1 » 2011 linebacker recruit Lateek Townsend recently told his hometown newspaper, The State, that he is strongly considering leaving home and playing for the Florida Gators after his senior season of high school. “I’m thinking Florida highly,” he said. “That’s a winning program, so things must be done right. I’m going down there soon for an unofficial visit. I’ve not seen the campus yet. I put them up there with Clemson [his leader] and South Carolina.”

2 » Mark Wheeler of Rivals is reporting that Gators redshirt senior safety Dorian Munroe was denied a sixth year of eligibility and a medical redshirt by the NCAA last week. Munroe, who has suffered with injuries throughout his college career, was hoping to get a redshirt exception after tearing his anterior cruciate ligament for the second time. Munroe has appeared in 28 games in his Florida career, collecting 43 total tackles while playing a role on defense and special teams. He had a career-high six tackles in the SEC Championship against the Arkansas Razorbacks in 2006. He will appeal the ruling.

3 » University of Florida alumnus Tom Thurston is competing in the Iditarod this year, and The Gainesville Sun put together a nice profile piece on the former student. Thurston hopes for a top-30 finish in the annual event.

4 » Gators senior outfielder Francesca Enea was the recipient of SEC Player of the Week honors Monday. Smacking four home runs (three grand slams) this week, Enea is now second all-time in the SEC record book with 51 homers. Also honored this week is Florida freshman lacrosse player Ashley Bruns, who brought home the American Lacrosse Conference‘s Rookie of the Week for scoring five goals in one half of competition. It is the second-straight week a Gators lacrosse player has won the honor. Last but not least, the 2009 SEC Champion UF women’s cross country team was named the USTFCAAA All-Academic Team of the year with a combined 3.56 GPA.

Bubble Watch » The unranked Saint Mary’s Gaels (26-5, 11-3 WCC) defeated the No. 14 Gonzaga Bulldogs (26-6, 12-2 WCC) 81-62 Monday to earn the WCC Championship and a spot in the NCAA Tournament. Two teams are now guaranteed to represent the WCC instead of one (Gonzaga), taking away an at-large bid.

Tags: All-Academic Team, American Lacrosse Conference, Ashley Bruns, cross country, Dorian Munroe, Francesca Enea, Iditarod, lacrosse, Lateek Townsend, NCAA, Player of the Week, Rookie of the Week, SEC, SEC Champions, softball, Tom Thurston, University of Florida, USTFCAAA

1 » Competing in the DeMarini Tournament over the weekend, the No. 3/10 Florida Gators began with a solid 12-3 win over Pacific on Friday. Falling to No. 10/12 Stanford 2-0 later that afternoon, the Gators needed to rebound through the final two games of the tournament in order to come out on top. Florida did just that, earning a 12-0 victory over the Cal State Fullerton Titans (3-16) in five innings on Saturday. Senior outfielder Francesca Enea led the Gators with a 2-3 performance for two home runs (including a grand slam) and five RBI. Sophomore OF Michelle Moultrie also contributed, going 3-3 from the plate with three runs. Junior starter Stephanie Brombacher (11-2) earned the win in four innings of work.

Sunday was the final day of the tournament, and the Gators still had some work to do. Florida began the day with a dominating 14-3 win over the UC Davis Aggies (7-11) while totaling a season-high 16 hits (third-most in school history). Enea went 3-4 and extended her hit streak to 11 games while jacking another grand slam. Her 51 career home runs tie for second on the SEC’s all-time list. Brombacher (12-2) got another win on three innings of work. Later that day, the Gators (16-2) closed out the event with a 13-1 victory over the Loyola Marymount Lions (3-7). Junior shortstop Megan Bush went 3-3 with two home runs, three RBI and three runs as freshman starter Ensley Gammel (3-0) earned the complete game win.

Read about tennis’ dominating victories, golf and track & field after the jump!
Continue Reading » FOUR BITS: Softball, tennis dominate; golf, track

Tags: Alexandre Lacroix, Allie Will, Antoine Benneteau, Auburn Invitational, Auburn Tigers, Cal State Fullerton Titans, DeMarini Tournament, Ensley Gammel, field, Francesca Enea, golf, Lauren Embree, Linder Stadium, Loyola Marymount Lions, LSU Tigers, Marrit Boonstra, Megan Bush, Michelle Moultrie, Ring Tennis Complex, Roland Thornqvist, softball, Stephanie Brombacher, tennis, track, UC Davis Aggies

1 » After suffering their first loss of the season against No. 6/3 Florida State in the inaugural Florida Four tournament, the No. 5/6 Florida Gators traveled to Coral Gables, FL, for a three-game series against the No. 16/11 Miami Hurricanes. OGGOA will wrap-up the series on Sunday, but on Friday, the Gators (6-1) took down the Hurricanes (6-2) 7-1 in the series’ first game. Sophomore starter Alex Pantelidois (3-0) held Miami hitless into the fifth inning and registered a career-high eight strikeouts. Fellow sophomore Nick Mardone earned his first career save by striking out seven over 3.1 innings without giving up a hit or run. Three Gators acquired two RBI in the contest.

