Gators’ Jeff Demps named Men’s Runner of the Week

Posted Feb 7, 2012 by Aaron Oberlin

Updated Feb 7, 2012 at 08:49 PM

The Southeastern Conference named junior sprinter Jeff Demps its Men’s Runner of the Week earlier today. It’s his third time this season.

The accolade comes after winning the men’s 60 meters title at the Virginia Tech Elite Meet this past weekend. Clocking 6.59 seconds, Demps ran the third fastest 60 meter time in the NCAA this year.

Demps is a two-time defending national champion in the men’s 60 meters.

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Florida Gators golfer named player of the week

Posted Feb 7, 2012 by Aaron Oberlin

Updated Feb 7, 2012 at 03:55 PM

“Golfweek” named University of Florida junior T.J. Vogel its Player of the Week on Monday.

Vogel won his first career title last week at the Sea Best Invitational. He shot a three-round total of 216 (E), helping lead the Gators to their second team title of the season.

Vogel is now ranked No. 7 in the GolfWeek/Sagarin college rankings.

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Florida Gators golfer named Player of the Week

Posted Feb 7, 2012 by Aaron Oberlin

Updated Feb 7, 2012 at 03:58 PM

“Golfweek” named University of Florida junior T.J. Vogel its Player of the Week on Monday.

Vogel won his first career title last week at the Sea Best Invitational. He shot a three-round total of 216 (E), helping lead the Gators to their second team title of the season.

Vogel is now ranked No. 7 in the GolfWeek/Sagarin college rankings.

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Former Gulf star faces drug charges

Posted Jan 19, 2012 by Rick Harmon

Updated Jan 19, 2012 at 07:28 PM

Former Gulf High and current University of Florida sophomore defensive tackle Leon Orr was served with a notice to appear on two drug charges after campus police searched his Gainesville dorm room Jan. 10.

The report, obtained by the campus newspaper The Alligator, says Orr’s dorm room in building eight of Keys Complex was searched by campus police and a “baggy of a green leafy substance, a glass pipe and rolling papers” were on Orr’s desk and bedside table.

Orr is being charged with possession of marijuana under 20 grams and possession of drug paraphernalia. He will appear in court Feb. 8.

After the “green leafy substance” was confirmed as marijuana, Orr was read his rights and admitted the items found were his, the report said. The report doesn’t say what let to the search.

Since Will Muschamp replaced Urban Meyer as head coach, eight different Gators football players have been arrested.

At Gulf, Orr was a Pasco Tribune first-team selection in 2009. As a redshirt freshman for the Gators, he had 10 tackles, a sack and a tackle for loss.

Correspondent Andy Villamarzo contributed to this report.

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UPDATE: AHN, UF product Petrick 87th at Olympic marathon trials, aims for Gasparilla

Posted Jan 14, 2012 by Bill Ward

Updated Jan 14, 2012 at 08:37 PM

Former Academy of the Holy Names and University of Florida standout runner Sara Petrick finished 87th at the US Olympic marathon trials Saturday in Houston with a time of 2 hours, 46 minutes and 10 seconds.

“I’m very pleased,” Petrick said from Houston. “I was ranked 163rd coming into the race and finished much higher, so I have to pretty excited about that.”

Petrick’s pre-race ranking was based on her PR of 2:45:23, her qualifying time. What makes her particularly optimistic about her future is the fact that at age 25, her best marathoning days are likely ahead of her. Among Saturday’s finishers, only six other runners ahead of her were age 25 or younger.

Petrick says she plans to take a break from marathons and hopes to make the next trials in 2016. In the meantime, she’ll continue to train and seek a full-time job in her master’s degree in public health. Petrick also confirmed she will compete in this year’s Gasparilla Distance Classic 15k race, slated for early March.

In the men’s race, Lakeland’s Jeremy Criscione, last year’s winner of the Gasparilla Distance Classic 15k and himself a former Gators star, was 59th in 2:20:57.

For the first time ever in the U.S. Olympic marathon trials, both the men’s and women’s races were staged on the same site on the same day. With near-ideal conditions, the results were two of the fastest races in the trials’ history.

The top three men and women in each race earned the right to represent Team USA in this summer’s London Games. For the women, Shalane Flanagan turned in a trials record of 2:25:38 in only her second marathon, while Meb Keflezighi, who is a regular visitor to Tampa because this is where his wife used to live, earned his third Olympic berth with a winning men’s time and personal best of 2:09:08.

Taking second in the men’s race was another former Gasparilla winner, Ryan Hall of Flagstaff, Ariz., in 2:09:30. Abdi Abdirahman if Tucson was a surprising third in 2:09:47. He entered the trials with the 14th-fastest qualifying time and hadn’t run sub-2:14 since setting his personal best of 2:08:56 nearly five years ago. Instead, he has bounced back from nagging injuries to make his fourth Olympic squad at age 34.

