“If you were Felix, and you worked in a refugee camp in El Salvador, how would you feel if you knew you couldn’t leave?”

That was photographer Roderick Sinclair’s opening question to the nearly 40 students and teachers who came to Casa Bolívar Friday evening to see his photographs of refugees in Central America.

It took a few moments for Sinclair to think of the right words to describe how Felix might feel — hopeless, discouraged and uncertain. Sinclair went further, describing this uncertainty as a daily condition — the refugees never know when or even if they will leave the camps. This opening discussion helped the audience interpret the photographs, and made them come to life throughout the rest of the presentation.

Since the 1970s, political crises have shaken five countries in Central America: Guatemala, Honduras, El Salvador, Belize and Nicaragua. The United Nations has set up refugee camps to help people fighting opppression. Sinclair, who went to Central America in 1973 as an Episcopalian minister, photographed people in the camps. When asked why he took up photography, he said, “I graduated college, and my mother gave me a camera.”

Sinclair asked the audience to pick a photograph and comment on it. We chose “Girl with Plaited Hair,” a black-and-white photograph of a Guatemalan girl, who looks about 8 years old. She is leaning against a pole, and her face is turned toward the camera. The caption says she lived in poverty, like more than half of the Guatemalan population. “I love that girl over there because she’s so beautiful, but she also wears kind of a haunting expression,” Spanish Prof. Pamela Rini said.

Sinclair explained his preference for black-and-white photography. “If you have a photograph of a young girl with red lips and a yellow sweater, you are distracted by the color,” Sinclair said. “If you have that same photograph in black-and-white, you look into her eyes and you can see into her soul.” In this collection of 35 photographs, only one is in color; the rest are in black-and-white.

Sinclair captures a range of emotions in his exhibit. We see both faith and despair in the photograph “Refugees in Chiapas, 1992,” in which one man reads the Bible and another man sits behind him with his head buried in his hands. “This was my favorite photograph, because it shows that they still have faith through hard times,” second-year College student Brandy Hence said.

Another photo, “Guatemalan Girls, 1991,” shows playfulness — two girls are tugging on a bat to see who goes first in a game. As Sinclair put it, “Kids will be kids.”

Second-year College student Jamar Nixon said kids across time and space could relate to the ones in the photograph. “No matter where they are, they’re still only kids,” Nixon said. “They’re smiling, laughing and playing; they’re so innocent.”

Sinclair emphasized the importance of his message in a broader world context.

“These issues — oppression, intolerance, persecution — are not limited to Central America,” he said. “They’re going on everywhere in the world. Rini added that the same issues are relevant in Libya today, providing a modern example of a country torn apart by war and dissidence.

For many people, the best part of the evening was the opportunity to engage with the photographer himself.

“It’s special to see the man behind the pictures … and have him help us interpret them,” Hence said.

It’s possible most students at the University have used an iClicker at least once during their time here. The compact electronic pieces of white plastic are used in many disciplines, from anthropology to physics and psychology to the Nursing School. Many professors use them for grading, while others simply use them to keep track of attendance. I, however, would argue that they can serve a deeper, more philosophical purpose.

Just last week, I had somewhat of a grand epiphany during my physics class. I was meticulously working on homework for another class, diligent student that I am, when I suddenly heard the sound of a hundred backpacks being unzipped simultaneously. Classmates on all sides were pulling out the small, white iClickers. I quickly fumbled to retrieve mine and glanced at the question on the board.

It was simple. I knew the solution before my eyes even reached the choices. I knew that my professor used the results purely for attendance statistics, but I still felt a wave of relief sweep over me. For anyone who hasn’t used an iClicker in class, the professor presses a magical button and the amount of people who have “clicked” in their answer is displayed on the screen. It obviously starts at zero, but almost instantaneously jumps up, usually at around 10 at a time.

Students all around me chose their answer and returned to their conversations or computers. I could see nine people using Facebook, and could only assume the others were shopping or “stumbling” online as the total number on-screen was rising with less and less vigor.

I knew the solution, so why hadn’t I clicked in my answer? I sat in silence, intently focused on the number of clicks on the board as it rose by one or two every few seconds. The professor announced that our time to respond was nearly up, and he began to count down.