Five more BITS including a softball doubleheader, gymnastics triangular meet and SEC openers for men’s and women’s tennis…after the break!
Continue Reading » SIX BITS Baseball, softball, gymnastics, tennis win

Tags: Alex Pantelidois, Alexandre Lacroix, Allie Will, Antoine Benneteau, Arkansas Razorbacks, Ashanée Dickerson, Ball State Cardinal, baseball, DeMarini Invitational, Ensley Gammel, Francesca Enea, gymnastics, Lauren Embree, Marissa King, Marrit Boonstra, Miami Hurricanes, Nick Mardone, North Carolina Tar Heels, O'Connell Center, Pacific Tigers, SEC, softball, Stanford Cardinal, Stephanie Brombacher, Tegan Gerhart, tennis

1 » No. 3 Florida Gators women’s track and field won the 2010 Southeastern Conference Indoor Championship Sunday, its first since the 2004 season. Scoring 110 total points, the team was led by junior Charlotte Browning and senior Shara Proctor, who were named co-winners of the Cliff Harper Trophy for the SEC’s high-points scorer. The men’s team finished second at the Randal Tyson Track Center in Fayetteville, AR, as the home team Arkansas Razorbacks beat them out for the men’s crown 123-119. Both the women’s and men’s teams also captured numerous individual SEC titles over the weekend.

2 » No. 3/11 Gators softball (12-1) swept the Northwestern State Lady Demons (8-5) 15-0, 5-0 and 10-1 over the weekend at Katie Seashole Pressly Stadium in Gainesville, FL. Sophomore outfielder Michelle Moultrie powered Florida’s offense by going 5-8 (.625) with a double, triple, home run and six RBI, while junior OF Kelsey Bruder joined her with similar 5-8 performance for four runs, two homers, six RBI and 11 total bases. Junior pitcher Stephanie Brombacher (10-1) won each game of the series, striking out a combined 13 and only allowing three walks.

Read four more BITS on gymnastics, lacrosse, men’s tennis and Senior Day…
Continue Reading » SIX BITS: SEC titles, softball sweep, gymnastics

Tags: Alabama Crimson Tide, Alexandre Lacroix, Antoine Benneteau, Arkansas Razorbacks, Ashanée Dickerson, Auburn Tigers, Beard-Eaves Memorial Coliseum, Brittany Dashiell, Charlotte Browning, Cliff Harper Trophy, field, gymnastics, Illinois Illini, Jennifer George, Jennifer Mossor, Kelsey Bruder, lacrosse, Linder Stadium, Lonnika Thompson, Michelle Moultrie, North Carolina Tar Heels, Northwestern State Lady Demons, Pressly Stadium, Randal Tyson Track Center, Ring Tennis Complex, SEC, SEC Championship, Senior Day, Shara Proctor, Sharielle Smith, softball, Steffi Sorensen, Stephanie Brombacher, Susan Yenser, tennis, track, women's basketball

No. 3/9 Florida Gators softball (9-1) took home the 2010 Lipton Invitational title Saturday, winning five straight games in the tournament by an average of over five runs.

Check out all five game recaps and much more after the jump!
Continue Reading » Florida softball sweeps, wins Lipton Invitational

Tags: Aja Paculba, Brittany Schutte, Campbell Camels, East Carolina Pirates, Ensley Gammel, Erin Schuppert, Francesca Enea, Kansas Jayhawks, Katie Murphree, Kelsey Bruder, Kelsey Horton, Lipton Invitational, Marshall Thundering Heard, Megan Bush, Michelle Moultrie, softball, Stephanie Brombacher, Tiffany DeFelice

1 » No. 3/9 Florida Gators softball (5-1) shutout the Campbell Camels (1-4-1) 7-0 Friday night on the back of a school-record six home runs. Leading their team to victory, junior first baseman Megan Bush had lead-off home runs in back-to-back plate appearances, and junior starter Stephanie Brombacher (4-1) blanked Campbell over five innings while compiling a season-high 11 strikeouts. Six of Florida’s seven runs came on solo homers from five different Gators including Bush (4th, 6th), sophomore outfielder Michelle Moultrie (4th), junior catcher Tiffany DeFelice (6th), freshman C Kelsey Horton (6th) and junior outfielder Kelsey Bruder (7th).

