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8 CAVALIER CORNER cavalier sports Julia Adams • Tennis The graduate student from Knoxville, Tenn., won the women's singles title at the 2022 ITA Atlantic Regional Championships Oct. 24 in Charlottesville. Adams defeated second-year teammate Elaine Chervinsky in the final to win her first regional championship. This is the fifth time a Virginia player has won the singles title. Nick Jackson • Football The fourth-year from Atlanta was tabbed as the ACC Linebacker of the Week Oct. 31. He made 14 tackles in UVA's 14-12 loss to Miami, the 19th dou- ble-digit tackle effort of his career. Through Nov. 5, Jackson ranked second in the ACC in tackles per game (10.3). His 93 total tackles were also second in the league and were the 10th-most in the country. Iñaki Montes • Tennis The third-year from Pam- plona, Spain, was the runner- up in men's singles at the ITA Atlantic Regional Champion- ships Oct. 24 in Charlottesville. He topped his teammate, third-year Jeffrey von der Schulenburg, in the semifinals before falling to Virginia Tech's Ryan Fishback. Montes was forced to retire due to an injury down 1-0 in the finals match. Gretchen Walsh • Swimming The second-year from Nashville, Tenn., won three individual events with three of the fastest times in the country in No. 1-ranked UVA's 95-91 loss to No. 3 Texas Nov. 4-5. As of Nov. 7, Walsh had the fastest time in the NCAA in the 50 free (21.16), 100 free (47.11) and 100 fly (50.53). She also swam the fastest time ever recorded (52.09) in the 100-yard individual medley (not an NCAA event). HOO'S HOT Recognizing the "Who's Hoo" in UVA athletics — Cavalier student-athletes, past, present and future who are making news around the world of sports. behind the scenes Fourth-Year Football Player Chayce Chalmers Fourth-year safety Chayce Chalm- ers is a difference maker for the Cavalier football program. But those contributions don't come in the form of gaudy stats or big-hit highlights. He is making his impact in the Char- lottesville community. A native of Gainesville, Va., Chalm- ers ended his high school career early, enrolling at UVA in January 2019. He did not play in any games that fall but has appeared in 21 contests over the past two years and is a regular on special teams for the Cavaliers this season. This fall he was UVA's nominee for a pair of impressive awards — the Allstate AFCA Good Works Team and the Wuerffel Trophy — both of which honor college football players for their community service. Chalmers' nominations were packed with examples of his com- munity involvement. Last spring and summer he worked with the UVA Equity Center to mentor middle school students in the Charlottesville area in STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Math) and was a vol- unteer at the local YMCA's after-school program at Johnson Elementary School. He's orga- nized an effort with his teammates through Challah for Hunger to help fight food insecurity and cleared local walking trails to benefit Camp Holiday Trails. "My primary inspiration for being involved in the community is knowing that there are areas, especially for me with African-American families and children, that are in need of some support," Chalmers said. "I always know that someone is in a worse position than I am. Knowing I can go into an area, and just by my service, I am providing something to help support someone through maybe a hard time or maybe they had a bad day, a bad week or a bad month or year. "I see inserting myself into those communities as a resource to help as much as I can. I want to be that help. I want to be that person who can maybe find a resource someone needs to help them become stronger." Chalmers aspires to be an educator in the future, working with elementary or middle school students. "We were highly impressed with his ability to come in and connect with the children and jump right into the curriculum," said Brandon Lee, a former UVA football player who also worked at the UVA Equity Center. "He was a student himself, learning how to teach." Chalmers is also a team leader for the program's Groundskeepers organization that has been well publicized for championing social justice and equity on Grounds and in the community. During the summer, he accompanied ESPN.com writer Andrea Adelson while she participated in the Groundskeepers walk from the Downtown Mall to the Rotunda, helping to educate her on the organization and its goals. "What I enjoyed most about my time with Chayce during our Groundskeepers walk was not only his raw honesty, but his willingness to take a stand and work to make not only UVA but the world around him better," Adelson said. "Isn't that what we all want out of our next generation of leaders? He left an impression that I won't soon forget." — Jim Daves Chalmers was UVA's nominee for the Allstate AFCA Good Works Team and the Wuerffel Trophy, both of which honor college football players for their community ser vice. (Photo courtesy UVA)