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Compiled from school press releases
Published February 17, 2008

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SOUTH FLORIDA

Women's Tennis

Bulls Beat Buckeyes 4-3

COLUMBUS , Ohio - Senior Liz Cruz led the No. 31 University of South Florida women's tennis to its seventh victory of the season in dramatic fashion Saturday afternoon as the Bulls edged the Ohio State Buckeyes, 4-3 at the Ohio State Varsity Tennis Center in Columbus , Ohio .The Buckeyes (4-2) came out of the gates strong, winning the doubles point for the first time in their last four matches.The No. 40-ranked doubles tandem of Iciri Rai and Liz Cruz lost their first match of the year playing at the No. 2 spot when Cami Hubbs and Julie Blackmore got the best of the nationally-ranked duo, 8-6.After falling behind 1-0 to the No. 47 Buckeyes, the Bulls showed resiliency and determination in singles, coming back to win four-of-six, en route to their seventh victory of the season.The match of the afternoon came at the No. 4 singles position where Cruz and Julie Blackmore squared off for the first time in their collegiate careers. After falling behind to her opponent 5-3 in the first set, Cruz battled back to win four-straight games to take the first set, 7-5.Blackmore battled back in the second set, taking a four game to one lead before Cruz knotted the game up at four. Blackmore proved to be too much in the second set for the senior out of El Salvador , winning the next two games, to take the second set, 6-4.In the final set, the two student-athletes continued their see-saw battle with Blackmore taking the first three games in the set. With her teammates cheering her on, Cruz overcame the three-game deficit, taking the next six games from Blackmore in what would conclude the three and a half hour marathon match, 7-5, 4-6, 6-3.Freshman Janette Bejikova remained perfect on the season picking up her second victory on the season with her win against Angela DiPastina, 6-4, 6-2, at the top singles spot.Iciri Rai and Jessica Zok picked up USF's other two victories at the No. 3 and 5 singles spot, defeating Christina Keesey and Cami Hubbs at their respected position.The Bulls (7-2) will return to the courts tomorrow when they travel to South Bend , Ind. to take on the No. 14 Fighting Irish of Notre Dame. In their last meeting, the Bulls defeated the Irish to win the school's first ever BIG EAST Championship. First serve is set for 10 a.m.

FLORIDA

Softball

The No. 10 University of Florida Softball team (11-0) won its 11thstraight game on Saturday afternoon. The Gators defeated North Carolina(rv) 4-0 in the first game of the day, followed by a 10-1 victory overEast Tennessee State in five innings.

Florida used a 10-batter first inning to take a 4-0 lead. Fiveconsecutive base hits by juniors Kim Waleszonia (Fontana, Calif.) andKristina Hilberth (Dunedin, Fla.), freshman Aja Paculba (Wildomar,Calif.), sophomore Francesca Enea (Woodland Hills, Calif.) and juniorAli Gardiner (Waccabuc, N.Y.) score the Gators first two runs. Paculbaadded another run on senior Mary Ratliff's (Mt. Sterling, Ky.) sacrificefly to left. Following the second out of the inning, freshman Megan Bush(Anaheim Hills, Calif.) added another base hit to again load the bases.

Sophomore Corrie Brooks (Christmas, Fla.) earned a RBI as she was hit bya Amber Johnson pitch to score Enea, giving the Gators the 4-0advantage.

Junior Stacey Nelson (Los Alamitos, Calif.) gave up only three hits andstruck out seven in the shut out, her second of the season. She is now4-0 on the year. Amber Johnson took the loss for North Carolina, movingto 2-1.

Waleszonia, Gardiner and freshman Tiffany DeFelice (Coral Springs, Fla.)each had two hits in the game. Gardiner, DeFelice and Paculba each had two RBI, while Waleszonia, Enea and freshman Kristine Priebe (Moorpark,Calif.) each scored two runs.

Waleszonia reached first on balls to begin the top of the first in gametwo. Hilberth was safe at first and Waleszonia moved to third on aBuccaneer error on an attempted sacrifice. Hilberth stole second.

