This is the final installment of my pseudo-weekly series about the best of the past decade from Virginia athletics. Today, I rank my choices for the greatest athletes of the decade. What I looked for was dominance, records, hardware — especially championships, MVPs, and All-American awards — and overall importance to their teams. As usual, I give a shout-out at the end to someone who couldn’t make the cut for the list.
There were some extremely difficult cuts to make it down to this list of 25. The toughest were 2009 first-team All-American Danny Hultzen, Ryan Zimmerman — who was great and a second-team All-American, but whose collegiate success is often overhyped largely because of his current popularity in the big leagues — and football guard Elton Brown, who was a first-team All-American.

1. Somdev Devvarman, men’s tennis
He won two national titles in singles, led one of the most dominating tennis teams of all time and elevated a program from solid to contender. He’s arguably the greatest college tennis player ever, or at least the most successful.

2. Tillman Johnson, men’s lacrosse, goalie
Goalies usually don’t get much love, but Tillman Johnson was picked by some members of the press as the 2003 National Player of the Year as he led the team to a title. Many consider him the greatest college goalie ever.

3. Chris Long, football, defensive end
It’s difficult to believe the 2007 season would’ve been even remotely competitive without the unanimous first-team All-American who finished 10th in Heisman voting and third nationally in sacks.

4. Ed Moses, swimming
As great as our men’s swimming program always is, our last national title came 10 years ago when Ed Moses snagged two of them.

5. Chris Rotelli, men’s lacrosse, midfielder
The player of the year awards that didn’t go to Tillman Johnson in 2003 went to midfielder Rotelli.

6. Amy Appelt, women’s lacrosse, attack
She not only shattered the school goals record and won the Tewaarton trophy but she also led Virginia to a national title in 2004. The team has come close since but hasn’t pulled it off since Appelt graduated.

7. Alecko Eskandarian, men’s soccer, forward
The only Virginia Hermann Award winner of the decade, Eskandarian won the Heisman of soccer in 2002.

8. Cara Lane, swimming
The year 2000 was a special one for the swimming team, as it won three national titles. Two went to Moses, and the third went to the dominant Cara Lane.

9. Sean Singletary, basketball, guard
Chances are you witnessed him firsthand or are at least familiar with his greatness and ability to take control of a game. Singletary is Virginia’s only All-American of the decade and has his name all over the record books. His number is rightfully retired.

10. Heath Miller, football, tight end
Pretty much the best tight end playing in college football from 2003-04, Miller became a unanimous first-team All-American and a cornerstone of a successful 2004 team.

11. Matt Ward, men’s lacrosse, attack
The headliner for the greatest lacrosse season in the sport’s history took home the Tewaarton Trophy in 2006 as well as an NCAA title.

12. Nikki Krzysik, women’s soccer, defense
Twice a first-team All-American, Krzysik became one of the most feared defenders of the decade for the Cavaliers.

13. D’Brickashaw Ferguson, football, offensive tackle
Perhaps the greatest Virginia offensive lineman since Jim Dombrowski, Ferguson did a lot more than make us marvel at his name. He was first-team All-American in 2004.

14. Steve Garland, wrestling
That’s right, our very successful wrestling coach is also one of the most successful wrestlers in Virginia history. He became an unlikely national runner-up in 2000, the first time a Virginia wrestler has reached the final two in the NCAA Tournament in more than 40 years.

15. Matt Schaub, football, quarterback
The most recent Virginia overall ACC Player of the Year was a highly skilled slinger in 2002.

16. Yemi Ayeni, track and field, discus/shot put
A national runner up in discus in 2008, Ayeni was a three-time All-American who just got better and better.

17. Jacob Thompson, baseball, pitcher
Virginia’s first-ever unanimous first-team All-American, Thompson was one of the best ace pitchers ever to play for the Cavaliers.

18. Catherine White, track and field/cross country
White just this school year became an All-American after Virginia achieved its best finish at NCAAs since winning the title in 1982.

19. Sharneé Zoll, women’s basketball, guard
She holds the ACC career record for assists, but — more importantly — rejuvenated a team that had suffered a few down years since the turn of the millennium.

20. Tim Foley, wrestling
Foley finished the NCAAs with the team’s only top-five finish this decade apart from Garland’s miracle finish in 2000. Foley also won an ACC title.

21. Ben Rubeor, men’s lacrosse, attack
Three times he made an All-American team, and his name is splattered all over Virginia record books.

22. James Driscoll, men’s golf
In 2000, Driscoll became the first Virginia golfer in 60 years to place in the top 10 in the NCAA title match with a ninth place finish. No one has come close since.

23. Sarah Huffman, women’s soccer, midfielder
Huffman led the mid-decade Cavaliers with two All-American selections, including a first-team selection in 2005.

24. Monica Wright, women’s basketball
It’s a shame I can’t include what’s happened in 2010 in this list because Wright would jump up quite a bit. Maybe to the top 10. But even during her first three years, she scored nonstop and made two honorable mention All-American teams.

25. Emil Heineking, track and field/cross-country
Simply noting that he twice won All-American honors doesn’t do justice to the way he absolutely crushed the field during the 2009 cross country championship en route to an ACC title.

Dan’s Salute: Tara McKnight, women’s basketball, guard

If you search “Tara McKnight” in The Cavalier Daily archives, you find four (now five) columns and a news article I wrote myself. It’s pretty strange I’d so often mention a backup and a walk-on who graduated in 2008. But then again, I watch “Rudy” at least twice a year and am pretty short myself, so I have a special place in my heart for people who overcome small bodies with big heart.