A group of elite University of Virginia student-athletes traveled from the sports world’s center stage in Paris to center court at John Paul Jones Arena, where they were honored Sunday as part of UVA Athletics’ and the UVA Maxine Platzer Lynn Women’s Center’s celebration of National Girls and Women in Sports Day.
Six of UVA’s female Olympians – swimmers Alex Walsh, Emma Weber and Aimee Canny, track and field athletes Ashley Anumba and Bridget Williams and rowing’s Sky Dahl – joined in the halftime celebration during the women’s basketball game against the University of Louisville.
Before the game, the lobby buzzed with young sports fans darting from one activity to the next, throwing, catching, rowing and playing alongside UVA student-athletes. Since 1996, the University has proudly celebrated female athletes and their accomplishments as part of National Girls and Women in Sports Day, an annual celebration the Women’s Sports Foundation created in 1987.
UVA Today senior photographer Matt Riley captured these images from the day’s activities.