With three seconds to go, I still hadn’t answered. The total number had remained constant for a few seconds, so I knew I had found the right time. I registered my answer as soon as the professor announced there was one second remaining. My answer brought the number of votes up to its final tally, and time was up.

I don’t recall hearing the correct answer and explanation. I was already too focused on explaining to myself what had just happened. I’m the first to admit that I overthink some situations, but this one was plaguing my mind more than usual. There are a number of rational explanations for why I waited until the last possible second to cast my vote. It isn’t my general nature to walk on the wild side, so I wouldn’t simply chalk it up to an act of rebellion.

Racking my brain, I came up with a typically profound meaning behind my actions. I realized I was simply searching for meaning. I come from a very small town, and I guess I’m used to seeing my actions make at least tiny ripples on the community around me. I now find myself part of the much larger university community, however. For me and for many of us, it’s easy at times to feel as though our individual contributions to the community are marginalized.

I guess I was looking for a little sense of justification that day in class. As students all around me added their clicks to the expanding electronic pile of answers, I needed to feel as though my number mattered. Had I used the clicker early as the number jumped quickly from zero to about 30, my individual answer certainly would have been lost in the shuffle.

No, I needed proof. As petty as it may seem, and I realize the silliness of this explanation, I needed evidence that my action, no matter how insignificant, was making a difference in some way.

And to be honest, I did feel a sense of satisfaction and excitement when I clicked my iClicker button and noticed a change in the number on the screen.

I can assure you I don’t spend hours analyzing every trivial decision I make during the day. This is certainly one of my more random thought tangents, but I believe it is noteworthy because it is a pretty universal concept, especially when I can’t be alone in occasionally feeling like a tiny fish in an enormous pond.

For those who have been in my shoes, I say it’s OK to seize opportunities like I did. We need to occasionally be reminded that the world would be a different place in our absence. It’s important to know we are making a difference in our environment, even if only in small ways. I learned a lesson more important than any formula or concept that day in physics.

I certainly never will look at my iClicker the same.

Tyler’s column runs biweekly Mondays. He can be reached at t.deboard@cavalierdaily.com.

A frequently discussed topic concerning the anonymity of internet dating is the faceless and often emotionless encounters in blogs and chat rooms. In these anonymous realms people can say really cruel, racist or bizarre things about others that they would never say in real life. When no one knows your name, your face or who you are at all, and when no one can easily find out who you are, it becomes easier to act in a surprisingly audacious manner.

I’ve recently come to realize that people in clubs can behave in the exact same way as people in chat rooms. As opposed to people at something like a frat party, there is a low chance of any stranger ever coming in contact with you again after that night. Clubs in cities that are typically “vacation towns” are even worse, as everyone is flying out of the city within a few days of their arrival and there is only the slightest chance you will ever see them again.

I went to Las Vegas with some girlfriends for my 21st birthday over Winter Break, and we dutifully hit up the club scene a couple nights to see what all the fuss was about. It turns out that the men in those clubs were absolutely outrageous.

The polite ones introduced themselves and asked if we wanted to dance. Others would just come up behind us, hook their fingers into our belt loops, and begin dancing without any question. If you decided to say “No, thanks. I’m just hanging out with my girls tonight,” then they would simply walk away and move on to the next girl, as if we were interchangeable. Many of these guys were pushy, rude and had some of the worst pick-up lines I’ve ever heard.

One pair of European men claimed to be brothers. One kept insisting that his brother was a “rock star,” but we had never heard of him and we weren’t impressed. He had hair and eyebrows like Russell Brand, but the desperate attempts to make us believe he was famous simply were not working.

My friend Stephanie was dancing casually with one guy when he reached down, grabbed her hair, and yanked it, hard. “That guy just pulled my hair!” Stephanie screamed. “What did I do to give him the impression that I wanted him to tug on my hair in the middle of the dance floor?” The answer is, she did nothing to make him think that behavior was acceptable, but on a dance floor in a Las Vegas club, men think nothing is off-limits.

