 "Photo: Photo by Ron Besser")
University of West Florida Athletics was well represented at the Pensacola Sports Association Annual Awards Banquet April 3, as coaches and student-athletes from the UWF men’s golf, women’s soccer, men’s tennis and women’s tennis teams received awards.
Women’s soccer player Shaneka Gordon, the 2008 Daktronics Ron Lenz National Player of the Year, highlighted the night for UWF, taking home the PSA Amateur Athlete of the Year award.
“We’ve always had a great working relationship with the PSA,” UWF Athletic Director Dave Scott said. “It’s an honor for our student-athletes to be recognized here tonight in front of the Pensacola community. The PSA does a tremendous job of recruiting sporting events to the area and creating awareness of our local sports programs.”
UWF men’s golf was recognized for its 2008 NCAA Division II championship season, as head Coach Steve Fell, current player Kyle Scott and former player Tobias Rosendahl received Special Achievement honors. Fell earned National Coach of the Year honors from the Golf Coaches Association of America and “Golfweek,” and both Scott and Rosendahl were first team GCAA All-Americans during the 2008 championship season.
West Florida women’s soccer was the NCAA Division II runner-up in December, led by National Soccer Coaches Association of America National Coach of the Year Joe Bartlinski.
The Argonauts finished the year 24-1-1, with the lone loss coming in the national championship game in a 1-0 defeat to Seattle Pacific. The PSA honored Bartlinski and Daktronics All-America first team selections Marcela Franco and Shameka Gordon with Special Achievement awards.
The UWF men’s tennis and women’s tennis teams built off their history of success with another great 2008 season.
Suzana Cavalcante was an ITA All-American in singles and doubles in 2008, and she also earned the highest honor in the Gulf South Conference, the GSC Commissioner’s Trophy.
Cavalcante’s doubles partner Paola Arevalo also earned All-America honors. On the men’s side, Eduardo Cavasotti, now an assistant for UWF head Coach Derrick Racine, earned an All-America selection as a singles player. All three players were honored by the PSA with Special Achievement awards.
Be the first to comment on this article!