Hines and Kolozsvary stand out in Iron Gator Challenge

The Florida baseball team recently completed its offseason Iron Gator Challenge program as they prepped for the start of fall practice.

"The Iron Gator Challenge is really about competitiveness and competing every single day," said Strength & Conditioning Coach Paul Chandler. "With baseball being such a long season, with 56 regular season games in the college setting, to be able to come out and compete every single day is really, really important."

After six weeks of grueling workouts, the results are in.

Team Faedo, led by junior captain Alex Faedo, narrowly edged Team India to win the team competition while redshirt freshman MacGregor Hines and junior Mark Kolozsvary claimed the individual titles. Hines earned first place among the Gators pitchers and Kolozsvary topped all position players.

"Nick Long, one of the freshman, him and I were back and forth," said Hines. "Overall, all of the pitchers were pretty close together. It just shows how hard we've worked as a pitching staff. I think we're all pretty good athletes so it made it even more fun."

Along with Faedo, the winning team consisted of sophomore Eddy Demurias, freshman Tyler Dyson, Hines, junior David Lee, freshman Kirby McMullen and senior Frank Rubio.

"I felt like we were the underdogs, so it was good that we came out with the victory," Faedo said. "It was kind of cool because I went with a pitcher's approach and it was a little different than everyone else."

In addition to the competitive aspect of the Iron Gator Challenge, the ultimate goal is to build a strong team bond heading into the 2017 season. Although they may have been competing against one another, they also cheered each other on to push each other to the limit.

"It makes you go to a whole 'nother level," said Kolozsvary. "You've got your team cheering you on and it really helps being able to push you."

"Baseball's a long season. Some people are hot and some people get in slumps," said Chandler. "Your teammates can really help you in that process when things are down to keep persevering and keep trying. At the end, that's what really successful teams do. When people are down you pick up the person next to you and keep battling and competing every day."

The Gators fall practice schedule is currently underway, with a four inning scrimmage scheduled for 10:45 a.m. on Friday at McKethan Stadium.

For all of the latest information on Florida baseball, log on to FloridaGators.com or follow the team's Twitter account @GatorsBB.

For season-ticket information, visit the Gator Ticket Office.

Team Standings	Points
Team Faedo	70
Team India	68
Team Singer	56
Team Rivera	48

Iron Gator Challenge Winners

2005: Pitcher – Darren O'Day; Position Player – Chris Woods
2006: Pitcher – Tony Davis; Position Player – Avery Barnes
2007: Pitcher – Tony Davis; Position Player – Avery Barnes
2008: Pitcher – Tony Davis; Position Player – Jonathan Pigott
2009: Pitcher – Kevin Chapman; Position Player – Matt den Dekker
2010: Pitcher – Justin Poovey; Position Player – Kamm Washington
2011: Pitcher – Jonathon Crawford; Position Player – Nolan Fontana
There was no competition held in 2012
2013: Pitcher – Brett Morales; Position Player – Harrison Bader
2014: Pitcher – Shaun Anderson; Position Player – Harrison Bader
2015: Pitcher – Logan Shore; Position Player – Buddy Reed
2016: Pitcher – MacGregor Hines; Position Player – Mark Kolozsvary

Gators Calendar