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Dan Mullen and the Gators coaching staff isn’t slowing down on the recruiting trail just yet. On Friday, Florida added to their 2020 class in the form of an in-state defensive end / linebacker.
Morven Joseph made the pledge to Florida via Twitter and strengthened the Gators pipeline in Polk County as he attends Lake Gibson High in Lakeland.
The No. 4 Florida Gator Lacrosse team is back at the Donald R. Dizney Stadium as they host the No. 2 Maryland Terrapins. Florida enters Thursday’s game fresh off an impressive 16-9 win against the Colorado Buffaloes. After Saturday’s victory the Gators moved up two places on the Inside Lacrosse Poll.
Florida’s Chilling First Victory
It was 34 degrees in Boulder, but Florida brought the chill as the Gators scored eight goals before halftime. On offense, veterans Lindsey Ronbeck, Grace Haus and Shannon Kavanagh set the tone as they came out strong contributing four goals each. Right from the start, Ronbeck recorded a hat trick in under 15 minutes. However, Kavanagh came into Saturday’s game clearly ready to take on the season. The sophomore midfielder’s two assists on Saturday was her tenth consecutive game to have at least one assist. Her four goals tied for her career-high in goals as well. In addition to a stellar offense, Florida’s defense was impeccable. Senior goalkeeper Haley Hicklen lived up to her Preseason AAC Goalkeeper of the Year honor as she had nine saves. Hicklen is now just 16 saves away from the all-time record.
Tradition and Loads of Hype is on Maryland’s Side
Saturday’s game against Maryland will be the fifth meeting between the two programs––Florida has yet to win a game in the series. Last year, Maryland defeated the Gators 16-14. In fact, it was the first time in Florida history the team lost despite scoring 14 goals. Despite the loss, Florida showed improvement as they led 2-0 within the first two minutes of the game making it the first game the Gators took the lead against the Terps.
But now, a year has gone by, and like the Gators, the Terps also scored 16 goals in their season-opener against George Mason. For Maryland, the team has a strong group of upperclassmen who lead the offense. Senior Jen Giles scored five goals and had an assist in the season opener. In addition to Giles, senior Caroline Steele and junior Kali Hartshorn both contributed a hat trick.
Game Details
The Gators will host the Terps on Thursday, Feb. 14 at 7 p.m.
Gainesville, FL –Florida narrowly escaped from the clutches of defeat tonight as they knocked SEC East foe, Vanderbilt. In what has been a common theme for the Gators this season, the offense struggled and sputtered along throughout the contest. In fact, the Gators’ leading scorer on the season, KeVaughn Allen was ineffectual on the offensive side of the ball. Allen finished the game with only six points, well below his per game average of 16.7 PPG against SEC competition. The first of Allen’s points didn’t come until he sank a pair of free throws at the 3:17 mark in the second half. Last season’s second leading scorer, Jalen Hudson was one of just two Gators in double digits for the night. Hudson led all Gators off the bench with ten points, while it was the freshman Keyontae Johnson who led the team with fifteen points. If not for Florida’s defense, this season would look far more bleak than its dismal 13-11 record. As it were, the Gators defensive play deserves all of the credit for tonight’s win. Florida forced the Commodores into turning the ball over nineteen times, resulting in twenty-nine points. When you factor in the points off of turnovers with the twenty-three points Florida scored at the charity stripe, it becomes much more clear just how much the offense struggles to manufacture points on their own. The Gators finished the night with a paltry, four assists and plenty of moments where we are left to question why a player took the shot rather than attempting to pass it off for a better look. When you live and die by the three-ball, creating the open look is paramount. Florida won’t survive too many games going twenty-two percent from beyond the arc.
Game Trends: Despite the ups and downs and everything in between, the Gators find themselves in the first four out. They must finish out their SEC schedule strong in order to still have a shot at making it to the dance. Defense is this team’s bread and butter and they will need to continue creating turnover opportunities as they did tonight to assist a struggling offense. Not only did they force Vanderbilt to make mistakes, but they kept them off balance and out of rhythm for much of the night. Aaron Nesmith was the lone Commodore to reach double digits and he posted nearly half of Vanderbilt’s scoring. Florida did enough to prevent him from having any help, harassing the other starters and making the bench relatively benign.
Fast Facts
KeVaughn Allen managed only six points in tonight’s game but he made them count, building a lead very late in the game.