Dathan Ritzenhein of Portland, the top American finisher at the 2008 Olympic marathon in Beijing, was a heartbreaking fourth, just eight seconds behind Abdirahman in third. At the finish, Ritzenhein knelt with his head in his hands.

Today’s race was the first time ever four men ran under 2:10 at the U.S. trials. It was the first time five women ran sub-2:30 at the trials. The women’s top-three have all medaled in either New York, Boston or both. The men’s top three represent the oldest trio Team USA has ever sent to the Olympics. They average an age of 33 and have a combined 9 Olympic appearances among them.

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Demps opts for track, Olympics over football, NFL

Posted Jan 13, 2012 by TBO.com

Updated Jan 13, 2012 at 08:52 AM

Florida running back Jeff Demps is giving up his football career to focus on track and the 2012 Olympics. Demps wants to vie for a spot on the U.S. track and field team, so he won’t attend any college football all-star games or take part in any NFL draft workouts.

Demps finished his career with 2,470 yards rushing and 23 touchdowns. He had 569 yards rushing and six touchdowns this past season. He also was a dangerous kickoff returner, averaging 28.8 yards a return in his four-year career.

On the track, Demps is a four-time national champion. Demps is the two-time defending NCAA Indoor 60-meter champion. He showed Olympic potential when he set a 100-meter junior world record (10.01 seconds) at the 2008 Olympic Trials, challenging Olympian Tyson Gay stride for stride in the heat.

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TC product Green makes frosh all-America squad

Posted Jan 9, 2012 by Bill Ward

Updated Jan 9, 2012 at 07:49 PM

Former Tampa Catholic standout offensive lineman Chaz Green, now competing for the University of Florida, has been selected for the 11th annual Football Writers Association of America Freshman All-America Team.

The FWWA is a non-profit organization consisting of more than 1,200 journalists who cover college football. The membership includes journalists from print, online and broadcast, as well as publicists and executives in all the areas that involve the game.

Green is a 6-foot-5, 306-pound redshirt freshman lineman for the Gators. Coming out of TC, he was a four-star prospect who was rated the No. 6 lineman in the nation by Rivals.

Last fall, Green was part of a Gators offensive line that paved the way for 1,415 yards and 12 touchdowns in the nine games he played in. He missed four games late in the year because of a sprained ankle. Green was also named a to the freshman All-SEC team in December.

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Florida Gators boast No. 1 tennis squad

Posted Jan 4, 2012 by Aaron Oberlin

Updated Jan 4, 2012 at 08:04 PM

After winning the NCAA championship last season, the University of Florida is ranked No. 1 in the Intercollegiate Tennis Association Preseason Rankings.

The ranking comes after the Gators won the NCAA championship last season. The team is returning all seven letter-winners who had helped lead UF to a 31-1 overall record.

Five Gators are ranked in singles competition, and the team has two doubles teams in the top 15 .

Junior Allie Will tops the rankings for Florida at third, and senior Joanna Mather is fourth. Junior Lauren Embree is 25th.

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Two Florida Gators named First Team All-SEC

Posted Dec 6, 2011 by Aaron Oberlin

Updated Dec 6, 2011 at 04:10 PM

Southeastern Conference football coaches named two Florida Gators – redshirt senior running back Chris Rainey and redshirt junior kicker Caleb Sturgis – to the First Team All-SEC today.

Rainey made it as an all-purpose performer. He led Florida with 790 rushing yards, 350 receiving yards and 75 punt return yards this season. Against Florida Atlantic University, the former Lakeland Dreadnaught became the first Gator to score a rushing, receiving and return touchdown in a single game.

Sturgis, who was also named First Team All-SEC by the AP on Monday, made 21 field goals in 2011. That leads the SEC and ranks third in the nation. He is a finalist for the Lou Groza Award.

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Tennis star signs letter of intent to play at Florida

Posted Nov 21, 2011 by Aaron Oberlin

Updated Nov 21, 2011 at 03:05 PM

Gordon Watson has signed a letter of intent to play tennis at the University of Florida.

Watson is rated No. 12 in the 2012 class, according to TennisRecruiting.net. He has won several championships as an amateur and has been ranked as high as No. 1 nationally by the USTA in the 12s and 14s singles.

“[Watson] has had very successful results in junior tennis,” UF men’s tennis coach Andy Jackson said. “He plays from a solid fundamental base technically, tactically and mentally. He loves to compete, and we hope that he will be able help the Gators compete for championships.”

Watson plans to enroll at Florida in January.

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