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.\nThere 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\nHe 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\nGoalies 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\nIt'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\nAs 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\nThe 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\nShe 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\nThe only Virginia Hermann Award winner of the decade, Eskandarian won the Heisman of soccer in 2002.
8. Cara Lane, swimming\nThe 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\nChances 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\nPretty 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\nThe 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\nTwice 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\nPerhaps 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\nThat'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\nThe 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\nA 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\nVirginia'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\nWhite just this school year became an All-American after Virginia achieved its best finish at NCAAs since winning the title in 1982.
19. Sharne
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