Freshman Keyontae Johnson led all Gators with fifteen points.
Florida’s bench played well tonight, adding twenty-nine points in relief.
TEAM STATS:
VANDY
FLORIDA
FG %
35.3
33.3
3-PT %
20.8
22.7
FT %
76.2
82.1
Offensive Rebounds
11
14
Total Rebounds
38
39
Assists
9
4
Steals
6
12
Blocks
2
3
Turnovers
19
12
What’s Next Florida travels to Tuscaloosa to take on the Crimson Tide (15-9, 6-5) on Saturday at 2:00 p.m. EST. The game will be televised on ESPNU.
Gainesville, FL – One night after opening the renovated Katie Seashole Pressly Stadium against the Japanese National Team, the Gators returned to regular season action with a matchup against the Ospreys of North Florida. Florida defeated UNF 3-1 to move to 6-0 on the season.
Game Trends
Florida got on the board early with a RBI double by junior catcher Kendyl Lindaman that scored Amanda Lorenz who walked in the at-bat prior.
The Gators added to the lead in the second inning with a little ‘small ball’. Sophomore Jordan Matthews opened the inning with a single through the right side hole. Junior shortstop Sophia Reynoso bunted Matthews over to second. Hannah Sipos followed with a single to left to put runners on the corners with one out. Hannah Adams drove in the run with a sacrifice fly to left as the throw was way off line.
Florida added to the lead in the fifth inning when Alex Voss sent a liner over the head of UNF RF Dominica Cocuzza that scored Jaimie Hoover to push the lead to 3-0.
The Ospreys finally broke through in the top of the sixth. Katelin Davis singled to the right side that scored Tiffany Lower who had walked earlier in the inning.
Kelly Barnhill finished the contest with a perfect seventh inning.
Fast Stats:
Natalie Lugo carried Florida through six innings, allowing only two hits and one run while striking out five.
Kelly Barnhill pitched the seventh inning and struck out all three batters she faced.
C Kendyl Lindaman finished the game 2-3 with an RBI and is now hitting .391 on the season.
The Gators hit just 2-11 (.182) with runners in scoring position.
Quotables:
Head coach Tim Walton: “I thought Natalie did a good job today, competing for us. Defense played really well. Offensively, just been kind of ho-hum, I’ve not really been impressed the way we’ve swung the bat.”
Pitcher Natalie Lugo about her performance: “I didn’t have a lot of strikeouts, but trusted my defense and [the offense] got us three runs.”
Catcher Kendyl Lindaman about her RBI double in the first inning: “I tried not to think too much about [the at-bat], I have great hitters in front of me and behind me so there’s no nerves up there.”
Head coach Kevin O’Sullivan’s Gators baseball team will open season play at Alfred A. McKethan Stadium against Long Beach State on Friday, February 15th. With opening day fast approaching, this is a great time to take a look at what to expect from this year’s team.
Under O’Sullivan, the Gators find themselves in the preseason rankings for the eleventh consecutive season. The sixth ranked Gators will be squaring off against seven other programs who begin the year in the top 40. In fact, their SEC schedule boasts four different teams within the top 15 as LSU, Vanderbilt, Ole Miss, and Georgia rank No. 1, No. 2, No. 11, and No. 13, respectively.
Following last season’s 49-21 record and a deep run to the College World Series, Florida will be looking fresh as veterans like Jonathan India, Deacon Liput, J.J. Schwartz, and Keenan Bell have moved on. With so much attrition, what and who can we expect to see this year?
The pitching rotation should be plenty capable with guys like Jack Leftwich, Tommy Mace, and Jordan Butler having added another season of development under their belts. Tyler Dyson will have the opportunity to be the staff ace if he’s able to tap into his pre-injury form as he played a solid role in the Gators’ championship run.
The infield could see some fluidity as they attempt to replace the steady experience that was lost last year. Sully will need to decide between Jordan Battle, Garrett Milchin, and Brady Smith at first base. Battle and Milchin will also be on rotation in the bullpen, while Smith would leave another crucial decision to be made behind the plate.
Blake Reese will be the likely starter at second with redshirt freshman, Jose Cicarello and true freshman, Kristofer Armstrong also vying for the opportunity to contribute. On the opposite side of the bag (short stop), Brady McConnell –who was limited by a hand injury last year– is expected to be back to full strength and is primed for a solid comeback season.
