Cavalier Corner is the publication just for UVa sports fans!
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IT STARTS WITH YOU THE PATH TO SUCCESS Academics Preparation Competition Service Graduation Lifelong Success ▼ ▼ ▼ ▼ ▼ think it's much of an argument," she said. "He's great and really fights for everything he thinks we need. "Because of that, we have an amazing weight room. Coach [Mike] Curtis is really cutting edge and gets us all of the equipment and recovery tools, which are huge." Barnette noted Curtis' gadgets include hot and cold tubs, foam rollers, electrical stimulation and state- of-the-art NormaTec compression and performance recovery machines, which give the Cavs a big-time advantage. "It's really neat we have everything we need at JPJ; that's not the case for a lot of other universities, so we're really lucky," she concluded. "As great as our facili- ties are, there are so many great people here, and that's what really makes it so good." John Paul Jones Arena opened in 2006, but one of the newest projects that has helped UVa student-athletes is the George Welsh Indoor Practice Facility, which opened in the spring of 2013. Third-year wide receiver Canaan Severin remembers when he was being recruited, he was told the football facility would soon be a reality, and he was impressed with how quick it came to be, especially since he said it was definitely a factor in choosing Virginia. Now the team is not affected by weather conditions, and Severin said it is especially helpful for the quarter- backs and receivers, who can work to get their timing down year-round. "The rain and snow, all of that gets in the way, but the indoor gives us a chance to keep doing what we need to do," he said. "It's an awesome tool we have. It helps us get a better grasp on the offense, we can always get a lot of things done, and it's a beautiful facility." FIRST-CLASS SUPPORT STAFF Severin, like other Virginia student-athletes, also works with director of sports nutrition Randy Bird. There might not be a player on the Grounds who has benefitted as much as Severin. This offseason, the 6-2, 210-pound wide receiver wanted to drop some weight to help him thrive. He and Bird set a goal of losing 20 pounds by fixing what he ate, as well as the portion size of his intake. Severin sent a picture of everything he was about to eat to Bird, who would approve or give some advice before the athlete put it into his body. That went on for three to four months, and Severin lost 23 pounds before the season opener. The two still work together, although they switched from an offseason diet to an in-season one that pro- vides Severin with enough fuel to succeed on Satur- days. The receiver can see his offseason work showing on and off the playing field. "It shows what you can do if you have the right peo- ple surrounding you with a good game plan," Severin noted. "I have better lateral movement and can sepa- rate from the defenders better. I didn't lose muscle be- cause I was still getting enough protein; it was all about balance and portions. I feel a lot faster and quicker — it's like I took a refrigerator off my back. "Randy helped me a lot in preparing my body for competition. The way I'm eating helps me go through the whole game, and the credit goes to him." — Ryan Tice The Virginia Athletics Foundation fully funds the Athletics Academic Affairs Office.