Cavalier Corner

The Cavaliers have now notched two straight top-10 Directors' Cup finishes, and have placed in the top 20 nine consecutive years. Virginia also is one of 13 schools to rank in the top 30 of the final Directors' Cup standings every year during the 22-year existence of the competition. Individually, men's basketball redshirt third- year Malcolm Brogdon and women's soc- cer fourth-year Morgan Brian were named the school's top male and female athletes (features to follow). Here are some of the other highlights from the year that was in UVa athletics: BREAKOUT ATHLETES Jordan Young (track & field) and Lauren Diaz-Yi (golf ) both came on strong during their second-year campaigns. Young was the ACC champion and earned first-team All-America honors with a fourth-place finish at the NCAA Championships in the weight throw — an event in which he holds the school record with a toss of 75 feet and 2.5 inches — during the indoor season. He also was the runner-up in the shot put at the ACC Championships to team- mate Filip Mihaljevic. During the outdoor season, Young was the only male athlete to qualify for three individual events at the NCAA Championships. He went on to garner first-team All-America honors in the discus (sixth-place finish) and hammer throw (seventh), while receiving second-team accolades in the shot put (10th). Prior to his impressive showing at the national level, he was named the ACC Championships Field MVP after finish- ing second in the hammer and discus, and third in the shot put to earn All-ACC honors in all three events. Diaz-Yi was tabbed as the ACC Golfer of the Month for October, led the team and was fifth in the conference with a 72.08 stroke average, and posted four top-10 finishes this season. She won a pair of tournament titles, shooting a career-low 7-under-par 209 at the Tar Heel Invitational in the fall and a 9-under 207 at UCF Challenge in the spring. She helped Virginia t o t h re e t o u r n a m e n t titles, highlighted by her four th-place indi- vidual showing at the ACC Championships that earned her a spot on the all-conference squad and helped the program cap- ture its first-ever league title. Diaz-Yi was named a third-team All-American by Golfweek, and finished 30th in the publication's final rankings. She also received honorable men- tion All-America distinc- tion from the Women's Golf Coaches Association. Second-year thrower Jordan Young earned All-America accolades in the discus (sixth-place finish), hammer throw (seventh) and shot put (10th) at the NCAA Outdoor Championships. PHOTO COURTESY UVA

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