The one group of nice men that we were chatting with were from England. Despite the loud, booming music, those British accents were unmistakable, and without them forcing some bizarre claim or pick-up line upon us, we were happy to talk to them. One of them pointed to my friend Katherine and said, “You look like Kate Middleton.” A little weird, but she’s about to marry Prince William and become Princess of Wales, so I guess it was a compliment in some way. “I would love to be royalty … are any of you princes?” I asked jokingly. “I am,” one guy responded. “Prince Charming.” Cheesy, yes, but almost golden after listening to the other trash tried on us all night.

And lastly, on a slightly unrelated note, my parting wisdom about Las Vegas clubs: At this point in the evening, after the creepy guys had come and gone, everyone on the crowded dance floor began staring upwards as dollar bills started to rain down from the ceiling. I kid you not. Every 15 minutes or so, money would be falling from the sky. I made no apologies; I was shameless about scooping up the cash. I was grabbing money out of the air, squatting on the floor in my dress, snatching bills out from under girl’s heels and shoving them into my purse. But that’s how you had to be if you wanted to buy one of the $12 rails being sold at the bar. Seeing how eager I was to snatch up the cash — “I’m a poor college student!” I kept explaining — the British guys we had been talking to started handing me some of the money that had landed on their heads and shoulders. All of a sudden, the few nice guys we’d met made me feel like I was acting like slightly less than a nice girl. Take my advice. Never accept dollar bills from a stranger in a club, because it feels frighteningly similar to having a career that you really didn’t choose.

Jordan’s column runs biweekly Mondays. She can be reached at j.hart@cavalierdaily.com.

Junior center Assane Sene scored 10 points on a perfect night of shooting from the floor and the free throw line to lead the Cavaliers against Boston College Saturday. Photo by Thomas Bynum

Although the Virginia men’s basketball team often has sputtered offensively this season, its strong defense has remained a staple. During Saturday’s 63-44 loss to Boston College at John Paul Jones Arena, however, it finally started to crack.

“We certainly struggled offensively, and we’ve had games like this before where we haven’t been able to hit the shots,” coach Tony Bennett said. “But this was one of the first games where I felt like we really got outplayed defensively.”

Sixty-three points might not seem a staggering total to surrender, but the Cavaliers (14-14, 5-9 ACC) depend on their defense to compensate for a low-scoring offense. Virginia is last in the conference in points scored per game, but it entered the game tied for first in scoring defense.

“That’s our only chance is the defense,” sophomore guard Jontel Evans said. “We don’t have any guys on the team that are going to get 30 a night. We have a team. And when it’s not working on the defensive end, our chances are limited.”

Virginia began the game with a typically strong defensive effort and jumped out to a 7-0 lead. Junior center Assane Sene dominated the paint and scored six points in six minutes. Senior guard Mustapha Farrakhan hit back-to-back threes and junior guard Sammy Zeglinski added another as the Cavaliers grabbed a 28-21 advantage. With two minutes left in the half, however, the Eagles (17-11, 7-7 ACC) began to take control. Boston College ended the half on a 10-0 run, and the Cavaliers never regained their composure.

“It just seemed like the momentum was shifted,” Evans said. “We were ready to pour it on them and then they just came back at the end and took the lead. Then they just came out with more momentum and energy in the second half. They just took it to us.”

The Eagles shot 57.1 percent from the field during the second half, more than doubling Virginia’s 25 percent shooting during that time span. Neither Zeglinski nor Farrakhan hit another three during the game as the team finished 19 percent from behind the arc.

“We’re a jump shooting team right now. When we shoot 4-for-21 from the three, it’s going to be tough,” Zeglinski said. “The looks were really good I thought, so it was really frustrating not to be able to knock them down.”

Virginia failed to exploit an Eagles defense that ranked as one of the ACC’s worst. Boston College, meanwhile, took full advantage of the conference’s third highest scorer. Junior guard Reggie Jackson came into the contest averaging 18.2 points per game and posted 25 points Saturday while shooting 62.5 percent from the field.

“He’s very good,” Evans said of Jackson. “[He’s] a very athletic guy, a guy that can get to the basket and shoot the three, so it’s very hard to guard him. You can’t back off of him, but you can’t play him too tight because he can blow right by you.”

