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12 ◆ CAVALIER CORNER BY SEAN LABAR V IRGINIA ATHLETICS HAS become synonymous with success, and the 2016‑17 campaign was no exception. The Cavaliers capped off this past sports year with their 11th straight top‑20 finish in the Director's Cup, the ultimate measure of success of college ath‑ letic programs. Points are awarded to those teams that compete in NCAA postseason play, and each school can count the highest finishes in 10 men's sports and 10 women's sports. UVA is now one of only 12 schools nation‑ ally to rank among the top 30 in all 24 years the competition has existed. This past year was highlighted by a third consecutive men's tennis national champi‑ onship — a feat that was complemented by a program‑best third‑place national finish for men's track and field, an NCAA quar‑ terfinal showing by field hockey, a pro‑ gram‑best 10th‑place showing for men's golf and rowing placed No. 11 nationally. In addition, women's swimming and div‑ ing posted a 12th‑place finish at the NCAA Championships, and both the men's and women's soccer teams each made Sweet 16 appearances. "It's not easy to achieve consistent suc‑ cess in intercollegiate athletics and the streak of top‑20 and top‑30 Directors' Cup finishes speaks to the hard work of our stu‑ dent‑athletes and coaches and the support of our university administration, donors and fans over a long period of time," Virginia director of athletics Crag Littlepage said in statement released by UVA. Virginia also took home three ACC titles (field, hockey, men's tennis and rowing) in 2016‑17 and now has 76 since the spring of 2002 — the most of any league school dur‑ ing that stretch. Individually, Filip Mihaljevic captured NCAA titles in the men's shot put and dis‑ cus at the outdoor championships. Thai‑Son Kwiatkowski claimed the NCAA men's ten‑ CONTINUED SUCCESS Virginia Posts Its 11th Consecutive Top-20 Finish In The Directors' Cup Competition After helping the Virginia men's tennis team to its third straight national title, fourth- year Thai-Son Kwiatkowski earned the NCAA singles championship. PHOTO BY MATT RILEY/COURTESY UVA THE YEAR IN REVIEW