The University of Virginia football team turned in a stellar year in 1995, finishing the season with another win at the Peach Bowl and a sixteenth-place ranking in the Associated Press Poll. Perhaps the high point of the 9-4 season was the Cavalier victory over then second-ranked Florida State at Scott Stadium before a stunned national television audience. For the team's achievements, George Welsh was voted the ACC coach of the year for the fourth time, and punter Will Brice was named a first-team all-American by the Football Writers Association of America.

Other teams also turned in excellent performances. The women's basketball team

The University capped another winning season with a 34 to 27 victory over Georgia in the 1995 Peach Bowl before 20,000 Virginia fans. Virginia is one of only eight Division 1-A programs in the country to win seven or more games in each of the last nine seasons. Coach George Welsh's ability to recruit such outstanding players as linebacker Skeet Jones and tailback Tiki Barber provides the foundation for the team's success.

 won its sixth consecutive ACC regular season title in 1995-96 and advanced to the finals of the NCAA East Regional. It marked the Cavaliers' 13th straight trip to NCAA postseason play.

The men's and women's lacrosse teams each advanced to the NCAA championship game, while the baseball team won its first-ever ACC Tournament Championship. The baseball team finished fourteenth in the end-of-season Baseball America poll, the University's highest ranking ever.

The University demands of its athletes excellence in the classroom as well as excellence on the playing field. In 1995-96, Virginia student-athletes posted the highest cumulative semester GPA ever, and the University produced a record five GTE Division I Academic All-Americans.

U.VA. SENDS TWELVE TO THE OLYMPICS

While Charlottesville was celebrating the Olympic ideal, twelve current or former U.Va. athletes were putting the final touches on their training for the Olympics. Six soccer stars played on the U.S. team, and the University fielded athletes on the women's soccer, men's team handball, baseball, women's swimming, and men's swimming teams.

All-American Dawn Staley not only represented the United States in women's basketball, but she was also the subject of a 100-foot mural painted on the side of a building in Philadelphia, her hometown. University coaches played a role in the centennial games, with three current or former coaches leading the team and a fourth helping to set up the rowing, kayaking, and canoeing events.

Pitcher Seth Greisinger, who in June led our baseball team to the NCAA Tournament and was the first-round pick of the Detroit Tigers, earned a bronze medal as a member of the U.S. team.

The discipline and dedication that University athletes demonstrate on the playing field characterize their performance in the classroom.