Senior forward Corey Raji also cut through Virginia’s defense, going 7-for-10 from the field and tallying 17 points. Farrakhan and Sene paced the Cavaliers with 10 points each, while freshman guard Joe Harris pulled down a team-high 10 rebounds — his highest total of the season.

Harris “had some rebounds early, he does have what I call a ‘nose for the ball,’” Bennett said. “He goes up and grabs it with his size, being 6-foot-6. I guess if there is one bright spot, it’s that.”

The Cavaliers’ defense had surrendered an average of only 55.3 points during its past three games. The team had won two straight and seemed to be heading toward the ACC Tournament with momentum. Saturday’s game, however, left the team with a bitter taste ahead of its final home game of the season against N.C. State Tuesday night.

“We were all feeling really good coming into this game,” Harris said. “The majority of the first half, we were feeling pretty good, and then as soon as they hit that little run there at the end of the half and then the second half … It really gets you down. It’s just tough to swallow.”

As a pair of giant, multi-colored slinkies randomly gyrated to techno beats at midcourt Saturday afternoon, stupefied Virginia fans sat back in complete silence, utterly stunned by the events unfolding before them. Last week it was a dude in a pair of skis doing backflips on a trampoline, and now we’ve got a couple of mutant amoebas engaging in some sort of pre-mating ritual? Who the hell comes up with this halftime stuff anyway?

I, too, felt like I was tripping on acid, but not for all the same reasons as the rest in attendance of Saturday’s game. After playing solid basketball for the first 18 minutes, Virginia appeared to suffer a collective heart attack as the team succumbed to a 10-0 Boston College run during the last two minutes of the first half. The full-fledged momentum shift shocked everyone in the building, including the Cavaliers, who never recovered the rest of the way.

But it wasn’t just the Eagles’ run that took me by surprise; it was the way it played out. After a Corey Raji layup cut the Cavaliers’ lead to two, Mustapha Farrakhan took the ball near midcourt and tossed a lazy pass that was taken away by Reggie ‘Do It All’ Jackson, who raced down the court for an easy lay-in. Farrakhan compounded his mistake by fouling Jackson, giving him an ‘and-one’ bucket that put the Eagles up for good. With seven seconds left in the half, Sammy Zeglinski chucked up a three-ball that clanged off the iron, leading to a Boston College rebound and buzzer-beating layup that made the halftime score 31-28.

With so many young bucks in the Virginia lineup, it seemed strange that the team’s veterans were largely to blame for Saturday’s loss. Farrakhan’s eight points and one assist indicated he was enjoying a respectable first half, but his turnover proved costly. Zeglinski, meanwhile, couldn’t hit a cow’s arse with a banjo Saturday, as he finished just 1-for-10 from the field. He might have done better if he had held for the last shot of the half too, although it’s tough to scold a shooter for taking advantage of an open look. Will Sherrill, the other old man in the lineup, continued to wallow in post-injury irrelevance, chipping in just two points and one rebound during five minutes of play.

More troubling than the upperclassmen’s lack of production, though, was their lack of effective leadership. When the going got tough in the second half, nobody appeared to step up and rally the troops. Much like the hung-over students in attendance of Saturday’s noon tip-off, Virginia veterans simply were going through the motions during the final 20 minutes of play. There was no sense of urgency, as players neglected to close out shooters on defense and lacked aggression on offense, all while carrying on with an ‘OK, we’ll just take one on the chin in this one and move on to the next one’ attitude. The result was Boston College out-scoring Virginia 32-16 during the second half. Jontel Evans summed it up after the game when he said, “I just felt like we didn’t fight.”

Virginia’s veterans certainly can’t bear complete responsibility for the loss, since the team’s underclassmen combined for just 19 points on 7-of-24 shooting. Freshman guard Joe Harris — the Cavaliers’ second-leading scorer on the season — racked up a game-high 10 rebounds, but came away with only five points. Evans — the team’s most reliable on-the-ball defender — let Reggie Jackson put up 25 points.

“Even the freshmen, we can step up and say something, it doesn’t have to be the upperclassmen that need to step up and be leaders,” Harris said. “We kind of lacked that today. We didn’t have anybody step up and talk about how we need to start communicating, work the ball around, that kind of thing.”