Paculba knocked Waleszonia home with a base hit to center. Enea reachedon a fielder's choice as Hilberth was thrown out at home. Gardinerknocked a base hit to center to score Paculba for the 2-0 lead. Therunners advanced to second and third on a wild pitch. A double byDeFelice scored both runners and put the Gators up 4-0.

East Tennessee State narrowed Florida's lead to three runs as theyplated a run on a hit and two Gator errors in the bottom of the openinginning.

The Florida bats went to work again in the top of the second. Walezoniareached first as the Buccaneers misplayed her bunt. She advanced tosecond on a wild pitch. Hilberth was safe of a fielder's choice as EastTennessee State tried to get Waleszonia advancing to third. Waleszoniaslid under the tag, leaving the Gators in a first and third situationwith Paculba up to bat. Hilberth stole second to put two runners inscoring position. Paculba knocked a sacrifice fly to centerfield toscore Waleszonia. Hilberth took third on a wild pitch. Enea drew a walk.

The Gators executed a squeeze play to score Hilberth and allow Enea tomove all the way to third. Enea crossed the plate on a Gardiner RBI basehit. Priebe came in to pinch run for Gardiner. Ratliff walked. DeFelicesingled to left field to load the bases. A Bush sacrifice fly scoredPriebe for the 8-1 Gator lead.

Florida added one more run in each the fourth and fifth innings. In thefourth inning junior Brooke Johnson (Lakeland, Fla.) scored on a basehit by Waleszonia after reaching on an error and advancing on two passedballs. Priebe scored the final run of the game on a base hit by freshmanKelsey Bruder (Corona, Calif.), giving the Gators the 10-1 win in fiveinningsFreshman Stephanie Brombacher (Pembroke Pines, Fla.) pitched fourinnings in the win, giving up only two hits in her fifth win of theyear. Freshman Kristen Adkins (McKinney, Texas) pitched the final threeouts of the game. Ashley Boyd took the loss for East Tennessee State.

Florida wraps up Cox Communications Classic play on Sunday with a gameagainst North Carolina at 11:15 a.m., followed by the final game of thetournament against Stetson at 1:30 p.m.

Track

No. 7/13 T&F Earns Four NCAA Automatic Bids At Iowa State Classic

AMES, Iowa - The No. 7/13 University of Florida track & field teamposted its first four NCAA automatic qualifying marks of the season andsaw a school record fall on Saturday, the final day of competition atthe Iowa State Classic.

In addition to the four NCAA automatic qualifying marks, the Gatorsrecorded the world's fastest time in the men's 4x400m and four NCAAprovisional standards on the day.

"This was an outstanding team effort, and I'm proud of the way everyoneperformed this weekend," Florida head coach Mike Holloway said. "We talkabout getting better each time out, and about being a complete team, andI think we showed those things here this weekend."Senior Lakecia Ealey (Albany, Ga.) broke her own school record andpunched her ticket to the NCAA Indoor Championships in the women's 60mduring Saturday's final with a first-place time of 7.26, bettering herown UF standard by .01 and moved her into a tie for fifth place on theNCAA descending indoor list. The victory marked Ealey's third in a rowover collegiate competition, and her second-straight overall title.

As Ealey did at the Rod McCravy Memorial in Lexington, Ky., two weeksago, sophomore Jeremy Hall (Jacksonville, Fla.) stepped to the lineminutes later and delivered the second half of a Gator sweep in the 60m,crossing the line at 6.68 to defeat junior teammate Willie Perry(Lenoir, N.C.) by .09. Perry's runner-up time of 6.77 marked a newcareer best.

"The biggest thing we've been seeing from both Lakecia and Jeremy thisyear is consistency," Holloway said. "They have both worked extremelyhard this year, it's great to see it paying off for them."The Gators closed the meet on a high note in the men's 4x400m relay, asthe quartet of junior R.J. Anderson (Big Pine Key, Fla.), junior CarlosPhillips (Winter Park, Fla.), senior Bernard Middleton (Jacksonville,Fla.) and sophomore Calvin Smith (Lutz, Fla.) put together a winningtime of 3:06.48, the fastest in the world this year as of Saturdaynight. The mark, which automatically qualified the Orange and Blue forthe NCAA Indoor Championships, is the third-best in school history.