True freshman phenom, Cory Acton declined an opportunity to go professional straight out of high school and should step right in as the starter at third base.
Closing out the infield lineup is catcher, Brady Smith. While I mentioned him as a possible contender for first base, this is where I see him landing. He broke out during the post season last year and is too valuable behind the plate.
Smith also hit a respectable .264 last season and has the power to be a deep threat. Should he be needed elsewhere, Sully still has options for the position with Jonah Girand and Cal Greenfield being more than capable.
Florida will need to replace plenty of offensive production from a year ago, but with guys like Austin Langworthy and Wil Dalton, they’re off to a good start. Given this staff’s track record, it’s difficult not to believe that they will get the most firepower possible out of their youthful lineup.
O’Sullivan and his staff have built this program into a perennial power and they have the chance to become the first team since Stanford (1999-2003) to get to Omaha in five consecutive seasons with a successful campaign in 2019.
This team has a lot of youth and great talent. Despite a lack of experience, the Gators have earned the right to be in the championship discussion each season until proven otherwise.
As spring rapidly approaches, so too does one of the sweetest phrases ever uttered. “Play Ball!”
On Sunday, the Florida Gators swept a double-header against NC State and South Florida to cap a perfect opening weekend of the 2019 season.
On Monday, the Southeastern Conference named Gators senior pitcher Kelly Barnhill the conference Pitcher of the Week.
Barnhill finished the weekend 4-0 and recoded a save after getting work in each game of the tournament.
In 19 innings, Barnhill struck out 26 batters and gave up only six hit and two runs (both earned). Her ERA sits at 0.74 for the season.
For the Marietta, GA native, this is her tenth time earning SEC Pitcher of the Week honors.
The Gators will face Team Japan in an exhibition on Tuesday to open the newly renovated Katie Seashole Pressly Stadium. Florida will then continue the regular season with a contest against North Florida on Wednesday before traveling to Arizona to take part in the Littlewood Classic.
The Gators softball team completed the USF Opening Weekend Tournament in Tampa on Sunday. Florida faced an NC State team that was coming off a thrilling victory over #7 Arizona. The Gators defeated the Wolfpack on a walkoff sac fly, then rallied behind the at-bat of a true freshman to defeat host South Florida.
SUNDAY (GAME ONE):
FLORIDA 2, NC STATE 1
RUNS
HITS
ERRORS
NC STATE
1
3
1
GATORS
2
8
0
Tampa, FL- Florida sophomore Jordan Matthews seems to have a flair for the dramatic. Obviously, we all remember Matthews’ blast that sent the Gators to Oklahoma City last year. All she did Sunday afternoon was send the Gators to another victory via walkoff.
The win moves the Gators to 4-0 on the season and Florida is now 28-0 all-time in tournaments at USF.
Game Trends
Florida pitcher Natalie Lugo navigated a two-out triple in the first inning with a strikeout, but settled in and retired nine straight thereafter.
Florida, however, scored a run early as Hannah Adams opened the contest with a single that was followed by an NC State error on Amanda Lorenz’s grounder to first. Danielle Romanello hit a one-out, RBI single that was too hot for Pack second baseman Natalie Jones too handle, easily scoring Adams from second.
The Gators had a number of opportunities to add to their lead, but failed to do so. Through four innings of play, Florida was only 1-7 with runners in scoring position. It didn’t take long for that to cost the Gators.
Kelly Barnhill took the circle to relieve Lugo in the fifth inning. NC State senior Natalie Jones took Barnhill’s second offering over the right-centerfield fence to tie the game.
The Gators had an opportunity in the sixth, but again failed to score. Head coach Tim Walton chose to pinch hit freshman Cheyenne Lindsey to open the sixth inning, and Lindsey responded with a single through the hole between first and second. Hannah Adams then bunted and while she appeared to beat the throw from Wolfpack third baseman Logan Morris, the umpire called her out. Walton attempted to catch NC State napping and sent pinch runner, Amanda Beane to third, but the Pack saw it and gunned her down easily.
Florida finally broke through in the seventh to end the suspense. Junior Kendyl Lindaman lead off with a single through the left side of the infield and Danielle Romanello and Jaimie Hoover each walked to load the bases with no out. Alex Voss grounded a ball to short which was immediately thrown home to catch the lead runner (Lindaman).