Not only was Virginia’s performance a complete 180 from the previous week’s glorious triumph against Virginia Tech, but it was also a total retreat from the style of basketball that has kept them competitive in so many games this year. You can’t always count on the Cavaliers for lights-out shooting, but you can almost always bet on stifling defense that makes opponents struggle for open looks at the basket. Even during a one-sided loss against Duke Feb. 16, Virginia proved its mettle on defense by holding the Blue Devils to a season-low 56 points. Saturday, though, the ‘Hoos displayed a defense that looked far inferior to the one they went up against, which ranked second-to-last in the conference prior to the contest. Boston College only totaled 63 points, but the Eagles’ 57 percent second-half shooting indicates they simply were milking clock on offense.

A Tuesday night matchup against N.C. State means the Cavaliers don’t have much time to lick their wounds. They now sit on a 14-14, 5-9 record, the same win total with which they finished the regular season last year. A win on Senior Night against the Wolfpack, followed by whatever happens against Maryland Saturday, would mean a slight improvement from Tony Bennett’s inaugural season. Considering all the attrition and injuries that have marred this season, such marginal improvement might be more encouraging to the weary Cavaliers than people think. Another win also would help give them some momentum heading into the ACC Tournament, which begins next Thursday. Keep in mind, however, that Bennett’s men rode a nine-game losing streak into last year’s tournament before winning their first-round game.

But postseason play lies in the distant future for Virginia fans. All they should hope for now is a win tomorrow. And a better halftime show would be nice, too.

“If there’s a better guy in college baseball, I’d like to see him.”

That’s what Virginia coach Brian O’Connor had to say about junior pitcher Danny Hultzen. The team ace dazzled on the mound and at the plate Friday night to set the tone for the No. 10 Cavaliers’ 2-1 series win against East Carolina (4-2). Hultzen knocked in three runs and scored two more during Virginia’s 10-1 game one victory. Junior catcher John Hicks, senior outfielder John Barr and senior outfielder David Coleman each picked up two hits apiece.

Virginia’s biggest offensive weapon, however, might have been ECU’s defense. Sophomore infielder Chris Taylor reached on an error to lead off the third inning and opened the gates for four Virginia runs. The Pirates committed three more errors during the fourth to allow the Cavaliers (6-1) to plate six runs. ECU freshman infielders Jack Reinheimer and Drew Reynolds combined for five errors during the game, and seven of Virginia’s 10 runs were unearned.

“I’ve been there before,” O’Connor said. “Both those kids on the left side of their infield are freshman, and we’ve started freshmen before in our infield and it’s tough. Obviously it’s a little bit easier to win when you have some errors that go your way”

Winning especially is easy with Friday night starter Hultzen. After allowing a leadoff single, the lefty retired the next 18 batters he faced. The Pirates finally scraped in a run during the seventh, but that mark barely blemished Hultzen’s near-perfect line of three base runners allowed and a career-high 15 strikeouts.

“It makes all the difference in the world when you have a high-end Friday night starter like Danny Hultzen … [and] that is as dominating of an outing as I’ve seen him have in his college career,” O’Connor said.

After Friday’s lopsided win, the Cavaliers trailed 2-1 through five innings Saturday. The team broke through during the bottom of the sixth, however, with a three-run inning. Another Reinheimer error gave the Cavaliers runners on first and third with no outs, and Barr and Hicks followed with RBIs. Virginia’s starter, senior pitcher Tyler Wilson, finished the game with 6.1 innings pitched, 10 strikeouts and two earned runs, while sophomore pitcher Branden Kline notched the save for Virginia’s 4-3 win.

Sunday’s game showed that baseball is a game of inches. During the bottom of the second, Pirates’ freshman outfielder Ben Fultz drove the ball to shallow right field, where Hultzen seemingly made the sliding catch. The umpires ruled he trapped it, though, giving the Pirates runners on first and second with no outs. Senior pitcher Cody Winarski appeared to escape the inning with a grounder to short, but Taylor looked to second before throwing to first, giving sophomore outfielder Philip Clark time to leg out an infield single.

