Forbes: UVA Dominates Athletically and Academically

Left: people studying at desks Right:person wearing a  2015 championship ring

Women studying in a library, left, and a close up of a championship ring, right.

A new list of colleges that excel both in athletics and academics underscores the University of Virginia’s long track record of success on both fronts.

Published by Forbes, the list places UVA at No. 13 among “Top Colleges That Dominate Academically and Athletically.” Only universities with a minimum of 20 NCAA team championships were considered eligible by the list’s author. UVA has won 25 team NCAA titles in its history.

Though the academic part of the ranking comes from the entire University, student-athletes certainly did their part, turning in extraordinary performances in the classroom again in 2016-17.

More than 320 Cavaliers were named to the Atlantic Coast Conference’s Academic Honor Roll, which comprises student-athletes who participated in a varsity sport while earning a grade-point average of 3.0 or better for the entire academic year.

Forty Cavaliers were recognized for the fourth time during their careers, with two (football player Nick Conte and wrestler Chris Yankowich) being honored for the fifth time.

UVA had 86 student-athletes named to ACC All-Academic teams. Four were honored as ACC Scholar-Athletes of the Year:

  •  Filip Mihaljevic (men’s track & field); 
  • Thai-Son Kwiatkowski (men’s tennis); 
  • Georgia Ratcliff (rowing); and
  • Jimmy Stanger (men’s golf).

Mihaljevic and Kwiatkowski won NCAA championships in their individual sports. Stanger was the ACC men’s golf individual champion, and Ratcliff was a member of the ACC champion Varsity Eight boat.

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