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Offensive guard Ian-Yates Cunningham and kicking specialist Chris Gould are participating in postseason all-star games in the next month.
Cunningham has been selected to play on the East squad in the Hula Bowl this Saturday (Jan. 12) at Aloha Stadium in Honolulu, Hawaii. The game begins at 6 p.m. (EST) and is being televised nationally on the Versus network.
He started all 13 games at right guard for the Cavaliers this season to run his streak to 25 consecutive starts over the last two years. He was the top grader on the offensive line twice during the regular season and led the team during the regular season with 47 knockdown blocks. He had a season-high seven knockdowns vs. Duke and finished with at least three in 10 of 12 games during the regular season. He received his degree in the fall of 2006, a semester early, and competed as a graduate student this year.
Gould is playing for The Nation squad against Texas, a collection of Texas natives and athletes who played collegiately in Texas, in the Texas vs. The Nation Collegiate All-Star Bowl in El Paso, Texas, on Feb. 2. The second annual game will be broadcast nationally on CSTV and kicks off at 4:00 p.m. (EST).
Gould handled Virginia’s kick-scoring and short-punting duties this fall. He booted a career-high 16 field goals, the seventh-best figure in school history, and finished tied for 49th nationally in field goals. His kicking exploits were the difference in five games this season as Virginia won an NCAA-record five games by two points or fewer. He booted game winners against Middle Tennessee and Connecticut in back-to-back games and tied the school record with five field goals in a two-point win over North Carolina. As the team’s punter he kicked 26 times for a 36.5-yard average and ranked seventh in the ACC by dropping 19 punts inside the 20-yard line.