“I wish I could have that play back,” Taylor said. “But that kind of thing happens, and hopefully I can learn from it and it won’t happen again.”

Junior infielder Michael Ussery made the Cavaliers pay for their missed plays. He drove the ball over the shallow-playing Barr’s head for a bases-clearing double. Senior outfielder Trent Whitehead then lined the ball just beyond Barr’s grasp, and Ussery came around to score.

“It’s tough to beat a really good club like East Carolina when you don’t make a couple of plays that need to be made,” O’Connor said. “That’s baseball, the breaks don’t always go your way, and they didn’t for us today.”

Pirates’ junior pitcher Mike Wright held Virginia hitless through the first five innings, but the Cavaliers finally began to chip away at the lead in the sixth. Taylor singled and then scored on junior infielder Steven Proscia’s single up the middle, and Barr added another run in the seventh.

Virginia threatened in the eighth with runners on the corners and no outs, but Proscia struck out and East Carolina gunned down junior infielder Keith Werman stealing. Hicks walked to lead off the ninth inning, but he too was caught stealing. The Pirates then retired Virginia’s next two batters to hold on for the 4-3 win and salvage a game in the series.

“That was a tough loss [Sunday],” Taylor said. “But you have to look at all three games, and I think we have to be pretty proud of how we did.”

For the fourth consecutive year — and for the 12th time in the last 13 years — the Virginia men’s swimming and diving team won the Atlantic Coast Conference Championships Saturday in Atlanta, Ga.

The Cavaliers collected 820 points during the four-day event to top second-place North Carolina’s 588 points and leave Florida State’s 511.5 points as a distant third.

The Virginia men entered the meet ranked No. 10 in the nation, and they defended their No. 1 ACC ranking with a first-place finish in the competition’s opening event, the 800 freestyle relay. 2011 marks the fourth-consecutive year that seniors Scot Robison and Matt McLean have won the event at the championship meet.

“With the bookends of McLean and Robison, that’s one of the better relays in the country,” Virginia coach Mark Bernardino said.

The relay team of McLean, senior Taylor Smith, junior David Karasek and Robison finished the race in 6:16.75, the second-fastest time in Virginia history. The first-place team finished an impressive eight seconds ahead of the second-place Tarheels, whose fourth leg touched at 6:24.07.

The second day of racing included the preliminaries and finals for the 500 freestyle, 200 meter individual medley and 50 meter freestyle, with the 200 freestyle relay occurring during the evening. Ten Virginia swimmers reached the evening’s finals and the Cavaliers finished the night in first place with 280 points.

The men entered the finals tied for first place with Clemson at 72 points, but Virginia broke away after it swept the 500 freestyle.

McLean touched at 4:13.53 to win the event for the fourth year in a row — his 15th overall ACC title and his seventh individual championship during his career at Virginia.
“There were things I can do to improve on,” McLean said of the 500. “It was good to have that many teammates in the heat and for everyone to swim well.”

During the third day of the finals, swimmers competed in the 400 individual medley, the 100 butterfly, the 200 freestyle, the 100 breaststroke, 100 backstroke and the 400 medley relay. The Cavaliers were represented by four swimmers in both the 400 individual medley and the 200 freestyle.

“We stayed very competitive and put people in a position where they are chasing us instead of us chasing them,” Bernardino said. “That’s a good place to be.”

Robison won his second-straight title in the 200 freestyle with a 1:32.52finish. McLean followed in second at 1:34.41 and Karasek finished fourth at 1:35.80.

Entering the last day of competition, Virginia topped the leaderboard with 544 points, well ahead of North Carolina’s 405 and Florida State’s 338.5.

The Cavaliers maintained their lead throughout the day with McLean’s win in the 1650 freestyle at 14:42.73. McLean later recorded his 17th overall ACC title during the 400 freestyle relay.

McLean also earned his third title as the ACC Swimmer of the Meet, an honor he also received in 2008 and 2009. McLean’s motivation at this meet came from something deeper than merely individual and team success. He was swimming for Fran Crippen, an 11-time All-American at Virginia who died in October while competing in an open water race in the United Arab Emirates.

