GAINESVILLE - University of Florida football players Channing Crowder and Jarvis Herring were arrested early Sunday after a disturbance at a popular downtown Gainesville nightclub.
Crowder, the SEC freshman defensive player of the year, was arrested at 2:15 a.m. at The Palace and charged with disorderly conduct. It was his second arrest at the same nightclub. Herring, a junior safety from Live Oak, was arrested and charged with resisting/obstructing without violence for trying to intervene on Crowder's behalf. Both charges are misdemeanors. The players were released Sunday from the Alachua County Detention Center.
According to Gainesville Police Department reports, Crowder, a linebacker from Atlanta, was involved in an argument in front of the club when officer Robert Hager Jr. asked him to leave. According to Hager, Crowder left, but continued arguing in the middle of the street, holding up traffic. After again being ordered to move on, Crowder argued with a different man in the club's parking lot.
Crowder, 20, and the unknown man shoved each other and Crowder chased him several blocks before he was caught by another GPD officer.
The report states Herring "repeatedly interfered" with the officers by trying to approach them and "argue on behalf of his friend."
In April 2003 Crowder was arrested at the same club for allegedly punching and kicking another UF student. He pleaded no contest to misdemeanor battery in June and was sentenced to six months' probation and counseling, and was suspended for the first game.
"We're aware that two of our players were involved in an incident on Saturday night," coach Ron Zook said. "We'll let the judicial process run its course, then completely evaluate the situation."
Gator men advance
GAINESVILLE - The Florida men's tennis team advanced to the second round of the NCAA Tournament with a 4-0 victory against Arizona at Linder Stadium at the Ring Tennis Complex.
The No. 8 Gators clinched the doubles point in less than an hour. Hamid Mirzadeh and Chris Brandi teamed for victory, as did Stefan Tell and Martin Stiegwardt.
UF coach Andy Jackson, who said his team struggled in doubles Saturday, was pleased to see his team get off to a good start.
"The doubles was more important today than it has been all year because of the heat and the match that Arizona had to play (Saturday)," Jackson said, referring to the Wildcats' 4-3 win against Florida State. "I felt like that we played very well and very disciplined."
With UF needing three singles wins to clinch, Mirzadeh, Janne Holmia and Brandi came through. The Gators trailed in the other three singles matches when Brandi clinched it by beating Daniel Andrus 6-2, 6-3.
Jackson said it was important for his team that Holmia who lost twice Saturday, beat Arizona's Whi Kim, 6-2, 6-1.
"For us to have a chance to win the tournament, he has to play like that," Jackson said.
The Gators play Saturday in Tulsa, Okla., against the Washington-Stanford winner.
SOFTBALL: Tournament MVP Casey Hunter struck out 10 and allowed three hits to lead FSU to the ACC championship with a 3-1 win over Georgia Tech.
Also, the NCAA Tournament pairings were announced. FSU is one of eight region hosts; the Tallahassee Region, which starts Thursday, also includes USF, UF and Bethune-Cookman. USF, seeded third in the region, opens at 10 a.m. against Ohio State; No. 7 B-CC faces Oregon at 12:30 p.m.; No. 4 UF plays Cal State Northridge at 3 and No. 1 FSU faces Long Island at 5:30.
BASEBALL: Andrew Miller struck out 11 in eight innings to lead North Carolina to a 2-0 win over host Miami (37-11). ... Matt Sauls went 3-for-4 with two RBIs to lead FSU (34-19, 13-8 ACC) over Duke 6-3. ... Barry Gunther's two-run homer highlighted a three-run 10th to give visiting Mississippi a 10-9 win over UF (37-16, 16-11 SEC), which scored two in the 10th. ... Kyle Schmidt (8-4) picked up the win as USF (31-21, 12-14 C-USA) beat host UAB 8-3.