Florida softball (6-1) continued its dominance Friday with a 12-4 win over the Kansas Jayhawks (2-5) in the Gators’ second game of the night. Junior second baseman Aja Paculba went 4-4 with a career-high five RBI. In all, seven UF players accounted for 14 hits and freshman pitcher Erin Schuppert (1-0) earned her first career win in four innings of relief with seven strikeouts while allowing only two runs. Freshman Ensley Gammel started for the Gators.

2 » Florida’s newest sport, women’s lacrosse, is set to debut Saturday against the Jacksonville Dolphins (0-2) at 6 p.m. in the brand new Donald R. Dizney Stadium for the first regular season game in school history. Head coach Amanda O’Leary has done a terrific job preparing the Gators, including recruiting the No. 1–ranked signing class in the nation according to Inside Lacrosse Magazine. The team, which fell 17-8 in its first exhibition match against the U.S. National Development team before rallying to a 7-7 tie at Rutgers and a 10-8 win over Princeton, is made up of two seniors, one junior, two sophomores and 24 freshmen. Admission is free for all home games, so be sure to go out and support this up-and-coming team in its first season!
- Athletic director Jeremy Foley is proud of the school’s newest sport.
- The Florida lacrosse team was years in the making.
- Everything you need to know about how lacrosse is played.

Gators swimming & diving and gymnastics also impressed on Friday…
Continue Reading » FOUR BITS: Softball sets record, lacrosse debuts

Tags: Aja Paculba, Amanda O’Leary, Campbell Camels, Conor Dwyer, diving, Dizney Stadium, Ensley Gammel, Erin Schuppert, Gemma Spofforth, Georgia Gym Dogs, gymnastics, Jacksonville Dolphins, Kansas Jayhawks, Kelsey Bruder, Kelsey Horton, lacrosse, Megan Bush, Michelle Moultrie, NCAA Championship, O'Connell Center, SEC Championship, Shaune Fraser, softball, Stephanie Brombacher, swimming, Teresa Crippen, Tiffany DeFelice

1 » Florida Gators swimming and diving completed its first of four days of competition in the 2010 Southeastern Conference Championships by taking home two SEC titles, one SEC record, one school record and two NCAA automatic-qualifying marks. The Gators, who are tied for first place in both the men’s and women’s team competitions through the first day, hope to build on their already outstanding performances. Senior diver Kara Salamone earned UF’s first diving title since 2001 on the one-meter springboard, while the men’s 800-yard free relay team brought home the second title of the evening with a 6:15.91 time – the fastest in the country this season. Composed of freshman Sebastien Rousseau, junior Conor Dwyer and senior/junior brothers Shaune and Brett Fraser, the men’s team also set the SEC and Florida records with their NCAA automatic-qualifying mark. Day two of the SEC Championships begins Thursday at 10 a.m. from the Gabrielsen Natatorium at the University of Georgia.

2 » Also victorious Wednesday was the No. 3/5 Gators softball team (4-1), who took down the Jacksonville Dolphins (4-1) 6-1 in its home opener at Katie Pressly Seashole Stadium in Gainesville, FL. Junior pitcher Stephanie Brombacher (4-1) earned the win on a two-hit, nine-strikeout performance which began with her striking out the side in the first inning. Offensively, junior catcher Tiffany DeFelice powered Florida with two home runs and three RBI while going 3-for-3 from behind the plate.

Tags: Brett Fraser, Conor Dwyer, diving, Gabrielsen Natatorium, Jacksonville Dolphins, Kara Salamone, NCAA, Pressly Stadium, Sebastien Rousseau, SEC Championship, Shaune Fraser, softball, Stephanie Brombacher, swimming, Tiffany DeFelice, University of Georgia

1 » After three days of action, the No. 4 Florida Gators men’s golf team led the 33rd annual SunTrust Gator Invitational with a total score of 562 (283-279, +2) after 36 holes at the Mark Bostick Golf Course. Senior Tyson Alexander shot a two-round 141 (71-70, +1), good for a first-place tie going into the final round. That will take place Sunday beginning at 9:10 a.m.

News on tennis, softball, track and former LB James Harrell after the jump!
Continue Reading » SIX BITS: Golf, tennis, softball, track, Harrell

Tags: Alexandre Lacroix, Antoine Benneteau, Boar’s Head Sports Club, Brittany Schutte, East Carolina Pirates, Ensley Gammel, field, Francesca Enea, Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets, golf, ITA National Team Indoor Championship, James Harrell, Jesuit, Kelsey Bruder, Mark Bostick Golf Course, NFL, Ohio State Buckeyes, softball, Stephanie Brombacher, SunTrust Gator Invitational, tennis, track, USF Wilson-DeMarini Tournament, USFL