“More than anybody on the team, [McLean] swam for Fran,” Bernardino said. “There was a real bond between those two guys.”

Prior to Saturday night’s finals, the Cavalier swimmers added the initials “FC” at the bottom of the large block “V” they traditionally write on their chests.

“It was really special to me because that was Fran’s event and he was a tremendous friend, competitor, mentor, hero and role model for me,” McLean said. “I absolutely love him and it was nice to have a good race to honor him.”

To close out the four-day competition, Robison earned second place in the 100 freestyle at 42.71, Grey was the runner-up in the 200 breaststroke at 1:56.61, and Houser narrowly finished second in the 200 butterfly at 1:44.68.

McLean, Robison, junior Peter Geissinger and sophomore Tom Barrett then won the 400 freestyle relay for the fourth year in a row with an ACC-record time of 2:51.26.
Together, the team returns to Charlottesville with 16 individual championship medals — four each for Robison and McLean, who both won 17 such titles during their careers.

“I hope our fourth-year class has left a good legacy for the other three classes here and all the upcoming classes,” McLean said.

The Virginia women also won their fourth straight and ninth overall ACC title last week in Georgia, which makes the 2011 conference championship the first time since 1996 that one school swept both the ACC men’s and women’s swimming titles for four consecutive seasons.

“This was a team win,” Bernardino said.

Both Cavalier squads will attempt to continue their trend of top-tier finishes at the NCAA Championships beginning in mid-March.

Junior attackman Steele Stanwick scored five goals, including the game-winner, against No. 5 Stony Brook. Photo by Thomas Bynum

With less than a minute to play in the first overtime period, junior attackman Steele Stanwick snatched a ricochet ground ball in front of the cage and fired the game-winner into the net to give No. 1 Virginia a dramatic 11-10 away victory against No. 5 Stony Brook Saturday. Stanwick’s goal prevented an improbable comeback win by the Seawolves, who scored twice in the final 21 seconds to send the game to overtime.

Virginia (3-0) led by three twice in the fourth quarter and took a 10-8 lead with 1:12 left in regulation off a goal by junior midfielder Colin Briggs. Stony Brook’s National Player of the Year candidate, senior midfielder Kevin Crowley, put away his fourth goal of the game with 21 seconds remaining. The Seawolves (0-1) won the ensuing draw, and junior midfielder Russ Bonanno slipped a diving shot past senior goalkeeper Adam Ghitelman to send the home crowd into delirium.

Stanwick quieted the crowd with his game-winner, the last of his game-high five goals on the afternoon. Stanwick also tallied two assists.

Ghitelman racked up nine saves on the afternoon and earned his 40th career win for the Cavaliers. The win tied him with Kip Turner for the school record for goalie wins.

The Cavaliers return to Klöckner Stadium tonight at 7 p.m. to take on VMI.

—compiled by Nick Eilerson

The Virginia softball team won three of five games this past weekend at the Cathedral City Classic in Palm Springs, Calif.

The Cavaliers (9-5) earned two wins Thursday — a 9-3 romp against BYU and a close 4-2 decision against Utah. Against BYU (7-8), Virginia trailed by a score of 3-1, but in the bottom of the fifth the Cavaliers compiled eight runs on four hits to take a 9-3 lead, highlighted by a three-RBI double by sophomore catcher Kristen Hawkins.

Despite being outhit 8-2 against Utah, Virginia emerged victorious after scoring four runs in a wild fourth inning full of hit batters, errors and wild pitches. Virginia failed to hold a 1-0 lead during its lone Friday game against Fresno State and allowed four runs during the final two innings of a 4-1 loss.

The Cavaliers split their two challenging games Saturday. Virginia came from behind to upset No. 11-ranked Hawaii by scoring three runs in the bottom of the sixth inning for a 6-4 win. Sophomore pitcher Melanie Mitchell struck out nine batters while recording her ninth complete game of the season. The Cavaliers concluded the tournament with a 9-3 loss to top-ranked Arizona.

Virginia travels to Walt Disney World next weekend for the ESPN Rise Tournament in Lake Buena Vista, Fla.

—compiled by Ben Baskin