The club continues to grow. Mike Zunino and Will Claye became the latest members on Tuesday, earning top honors in their respective sports.
Don't worry, your imagination isn't playing tricks on you if you've noticed that a seemingly inordinate number of Gators have been named Player/Athlete of the Year in their respective sports of late.
It has been a banner year in the Southeastern Conference for those in orange and blue – and in the American Lacrosse Conference for Kitty Cullen.
The Gators have now won 12 Player of the Year awards in the 2010-11 academic calendar. That's a lot of trophies for one school in one season.
Zunino was named SEC Baseball Player of the Year for hitting .383 with 15 HRs, 59 RBIs and his continued development behind the plate. Zunino entered the season known for his catching credentials and baseball IQ. He now is considered one of the league's most dangerous hitters, too.
Meanwhile, Claye joined the men's track team after transferring from Oklahoma and instantly made a name for himself in the SEC, earning SEC Men's Field Athlete of the Year.
Claye won the triple- and long-jump titles at the conference meet and is considered a strong Olympic hopeful in 2012. He'll try and help the Gators win a NCAA Outdoor national title next month.
Besides those winners, Florida newcomers Alaina Johnson (gymnastics), Taylor Travis (women's soccer), Marcin Cieslak (men's swimming), Elizabeth Beisel (women's swimming), Eddie Lovett (men's indoor track) and Cory McGee (women's indoor track) were named SEC Freshmen of the Year in their respective sports.
We posted this list on the blog a couple of weeks ago not thinking that it would continue to grow, but it has, so here goes another look at UF's individual award winners this year:
Players/Athletes
Baseball: Mike Zunino
Men's Outdoor Track: Will Claye (Field Athlete of Year)
Men's Basketball: Chandler Parsons
Men's Golf: Bank Vongvanij
Lacrosse (ALC): Kitty Cullen
Soccer: Kathryn Williamson (SEC Defensive Player of Year)
Softball: Kelsey Bruder
Men's Swimming & Diving: Conor Dwyer
Women's Diving: Monica Dodson
Women's Tennis: Allie Will
Men's Indoor Track: Christian Taylor (Field Athlete of Year)
Volleyball: Kelly Murphy
Coaches of the Year
Buddy Alexander – SEC Men's Golf Coach of the Year
Becky Burleigh – SEC Soccer Coach of the Year
Donnie Craine – SEC Women's Diving Coach of the Year
Billy Donovan – SEC Men's Basketball Coach of the Year
Rhonda Faehn – SEC Gymnastics Coach of the Year
Mike Holloway – SEC Men's Indoor Track & Field Coach of the Year
Todd Morgan – SEC Women's Cross Country
Amanda O'Leary – ALC Lacrosse Coach of the Year
Tim Walton – SEC Softball co-Coach of the Year
Mary Wise – SEC Volleyball Coach of the Year
