Opportunity is a word many throw around when referring to college athletics. It’s your shot, your chance to make a name for yourself, a name for the school you wear across your chest. As an athlete, you never know when that opportunity might arise — you just know that you must seize it when it does.
For infielder Jade Hylton, a Class of 2026 alumna, that opportunity came at the beginning of her collegiate career, starting at second base as a freshman. Now at the end, it is clear that she has taken advantage of it — it is clear that she wore the blue and orange Virginia letters proudly.
When Hylton arrived in Charlottesville, she was joining a program sight unseen due to the pandemic. She was also buying into Coach Joanna Hardin’s ambitious vision that was yet to come to fruition — building a consistent, winning and nationally competitive program…