"It's great to have run the fastest time in the world, but that's notwhat we're concerned with," Holloway said. "Our goal is to win an NCAAChampionship, and we took the first step towards that tonight. You can'twin the title if you don't make the meet."Sophomore Mariam Kevkhishvili (Tbilisi, Georgia) became the first UFathlete of the season to automatically qualify for the NCAA IndoorChampionships, recording a personal-best toss of 17.44m/57-2.75 tosecure a second-place finish. The mark, which ranks as the second-bestin the country this season, moved her into fourth-place on the school'sindoor list.

The Gator women also picked up their first NCAA provisional of the yearin the 4x400m relay, as the team of senior Abigail David (Port-of-Spain,Trinidad and Tobago), senior Natalie Knight (Snellville, Ga.), seniorDominique McLeggan (Weston, Fla.) and senior Zan Joseph (Boynton Beach,Fla.) put up a time of 3:39.58 to finish second.

Phillips came to the blocks for the men's 800m and proceeded to turn inthe nation's third-fastest time to this point in the season, an NCAAautomatic-qualifying mark of 1:47.89 that was good for third place. Theshowing, which eclipsed his previous PR by more than two seconds, movedhim into fourth place on the Gators' all-time indoor chart and made himone of just four men in school history to break the 1:48 barrierindoors.

"Carlos Phillips was outstanding today," Holloway said. "He was a 1:54guy coming out of high school. It's amazing how far he has come, and I'mreally proud of him right now."Seniors Lorain McKenzie (Clarendon, Jamaica) and Steven Hassen (Ocala,Fla.) also bettered personal records en route to runner-up finishes onSaturday afternoon. McKenzie clocked in at an NCAAprovisional-qualifying time of 2:06.00 in the women's 800m to jump intoseventh place on the program's all-time indoor list, while Hassen put upa career-best 8:14.29 in the men's 3,000m to finish as the top collegianin the event.

Freshman Liene Karsuma (Riga, Latvia) improved her career-best mark inthe women's high jump on Saturday, placing third with an NCAAprovisional leap of 1.80/5-10.75. The performance moved her into thirdplace on UF's all-time indoor chart, and broke her own freshman schoolrecord.

Florida also got a third-place finish in the men's 60m hurdles fromjunior Dennis Martin (Anderson, S.C.), who posted a time of 7.96 in thefinal. Junior Kallinka Pitt (Largo, Fla.) took fourth in the same race,less than one-hundredth of a second behind Anderson.

Sophomore Mike Morrison (Chesapeake, Va.) earned a fourth-place finishin the men's pole vault with a season-best leap of 5.15m/16-10.75,narrowly missing an NCAA provisional mark. Junior Justin Semeyn (Tampa,Fla.) cleared the same height to mark a new PR, and finished eighth dueto previous misses.

Junior Beau Burroughs (Tampa, Fla.) was also a fourth-place finisher onSaturday with a heave of 17.93m/58-10 in the men's shot put.

David chipped in with a fifth-place showing in the women's 400m,lowering her PR for the second-straight meet with a time of 54.41. Theeffort left her just .01 shy of an NCAA provisional mark.

Florida will return to action on Feb. 29 when the three-day SoutheasternConference Indoor Championships commence in Fayetteville, Ark. The Gatormen have posted a top-three finish at the SEC Indoors in each of thelast five years, while the UF women will be seeking a return to the topthree for the first time since winning the crown in 2004.

FLORIDA STATE

Track

Record-Breaking Day Two For Florida State Track & Field in Arkansas

Freshman breaks school shot put record, Dix earns automatic NCAA bid in 200m.