Then Jordan Matthews stepped up and sent a 2-0 pitch to right field that allowed pinch runner Haven Sampson to score easily and wrap up a wild one in Tampa.
Fast Stats:
Natalie Lugo put Florida in position to win by going four innings and allowing only two hits. Lugo struck out six in the game.
Kelly Barnhill entered the game in the fifth inning, and settled down after giving up a solo homer to her second batter. Barnhill retired the final eight hitters she faced (after the home run).
Sophomore Hannah Adams finished 1-3 with a single and a walk and scored the first run of the game.
Florida finished the game just 2-10 with runners in scoring position which seems to be plaguing this team early in the season.
Freshman speedster Cheyenne Lindsey recorded her first hit as a Gator with a shot through the hole between first and second.
Quotables:
Head coach Tim Walton: “I’m surprised at how well we’ve done pinch hitting [thus far].”
First baseman Jordan Matthews: “My only thought was to just hit it deep enough.”
Pitcher Kelly Barnhill: “Jordan Matthews gave us exactly what we needed to win.”
W: Barnhill (3-0)
L: Sydney Nester (1-1)
SUNDAY (GAME TWO):
FLORIDA 6, SOUTH FLORIDA 0
RUNS
HITS
ERRORS
GATORS
7
8
1
USF
1
2
1
Tampa, FL- The Gators defeated the tournament host, South Florida in the finale on Sunday. The Gators powered past the Bulls thanks largely to a grand slam by 2B Hannah Adams in the fourth inning. Florida hit three homers in the contest and continue to bash the ball at a high rate.
Game Trends
South Florida opened the scoring in the first inning as CF AnaMarie Bruni and SS Lindsey Devitt both scorched doubles with Bruni scoring on Devitt’s shot.
The Gators responded, however, as Jaimie Hoover turned on one and sent it over the fence in left field to tie the game.
The Gators would strike again in the fourth frame as sophomore 2B Hannah Adams scorched a shot that landed beyond the right field fence. Adams’ blast doesn’t occur without an incredible at-bat by freshman third-sacker Hannah Sipos’. Sipos saw thirteen pitches and fouled off nine strikes from Bull pitcher Nicole Doyle.
Danielle Romanello continued her torrid start to the 2019 season by smacking her second homer to the opposite field. Romanello’s two run homer put the Gators ahead 7-1 in the seventh inning.
Fast Stats:
The Gators are now 29-0 all-time in tournaments at USF.
Jaimie Hoover crushed her second home run of the season and leads UF in that category.
Senior Kelly Barnhill pitched five innings and allowed only two hits (to the first two hitters she faced). Barnhill struck out 11 and her ERA sits at 0.74 after one weekend of play.
Freshman Elizabeth Hightower relieved Barnhill and threw only 21 pitches in her first two innings of work. More impressively, she caught a pair of USF hitters looking at strike three and struck out four total.
Quotables:
Second baseman Hannah Adams, “Hannah (Sipos) saw a lot of pitches before me. I wouldn’t have gotten the swing I did without her (at-bat).
Boulder, CO – What a way to kick off the 2019 season! The #6 Florida lacrosse team struck for sixteen goals in defeating the # 17 Colorado Buffaloes to open the season 1-0. The Gators are now 3-0 all-time against Colorado. Florida will face #2 Maryland on Thursday at 7:00 PM.
Game Trends:
Despite the cross-country travel, the Gators showed no signs of fatigue as they scored the first seven goals of the afternoon. Lindsey Ronbeck opened the scoring with a goal just over a minute into the game. Ronbeck would record a hat-trick before Colorado found the back of the net.
The Buffaloes would make a run, however, and enter the intermission with the momentum of scoring four of the final five goals of the first period of play.
Shannon Kavanagh made sure the Gators didn’t lose the handle on the game. Kavanagh buried a shot just 1:01 into the second half. It was her second of the game, but it wouldn’t be her last. Kavanagh finished with four goals on the afternoon for Florida.
Colorado was able to close the gap to four at 12-8 with 12:27 to play, but the Gators rattled off four straight to put the game out of reach.
Fast Stats:
Ronbeck, Grace Haus, and Kavanagh all notched four goals in the victory.
Alix Lopez, Madi Hall, Sydney Pirreca, and Brianna Harris each added a goal in the effort.
