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National Titles: 19 and Counting
By Jeff White (jwhite@virginia.edu)
CHARLOTTESVILLE — The first came in 1938, when the UVa boxing team shared the NCAA title with Catholic and West Virginia.
The latest came Sunday, when Virginia beat Akron on penalty kicks to capture the NCAA men’s soccer championship.
The coronation in Cary, N.C., marked the 19th national championship by a UVa team.
(Virginia also has won two ITA team indoor titles in men’s tennis — in 2008 and ’09 — but those aren’t included in the University’s total, because the NCAA crowns a champion in that sport.)
The NCAA awarded 16 of the 19 titles. The exceptions: men’s lacrosse in 1952 and ’70 and women’s indoor track and field in 1981.
The breakdown, by sport:
Boxing — 1938
Women’s Cross Country — 1981, 1982
Men’s Lacrosse — 1952, 1970, 1972, 1999, 2003, 2006
Women’s Lacrosse — 1991, 1993, 2004
Men’s Soccer — 1989, 1991, 1992, 1993, 1994, 2009
Women’s Indoor Track & Field — 1981
Looking ahead to the spring, UVa could contend for NCAA titles in several sports, including men’s tennis, women’s lacrosse, men’s lacrosse, rowing, women’s golf and baseball.