Fayetteville, Ark. - In day two of competition at the Tyson Invitational, the Florida State track and field squad took another step closer to NCAA competition with one automatic and five provisional marks in addition to a new school record.Freshman Kamorean Hayes shattered the Florida State all-time shot put record with a 53'05.50" mark, enough for a provisional bid to the national championships. In the 200m, senior Walter Dix posted an automatic qualifying time while junior Michael Ray Garvin picked up a provisional mark with his career-best indoor performance. Senior Drew Brunson posted a career-best provisional time in the finals for the 60m hurdles while Teona Rodgers notched her first career provisional mark in the same event."Outstanding performance from Kameron [Hayes]," said head coach Bob Braman . "She probably punched her ticket to nationals with that one. In the sprints, getting Michael Ray [Garvin] back has been great-that really is important to us as we get ready for nationals. Teona Rodgers had a big race, her time in the 200m will probably put her in the top five at conference. Tim [Reen] did a great job, he tied his lifetime best and that puts him in the top three or four at conference, as well." The Seminole men's sprinters dominated the oval in the 200m, winning all three heats they competed in. All-Americans Dix and Garvin were the only two competitors to crack the 21-second mark as Dix finished first in heat one with a 20.77 and Garvin clocked a 20.94 in the second heat. Freshman Brandon Byram met his personal-best mark in heat three with a 21.44, while sophomore Charles Clark finished 12th overall with a 21.48."Everything was on point," said Dix. "I got that automatic qualifying time and I'm glad that's out of the way." In the hurdles, Brunson came within four-hundredths of a second of an automatic bid to NCAAs, posting his career-best in the 60m hurdle finals with a time of 7.74. Brunson now holds the sixth-fastest 60mh mark in the country this season.Also in the 60m hurdles, Rodgers posted a career-best time of 8.40, giving the newcomer her first NCAA provisional mark as well as one of the top ten times in the ACC. Earlier in the day, Rodgers won her heat in the 200m preliminaries with a time of 24.14 to finish 18th overall.In the 4x400m relay Dix, Byram, freshman Brian Chibudu and senior Hubert Mitchell finished third with a time of 3:10.29 for the top mark in the ACC and a provisional bid to nationals.Junior Tim Reen put forth his career-best performance, clearing the bar at 6'10.75" to win the men's high jump competition.Florida State will take the next week off in preparation for the ACC Indoor Championships in Chapel Hill, N.C. Feb. 29-March 1.

Softball

FLORIDA STATE DEFEATS BETHUNE-COOKMAN IN FIVE

The Seminoles scored 14 runs on the Wildcats in their second game of the Seminole Classic. Tallahassee , Fla. - In day two of the Seminole Classic, the Seminoles defeated Bethune-Cookman 14-3 in five innings on JoAnne Graf Field at the Seminole Softball Complex. It was the first win of the tournament for Florida State, improving the season to 4-3.Two Seminoles went 4-for-4 against the Wildcats, senior Whitney Buckmon and junior Jessica Gilmore . Buckmon's four hits and four runs for Florida State set new career records and led the squad. Gilmore also notched new personal bests in those categories with four runs and three hits.Ashley Stager had another stellar day at the plate, going 2-for-2 with a triple in the third and a double in the fourth. The freshman notched two runs and five RBI's, improving her average to .476, second to team-leader Buckmon's .538."We came out fired up and ready to play," head coach JoAnne Graf said. "We really showed-up at bat today and I think we looked aggressive throughout the game." Securing the win for FSU was junior south paw Melissa May , now 2-1 after throwing her first complete game against Bethune-Cookman. May allowed only five hits and three earned, walked two and struck out two. Freshman Allison Collins, who leads the team with three homeruns this season, notched four RBI's on one hit, scored one run and recorded the solo stolen base of the day for FSU.Florida State put runs on the board in four of the five innings against the Wildcats who scored one in the first and their final two in the bottom of the fourth.The Seminoles swing back into action on the final day of the tournament on Sunday, Feb. 17, at 11:00 a.m. as they take on the Michigan State Spartans.

ECKERD

Softball

TRITONS STILL WINLESS AFTER FIRST DAY OF VSU/CHICK-FIL-A CLASSIC

VALDOSTA, Ga. - The Eckerd College softball team is still searching for their first win on 2008 as they fell twice in the first day of the VSU/Chick-Fil-a Classic hosted by Valdosta State University on Saturday. The Tritons opened the tournament losing to Valdosta State 7-0 and then fell 8-3 to the University of West Florida in the afternoon.They will look to get that elusive first win as they play in the second day of the tournament. The Tritons have a day of rematches as they begin the day with a game against West Florida and conclude the tourney against host Valdosta State.

