 3.2.

Borchelt, a nursing major from Sterling, Mass., was named the 2011 Atlantic Coast Conference Rowing Scholar-Athlete of the Year and was a member of the All-ACC Academic Rowing Team for the second consecutive year. She was a member of Virginia's Varsity Eight that finished seventh at the 2011 NCAA Championships and was a team tri-captain. Borchelt has been named a Collegiate Rowing Coaches Association (CRCA) National Scholar-Athlete each of the last two years.

Corrigan, a systems engineering major from Burke, Va., earned 2011 Capital One First-Team Academic All-District honors and was a member of the All-ACC Women's Academic Outdoor Track and Field Team. She was a NCAA East Preliminary Round qualifier in the 10,000m and finished 15th with a personal-best time of 33:58.64. That time ranks eighth on Virginia's all-time list in the event and she narrowly missed qualifying for the NCAA Outdoor Track and Field Championships. At the ACC Outdoor Track and Field Championships, Corrigan scored in two events, finishing fifth in the 10k and eighth in the 5k.

Garcia, an English major from South Riding, Va., was a member of the 2011 All-ACC Women's Academic Outdoor Track and Field Team and the 2010 All-ACC Women's Academic Cross Country Team. She also received All-Academic honors from the United States Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association. Garcia holds the all-time ACC record and UVa's school record in the steeplechase (9:47.29), in addition to the ACC meet record and Duke's Wallace Wade facility record (9:55.10). The two-time All-American became the highest individual finisher on the track for Virginia's women's program at this year's NCAA Track and Field Championships when she finished second in the steeplechase with a time of 9:47.29. Garcia was a four-time NCAA qualifier in the event and won two ACC steeplechase titles during her career. During the 2010 cross country season last fall, she earned All-Regional honors for the fourth consecutive year with a 10th place finish at the NCAA Southeast Regional and she notched All-ACC honors for the second time with a ninth place finish at the ACC Championships. Garcia was also Virginia's top finisher at the NCAA Championships with an 84th place finish.

Hultzen, a history major from Bethesda, Md., became the first Virginia baseball player to earn first-team All-America honors three times. He also earned Capital One First-Team Academic All-America honors. Hultzen went 12-3 with a 1.37 ERA this season as he earned ACC Pitcher of the Year honors for the second straight year. Hultzen set school single-season records with 12 wins and 165 strikeouts and broke the career records in each of those categories as well, with 32 wins and 395 strikeouts. Following the season Hultzen claimed the John Olerud Two-Way Player Award, presented to the top two-way player in college baseball.

Smith, a kinesiology major from Winchester, Va., was a member of the All-ACC Women's Academic Outdoor Track and Field Team for the fourth time in 2011 and a Capital One Second-Team Academic All-District selection. A second-team All-American in the 400m hurdles in 2011, she was a four-time ACC finalist and a two-time ECAC Champion in the event. Smith finished her UVa career as the school record holder in each of the hurdle events, including the 100m hurdles (13.51) and 400m hurdles (56.54) outdoors and the 60m hurdles indoors (8.39).

Snyder, a kinesiology major from Lewistown, Pa., was named All-ACC for the second straight season and earned an automatic berth at 125 pounds in the NCAA Championships, where he went 3-2 and reached the round of 12. He was a Capital One Second-Team Academic All-District and All-ACC Academic Wrestling Team honoree as well. Snyder went 26-11 with seven falls for the Cavaliers in 2010-11. He will live on the Lawn next year, one of the premier honors accorded at the University.

Minnifield Named to the 2011 Bronko Nagurski Trophy Watch List
Courtesy: VirginiaSports.com
Release: 07/08/2011

CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. - Virginia senior cornerback Chase Minnifield has been named to the 2011 Bronko Nagurski Trophy Watch List, announced Friday by the Football Writers Association of America (FWAA). One of the more than 87 players on the list most likely will receive the trophy, which is awarded annually to the nation's best defensive player by the FWAA and the Charlotte Touchdown Club.
The trophy has been presented since 1993 and is awarded in memory of the legendary Nagurski, an All-American lineman at Minnesota in 1927-29 and a star for professional football's Chicago Bears in the 1930s.

Minnifield is on the list for the first time in his career after he finished No. 2 in the ACC and No. 5 nationally with six interceptions in 2010. A SI.com Honorable Mention All-American, Minnifield also had 48 tackles. The Lexington, Ky., native shared ACC defensive back of the week honors with teammate Corey Mosley after snaring two interceptions in UVa's 24-19 upset of No. 22 Miami. Minnifield is also on the Lott IMPACT Trophy Watch List.

Players may be added or deleted to the Bronko Nagurski Watch List during the season. Each week during the 2011 season, the FWAA will choose a Defensive Player of the Week. If that player is not on the Watch List, he automatically will be added. The FWAA and the Charlotte Touchdown Club will announce five finalists for the Bronko Nagurski Trophy on Nov. 17.

