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 ▼ ▼ ▼ ▼ ▼ phorically speaking, both are long, uphill climbs. It's not really wrestling-based, it's team bonding and a hard workout, but it's more mental than physical. "The end is really a great moment for everyone to take in not only the past workouts, but what's to come in the future. It all culminates there and feels like some- thing you accomplished together." CHALLENGING COMPETITION The baseball team — which finished as the national runner-up last year — also uses some unconventional training methods. Each fall, they hold the Iron Cava- lier Challenge in which the players compete against each other in individual exercises. The activities in- volve such things as how many pushups, sit-ups or sprints a player can do in five minutes, and the multi-event competition concludes with an obstacle course. The winner is crowned the Iron Cavalier, which is a respected accomplishment through- out the team, according to third-year catcher Robbie Coman, who finished second last year. Although some of the drills in- volved in the Challenge don't literally translate to the baseball field, it helps build team camaraderie and mental strength like the grappling squad's trips to Humpback Rocks. The competition aspect is another big component, and that definitely translates to the regular season. "It gets highly competitive because everybody is trying to beat the guy next to them," Coman said. "That just makes the team better as a whole because guys are pushing each other. "I can see the advances I've made every year in the Challenge. We're all getting stronger, faster and in bet- ter shape. That's a good quality of it, but there's more to it than that. There's the team aspect — you go through it with your teammates and they become some of your best friends after you've done it together. It's not easy and it's not directly correlated to baseball, but it's something that makes us better." ACADEMIC SUPPORT No matter how or where it happens, all of Virginia's teams head into the season prepared, thanks to the athletics department providing them with whatever is required. They are similarly primed to succeed off the field, thanks to a similar complement of bounti- ful resources that are available to student- athletes. "Obviously, it's difficult being a stu- dent-athlete, it's almost like having two jobs," All-American and 2014 ACC Men's Tennis Scholar Athlete of the Year Mitchell Frank said. "It has defi- nitely been a difficult situation, but I think it has been really key to have the Athletics Academic Affairs Office. They provide that balance you need and a link between sports and academics." Frank noted the Athletics Academic Affairs Office helps make time away from class much easier because they can confirm the absence with professors, while also giving student-athletes a proper timeline to get everything done in order to succeed. Frank goes there for tutoring help or insight into making his class sched- ule fit with everything else. They also helped him get ROBBIE COMAN