Baseball

TRITONS COME FROM BEHIND TO SPLIT WITH SOUTHEASTERN

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. - Down 3-2 heading into the final inning of the opening game against Southeastern University, the Tritons (3-7) put on their rally caps and pounded out three hits, capatalized on two defensive errors to plate two runs and pull out a thrilling 4-3 victory at Turley Field on Saturday afternoon. The Tritons couldn't get the same result in the second game as Southeastern overcame EC 12-8. Triton senior starting pitcher Philip Weylie (2-0) tossed a complete game in the opener. He didn't allow a baserunner until the fourth inning as he tossed seven complete and only allowed three runs on three hits. He struck out 10 Southeastern batters and didn't allow a walk as Eckerd's defense backed him up by playing their second flawless game of the season.

SAINT LEO

Baseball

SAINT LEO BASEBALL TEAM FINISHES SWEEP OF PALM BEACH ATLANTIC IN DOUBLE HEADER ACTION

The Lions Improve to 7-3 on the season.Saint Leo, Fla. (February 16, 2008 ) - The Saint Leo University Lions Baseball team swept the Palm Beach Atlantic Sailfish in double header action Saturday afternoon at Thomas B. Southard Stadium. The Lions bats exploded in game one as they scored 19 runs en route to victory. Game two saw a back in fourth battle with the Lions coming up with the crucial two out single in the bottom of the seventh to win the game.Game one witnessed Carter Clements (Sr., Eustis, Fla.) head to the hill for the Lions and he was masterful. The starter went six innings while scattering six hits and only gave up one unearned run. Clements dominance on the mound was matched by the Lions' hitters at the plate. The Lions combined for 23 hits in game one and forced Palm Beach starter, Zac Grau out of the game after just four and one-third innings.The Lions had multiple offensive stars in game one including Kyle Hobbs (Jr., Dade City, Fla), who led the Lions going 3-4 with a three run blast in the fourth inning. He would contribute two more singles on the afternoon and tied catcher Jason Hamm (So., Tampa, Fla.) with three RBI on the day. Hamm went 3-5 on the afternoon, including an RBI in the Lions nine run fifth inning. Yunior Tabares (Sr., Tampa, Fla) and Aaron McLamar (Jr., Hudson, Fla.) also went 3-5 while adding in 2 RBI a piece.The Sailfish had no response for the hot Lions' bats as the Lions, including game one of today's double header, had plated 51 runs in the last three games.Game two saw zeros on the board until the top of the fifth when Palm Beach scored on an error by the Saint Leo defense. The Lions quickly answered in the bottom of the fifth as timely hitting and poor Sailfish defense allowed Devin Cason (Sr., Tampa, Fla.) to score. The sixth inning saw Lions pitching get touched up a bit as two runs crossed the plate on three hits.The Lions were able to get back to within one run in the bottom of the sixth as Braulio Pardo (Jr., Land O'Lakes, Fla.) plated T.J. Alonzo (Jr., Tampa, Fla) on a SAC fly. After a scoreless top of the seventh, the Lions strung together multiple hits and pushed one run across the board to tie the game. Dale Slimick (Jr., Sarasota, Fla) put the finishing touches on the come from behind win. With runners on first and second, Slimick drove a ball to right field allowing Bobby Munoz (Jr., Tampa, Fla) to cap off a 4-3 come from behind win.Rodney Miller (Sr., Binghampton, N.Y) went five and two-thirds innings for the Lions giving up eight hits and three runs in game number two. He finished with a no decision while Reid Tilson (Jr., Brandon, Fla.) picked up the win.The Lions head to St. Petersburg to take on the Eckerd College Tritons Tuesday, February 19 for non-conference action. First pitch is scheduled for 7:00 p.m.

[Last modified February 16, 2008, 22:58:29]

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