Bait & Bits: Patric Young has CLASS, Swimming & Diving at SEC Championships, and Tennis Sweeps FSU
By Brett Kaplan
Mandatory Credit: (c) Kim Klement – USA Today Sports
Welcome to Bait & Bits, a series on Hail Florida Hail that will feature one “bait” about an opposing school and some bits about the Gators. Have any links that you want on Bait & Bits? Tweet it at us @HailFloridaHail or @BrettKaplan13 or email it to us at BrettKaplanHFH@gmail.com.
Bait
Auburn Tigers. When Florida and Auburn tip-off tonight, it will be the first time the Gators and Tigers have had a home-and-home series since 1991. While Auburn leads the all-time series 87-74, Florida is 19-4, have won the past five meetings, and have been victorious 15-out-of-16 meetings under head coach Billy Donovan.
Bits
Vote for Patric Young. One of the great ambassadors for the University of Florida and collegiate sports in general is Florida senior center Patric Young. Young’s efforts on and off the floor have him nominated for the Senior CLASS Award, given to seniors who help out their community, are scholar athletes, exemplify high character, and make an impact on the court in competition. One-third of the award’s vote goes towards fans. You can vote for Young here. As you can see, Young has a sizeable lead over his competition at this point. Voting continues until March 24th.
Swimming & Diving in 3rd After Day 1 of SEC Championship. Both the Men’s and Women’s Swimming and Diving teams are in third place after the first day of the SEC Championship. The top-ranked men picked up victories in the 200 medley relay and 800 freestyle relay. In the 200 medley relay, the Gators set a school record and NCAA automatic qualifying time of 1:24.53. The 800 freestyle relay set an SEC Championship record as well as a school record at 6:13.03. The No. 9 Women’s team finished third in the same relays. For full results, head over to GatorZone.
Women’s Tennis Sweeps Florida State. The fifth-ranked women’s tennis team swept No. 30 Florida State 7-0. Below are the results (h/t GatorZone):
Doubles (order of finish: 3, 2*)
1. Sofie Oyen/Belinda Woolcock (14), UF vs. Kerrie Cartwright/Daneika Borthwick, FSU, 6-3 DNF
2. Kourtney Keegan/Brianna Morgan, UF d. Daniela Schippers/Mia Vriens, FSU, 8-1* [0:50]
3. Olivia Janowicz/Stefani Stojic, UF d. Laurence Porry/Kristina Schleich, FSU, 8-1 [0:35]
Singles (order of finish: 1, 3, 5*, 4, 6, 2)
1. Olivia Janowicz (11), UF d. Daneika Borthwick, FSU, 6-1, 6-1 [:55]
2. Alexandra Cercone (29), UF d. Kerrie Cartwright, FSU, 6-4, 4-6, 1-0 (10-5) [2:05]
3. Brianna Morgan (14), UF d. Daniela Schippers, FSU, 6-3, 6-0 [1:17]
4. Sofie Oyen (31), UF d. Laurence Porry, FSU 6-4, 6-0 [1:10]
5. Kourtney Keegan (38), UF d. Majlena Pederson, FSU, 6-2, 6-0 [1:09]
6. Stefani Stojic, UF d. Duda Santos, FSU 6-3, 6-2 [1:14]
Today’s Action on Campus. It’s a big day with three major sports all playing on UF campus simultaneously. It starts with the top-ranked softball team who’s in action against the Jacksonville Dolphins at Katie Seashole Pressly Softball Stadium at 6:30 pm. Baseball’s opening pitch against the North Florida Ospreys is at 7 pm at McKethan Stadium and not far away, the men’s basketball team will tip-off at the same time in the O’Connell Center against the Auburn Tigers. Also in action: The men’s and women’s swimming and diving teams in day two of the SEC Championships held at the Gabrielsen Natatorium in Athens, Georgia.
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