June 15, 2012
The Women's Softball Club was named the South Atlantic regular season champions and entered the World Series as the number three seed. After defeating Virginia Tech and Miami of Ohio, they played the University of Illinois in the Championship. The Gators came out on top and earned their second National Championship in the past three years. Pitcher Kelly Langer was named the MVP of the World Series for her dominating performance throughout the tournament.
The Synchronized Swimming team entered this season as the number one club team in the nation and finished up the season maintaining that ranking. After winning the gold in every team event and in the trio, duet and solo events, the Gators were named the South Zone Region Champions. Nationals were hosted at the O'Connell Center and the team earned its fourth consecutive first-place finish. The Gators also placed in the top ten for the group, trio, duet and solo events. Allison Baker, Kimberly Stalker and Kimberly Goyack were Club Synchronized Swimming High Point winners. Baker and Stalker also received All-American honors.
The Swimming and Diving Club dominated this year at Nationals. The Men's Team set 11 National records, won 17 Gold metals, 2 Silvers, 2 Bronze and had 14 top-ten finishes. They swept all six relays and were named the National Champions. The Women's team set 3 National records, brought home 3 Gold metals, 4 Silver and 4 Bronze and finished third in the nation. The combined scores for Men's and Women's teams put them in second place, just behind Colorado. UF fell behind Colorado in the diving portion of the tournament because UF did not have any divers.
The Fencing Club won their fourth consecutive USACFC Collegiate Club National Championship this season. The women's team competed in the NIWFA championships and the entire team brought home Silver medals. Individual highlights include Eleanor McKenna who brought home the Bronze and Alexis Taylor who earned fourth place for individual scores. The Gators won fourth place at this year's NCAA Western Invitational, held at the Air Force Academy in Colorado.
Men's Water Polo also had a successful season. They won the Florida Division with a solid victor over Florida State University and placed third in the nation for the 2011 season. Coach Eisa Al-Nashmi was named Coach of the Year, Travis Catron, Kunal Patel and Jason Mammino made 1st team All-Conference. Mammino was named MVP of the Florida Division.
Men's Roller Hockey finished the regular season with a stellar record of 13-2-1, which earned them first place in the division. The Gators placed third at the Regional Championships in Georgia after a heartbreaking 7-6 loss to FSU. At the end of the 2008 season, all of the team members graduated at the same time forcing the club to "start from scratch." Since then, the team has made steady progress and this year they were invited to the National Championships in Salt Lake City, Utah.
The Gator Cricket Club represented UF at the American College Cricket Southeast Regionals in September 2011 and also at Nationals in March 2012. UF won Regionals, which propelled their ranking to 2nd in the nation. During a match against Auburn University, Vijay Pappu and Ricky Nayar had a match winning batting partnership of 97 runs, which helped the team win Regionals. At Nationals, a strong performance from Nayar helped the team win the first two games in the league stages. However, a loss to George Washington University prevented the Gators to advance to the playoff stages.
Congratulations to the Sport Clubs athletes and coaches for their tremendous success this year!
© 2010 UF Department of Recreational Sports. Division of Student Affairs. Last Updated June 5, 2013.