With sports the answer is always multi-faceted, but the simple answer is yes. I'll just talk about the men for simplicity. There are 12.6 scholarships total... There are 19 scoring events in track, and just 4 of those 19 are distance related. So based on that, distance should get 2.4-2.6. BUT even then- teams must figure out where the points are at the SEC track meet. If Arky or another school is dominating distance, then a Florida or GA or LSU could decide to invest in sprinters/ jumpers or throwers for a bigger bang. Then there are other factors- scholarships to injured or redshirted athletes are wasted. And distance runners get hurt a lot more, and need to redshirt more, than sprinters/ jumpers/ throwers. So a distance school CAN do well in track, but it's much tougher. Arkansas certainly did for many years. A few years ago we signed a plethora of distance runners from Florida, and I thought we were on our way. We had a great and accomplished distance coach- Chris Solinsky. I would imagine he got them to sign on academic rides. I know a lot of big schools are doing this. (NC State for one.) But something happened- not sure what. Because we were 10th last October at the SECs, and Solinsky left for Oregon in January. I'm just glad Valby stayed and it sounds like we are attracting transfers on the women's side- which is a great sign. That means there is positive buzz about the program. That's probably more than you wanted to know- but I can talk a long time about the sport!
Information is always welcome. We want all Gator teams to succeed. Would love to see the day where UF has a NC in every sport we sponsor.
https://hailfloridahail.com/2011/05...ther-mitts-selected-to-womens-world-cup-team/ Was amazing when Lady Gators won a Natty in soccer so early in their existence. Bad coaching decisions have hurt them since.
Lacrosse should have one in I believe their 2nd year they scored in overtime to apparently win,but were screwed when the refs said the stick netting was too loose and disavowed the goal and they lost
What will help Mary Wise eventually get a Natty is with Texas joining the SEC. She had many great teams but we played then in a very weak conference and her teams never got toughened enough for NCAA play. Having UK getting good has helped a lot but even then the SEC has been nothing like the Big Ten in volleyball. Mary can coach and if we can have a league that is a strong volleyball league it will help.
Not gonna post the details though they can be found online, but she has some medical issues she is working through. Hope she gets better, track is a secondary priority.
I saw our women are ranked #1 preseason in the SEC!! That is amazing. I'm sure that assumes Parker Valby will run- which is always a question mark with her injury issues. But no matter what- so cool we are ranked #1.
The special teams get special treatment, Lacrosse would benefit from getting into the ACC or Big10 in the sport.
If this year’s volleyball team can stay healthy they are a legit final four caliber team. Rankings just came out and Gators are currently #3 having defeated at the time #8 Penn State, #2 Stanford and #5 Minnesota. Huge match on the horizon Sept 17 at home against #1 Wisconsin. If you haven’t seen them play 6’6” outside hitter Kennedy Martin was named National Player of the Week last week and has been SEC Player of the Week the last two weeks. And she’s only a freshman!
Until last year, UF lacrosse had won their conference championship every year except their first year of existence as a program. By far the best high school lacrosse is played in the Mid-Atlantic and New England states and most of our recruits come from there. Florida high schools are producing more and more quality lacrosse players, but it makes it hard for Amanda O'Leary to get the top tier lacrosse players when competing with historic powerhouse programs like Maryland, Syracuse, Boston College, North Carolina, Northwestern, etc. In spite of all the disadvantages of a program in the South that is only 13 years old, we've still made a Final 4, 6 Elite 8's and been in the NCAA tournament every year except our first in 2010.
I just looked up the results. We did win with 38 points but Vandy was right behind us with 42. So that's pretty close but if Valby had run we would have won easily. For those interested- the men finished a very distant 3rd to North Florida and Ga Tech. North Florida won easily. UNF is coached by a former UF coach and runner Jeff Pigg.
Valby Parker did not run nor did any of the other touted transfers, except Allison Wilson who won by almost 20 seconds. It was Allison’s first race in almost 3 years
Jim Brown played lacrosse at 'Cuse. HOF player in the sport and in my opinion the greatest pure running back ever in football. But as a total football player I like Walter Payton better because he was an excellent blocker and Jim Brown was not. Never saw him play lacrosse but saw him on TV many times playing football. I can only imagine how awesome he was at lacrosse.