Lopez and Kavanagh each added a pair of assists on the game (Kavanagh finished with 6 points to lead Florida).
The Gators took on the #19 and #7 teams in the country on Saturday and topped both. Florida will face NC State and the tournament host, USF on Sunday.
SATURDAY ( GAME ONE):
FLORIDA 6, MICHIGAN 0
RUNS
HITS
ERRORS
GATORS
6
10
0
MICHIGAN
0
2
3
Tampa, FL- Florida softball moves to 2-0 on the season with a 6-0 victory over #19 Michigan to begin the second day of the USF Opening Weekend Tournament.
The Gators got on the board early with a run in the second and in the third, then grinded it out with solid defense and pitching before adding four insurance runs in the seventh frame.
Game Trends
After a scoreless first inning, the Gators got one across in the second inning when Hannah Sipos singled to center to score pinch runner Jade Caraway.
Florida would tack on another run in the third inning when junior (transfer) Kendyl Lindaman hit a triple to right field that UM RF Haley Hoogenraad attempted to dive for, thus allowing the ball to roll to the fence and easily score senior Amanda Lorenz.
The Gators had no shortage of baserunners, and prior to the seventh inning Florida had hit only 1-10 with runners in scoring position. However, that changed in the final inning of play.
The Gators added four runs in the seventh to stretch the lead. Jaimie Hoover had the big double to deep center that scored Lorenz and pinch runner Haven Sampson before scoring herself the next at-bat. Sipos had a sacrifice fly that scored what proved to be the final run of the game.
Senior pitcher Kelly Barnhill threw all seven innings for Florida on an incredibly efficient 65 pitches. She allowed only two singles, but more importantly didn’t walk a single Wolverine (she did hit one in the sixth inning).
Fast Stats:
The Gators are now 26-0 all-time in tournaments at USF.
Amanda Lorenz finished 3-4 and scored two runs.
C Kendyl Lindaman finished 2-4 and recorded her first RBI as a Gator.
Florida pounded Michigan P Meghan Beaubien for ten hits and four earned runs.
Quotables:
Outfielder Jaimie Hoover: “I tried to have a short memory. I had some good at-bats, even the strikeout…”, “We swung at a lot of balls (which contributed to 11 strikeouts of Gators hitters).”
W: Barnhill (2-0)
L: Beaubien (0-1)
_____________________
SATURDAY (GAME TWO):
FLORIDA 3, ARIZONA 2
RUNS
HITS
ERRORS
ARIZONA
2
5
0
GATORS
3
4
0
Tampa, FL- In the second half of the back to back, Florida faced #7 Arizona who had won both of their contests on Friday (including a victory over #19 Michigan).
The Gators defeated the Wildcats 3-2 to move to 3-0 on the season. In the win, sophomore Natalie Lugo earned her first win of 2019 while Kelly Barnhill finished the game for the Gators and earned her first save of the year.
Game Trends
Freshman pitcher Danni Farley toed the rubber for the Gators and pitched a quick, three up-three down inning. The Gators were able to strike first when sophomore Danielle Romanello crushed a ball to right-center to put Florida ahead 2-0.
Arizona would respond in a hurry, Dejah Mulipola took the third offering of the inning deep to left to put the Wildcats within one run.
The Gators responded in their next at-bat with as Jordan Roberts crushed a homer to right center to give Florida some breathing room.
The second and third inning saw Farley struggle with her command and with runners on first and second in the third, head coach Tim Walton had enough. Walton called on Lugo out of the bullpen and the move paid off in spades. Lugo would retire the first two batters she faced to escape the jame, and would pitch 3.2 innings overall before giving way to Barnhill.
Barnhill retired the side in order and sent Florida home with the W while collecting her first save in 2019.
Fast Stats:
The Gators are now 27-0 all-time in tournaments at USF.
For both Romanello and Roberts it was their first homer of the new season.
The Gators hit 1-9 (.111 average) with runners on base, but only had one at bat with a runner in scoring position (0-1).
Florida struck out six times to bring their total to 17 for the entire day.
Quotables:
Head coach Tim Walton: “Natalie Lugo was the key to the victory.”
Pitcher Natalie Lugo: “I just went in trying to pick up Danni..Not trying to get too ‘into the moment.’”