The Bronko Nagurski Trophy winner is chosen from five finalists who are part of the FWAA All-America Team. The FWAA All-America Committee, after voting input from the entire membership, selects the 25-man team and eventually the Bronko Nagurski finalists. Committee members, then by individual ballot select the winner, the best defensive player in America.

The annual Bronko Nagurski Trophy Banquet will be on Dec. 12 at the Westin Hotel in Charlotte, N.C. Besides the 2011 winner being announced, the banquet will also celebrate the recipient of the Bronko Nagurski Legends Award presented by Florida East Coast Railway. Florida's Jack Youngblood, an end from the FWAA's 1970 All-America team, will be honored. Georgia head coach Mark Richt will be the keynote speaker at the banquet.

 

McAdoo's contested term paper made public
BY DAN KANE AND EDWARD G. ROBINSON III - STAFF WRITERS

As former North Carolina football player Michael McAdoo was fighting to stay on the team at an NCAA infractions hearing late last year, school officials repeatedly said he had not committed academic fraud in letting a former tutor help him produce a term paper for an African studies class.

"We are arguing that this was Michael McAdoo's work, even the citations were his work," UNC athletic director Dick Baddour told the NCAA, according to a Dec. 14 NCAA hearing transcript released in a court filing last week. "... To not reinstate Michael McAdoo is unduly harsh and is not warranted in this situation."

But when McAdoo's paper in question was made public in the court filings related to McAdoo's lawsuit against the NCAA and the university, commenters on the Pack Pride website - a site popular among fans of rival N.C. State - fired up their Internet search engines. They found numerous passages that appeared to largely lift word for word from other sources, including a 100-year old text. Thursday night, the sports blog SportsbyBrooks.com reported on the alleged examples of plagiarism in McAdoo's paper.

"Africa of today presents a complex picture," begins one of the passages in McAdoo's paper. "... Its population of about one hundred and sixty million seems enormous, yet, in comparison to the area, it is small. It is computed at fifteen to the square feet. Its races are innumerable; its dialect a vast confusion."

The cited population was dated - today, Africa has roughly one billion people.

The text was traced to Donald Fraser's book "The Future of Africa," : "Africa of to-day presents a complex picture. ...Its population of about one hundred and sixty million seems enormous. Yet, in comparison to the area, it is small and computed at fifteen to the square mile. Its races are innumerable; its dialect a vast confusion."

The paper does include footnotes and lists Fraser's work - which was published in 1911, according to archive.org - as a source. Another passage appears to have been lifted without any attribution from a Tanzania journalist's blog.

McAdoo's paper, "The Evolution of Swahili Culture on the East Coast of Africa," is likely to be the focus of a court hearing Wednesday as a judge hears the rising senior's request for reinstatement to the Tar Heels football team.

On July 1, McAdoo filed suit against the NCAA and UNC in Durham Superior Court, seeking unspecified damages and accusing the NCAA of "gross negligence" in ruling McAdoo ineligible on what the suit argues was inaccurate information.

The university's Honor Court had ruled in October that McAdoo was guilty of receiving improper assistance from tutor Jennifer Wiley - the same university tutor named in three of the nine major alleged UNC violations cited last month by the NCAA - with citations and a "works cited" list. The ruling was accompanied by the McAdoo's placement on probation for the fall of 2010, according to his suit, and a suspension for the spring of 2011.

UNC spokeswoman Nancy Davis said Friday that university officials declined to comment on the Swahili paper because Honor Court cases are closed to the public.

McAdoo is one of seven UNC football players who missed the entire 2010 season as a result of an NCAA investigation into academic misconduct and improper benefits among players.

In November, the NCAA ruled McAdoo, a defensive end from Antioch, Tenn., permanently ineligible and denied the university's appeal on his behalf in February after it was determined that he had received improper help with his class work.

UNC had submitted a report to the NCAA stating that the university was "confident that Mr. McAdoo was not aware that the assistance provided to him by [Wiley] was improper. The NCAA, however, determined that McAdoo had received "impermissible assistance on multiple assignments across several academic terms," according to the suit. It also determined that he had received $110 in improper benefits, most of which was related to a trip to the Washington, D.C. area with teammates Marvin Austin and Greg Little.

The information presented in McAdoo's lawsuit for reinstatement does not indicate that the NCAA, UNC athletic officials or the school's student-led Honor Court were aware of the liberal use of other works in the term paper in question. According to hearing transcripts and other documents in the lawsuit, the dispute concerns whether the tutor (Wiley) provided too much help in footnoting and sourcing the paper.

McAdoo's lawyer, Noah H. Huffstetler III, said Friday that his client received a failing grade for the paper. He said he has no dispute with the way the Honor Court handled it.

"That's not the subject of our lawsuit," he said. "That's the paper the Honor Court found had problems. They imposed a penalty on him. He got an 'F' in that course and was held out of football for one year. And we are not challenging or trying to re-litigate that Honor Court determination. He would have had to appeal that, if he was going to challenge that at the time, and he did not do that."

Huffstetler said the issue is the NCAA's combining that case with two other instances in which McAdoo was accused of receiving improper help but was not found guilty by the Honor Court.