“That was our halfway point for the regular season, Gators!” Head coach Jenny Rowland pointed out tonight, expressing how happy she was with the team’s progress. Florida continued to put more pieces of the puzzle together tonight as it fine-tuned details, minimized deductions and mixed up lineups at its annual Link to Pink meet, celebrating and supporting breast cancer fighters and survivors. Though the Gators once again started the night behind – a trend for home meets thus far this season – they surged forward to defeat the Auburn Tigers 197.8 to 196.7.
Though they still started out behind Auburn, the Gators made significant improvements on vault tonight, with much smaller landing errors from Nya Reed, Savannah Schoenherr and Trinity Thomas. Alicia Boren won the event with a 9.925 after essentially sticking her Yurchenko 1.5, her best mark of the season to date. Auburn started out especially strong on bars, posting no score lower than a 9.85. Abby Milliet was the standout for the Tigers there, posting a 9.9 routine featuring effortless handstands and a perfectly stuck dismount. After one, the Tigers led by just 0.025, the smallest margin possible.
Rotation two demonstrated yet again why the Gators are No. 1 in the nation on bars. The team counted no scores below 9.85, and Amelia Hundley and Thomas went 9.9 and 9.95, respectively. Schoenherr was also a highlight of the bars squad, debuting a new double back-half out dismount and sticking it cold. In turn, Auburn went to vault and struggled some. Gracie Day landed short on her Yurchenko 1.5 and ended up sitting it down after staggering, trying to stay on her feet. Jada Glenn also had a miscue on her 1.5, overpowering it and taking a large lunge forward. After two, the Gators had overtaken their opponents, scoring 98.775 to the Tigers’ 98.3.
The third rotation brought Florida to beam, where it struggled some in the past few weeks, but there was no sign of difficulty tonight. Boren, Rachel Gowey and Alyssa Baumann all tied for the beam title, each earning a 9.9. Baumann put her Onodi, a back handspring with a half twist, back into her routine after falling on it two weeks ago against Kentucky at home. It’s a risky skill, far above the difficulty level required in college gymnastics, but it’s also her signature one – she’s the only gymnast in the NCAA who competes it. It was clear she was nervous about it, as she had a small wobble as she completed the skill, but she kept it controlled and didn’t panic: the mark of a true champion. Auburn, meanwhile, went to floor and used the huge crowd – 9,055 people – to its advantage, fueling its performances with the energy it drew from the fans. The Tigers had a clean rotation, counting all scores 9.85 or higher and closing it out with a pair of 9.925s from Milliet and Day. Before the final rotation, the Gators extended their lead over Auburn 148.2 to 147.75.
To finish the night, Florida went to floor, where it somehow always seems to seal the deal, ensuring that it remains the only undefeated SEC team left this season. Schoenherr made her competitive debut on the event, earning a solid 9.85 to lead off the rotation. Scores continued to build from there – a 9.875 for Hundley, a 9.925 for Reed, a 9.95 for Boren and a 9.975 for Thomas. With each new routine, the volume of the crowd increased as they demanded perfect 10.0s from the judges, and booed indiscriminately as they were not rewarded. The final routine from Baumann sealed the deal for the Gators, and though her 9.925 was not the 10.0 the team and crowd had hoped for, it ensured the win for her team and earned the team its best floor mark this season, a 49.65. On beam for the final rotation, Auburn struggled, seeing a fall from Taylor Krippner on her front aerial. Skyler Sheppard and Drew Watson’s scores dipped into the 9.7 range, solidifying the Gator win, but Milliet and Meredith Sylvia were able to hit 9.85 and 9.875 respectively, ensuring the team could drop Krippner’s fall and still put up a very respectable score. The meet finished with the Gators at 197.85 and the Tigers at 196.7.
Link to Pink is always a very special night for the Gators regardless of the score, as the team competes for “something so much bigger than [them]selves,” according to freshman Schoenherr. She and Thomas agreed that their first Link to Pink was an experience to remember, saying that it was “absolutely amazing to see all the survivors, to be able to touch their hands and know that we’re doing this for them.” Tonight was also Boren’s last Link to Pink, and each year, her aunt has been in the crowd among those being honored. She said that “every time I look out on the crowd or out to my aunt, to see her smiling face… it’s a feeling I can’t even put into words. I love to be able to do something for other people; you know, we compete for ourselves and our team, but now we get to compete for something bigger than that.”