West Florida Argonauts

The West Florida Argonauts (or UWF Argonauts) are the athletic teams that represent the University of West Florida, located in Pensacola, Florida, in intercollegiate sports at the Division II level of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA), primarily competing in the Gulf South Conference (GSC) since the 1994–95 academic year. The Argonauts previously competed in the Southern States Conference of the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA) from 1974–75 to 1993–94, with a brief hiatus of dropping its athletics program from 1976–77 to 1979–80.

West Florida Argonauts
Logo
UniversityUniversity of West Florida
ConferenceGulf South (primary)
NCAADivision II
PresidentMartha Saunders
Athletic directorDave Scott
LocationPensacola, Florida
First season1974
Varsity teams15 (7 men's, 8 women's)
Football stadiumPen Air Field
Basketball arenaUWF Field House
Baseball stadiumJim Spooner Field
Softball stadiumUWF Softball Complex
Soccer stadiumPublix Sports Park
Aquatics centerUWF Aquatic Center
Tennis venueRalph "Skeeter" Carson Tennis Complex
MascotArgie the Argonaut
NicknameArgos/Argonauts
ColorsRoyal blue and Kelly green[1]
   
Websitegoargos.com
Team NCAA championships
9
Individual and relay NCAA champions
18

West Florida competes in 15 intercollegiate varsity sports: Men's sports include baseball, basketball, cross country, football, golf, soccer and tennis; while women's sports include basketball, cross country, golf, soccer, softball, swimming and diving, tennis and volleyball.[2]

Football
See also: West Florida Argonauts football

UWF made the decision to add a football program in 2013. The Argos signed their first recruiting class in February 2015 and the fall of 2015 featured practice and intrasquad scrimmages. The first year of varsity competition was the 2016 season. The Argos’ first home game was on September 10, 2016, at Blue Wahoos Stadium against Missouri S&T Miners. In 2017, the Argonauts advanced to the national championship game, where they lost to Texas A&M–Commerce 37–27. In 2019, West Florida won their first national title when they defeated Minnesota State 48–40.

Program achievements
Gulf South Conference Champions 2021, 2022
NCAA Division II Team Playoff Participants 2017, 2019, 2021, 2022
NCAA Division II Regional Championships 2017, 2019, 2022
NCAA Division II National Championships 2019

Baseball

West Florida has had 18 Major League Baseball Draft selections since the draft began in 1965.[3]

Year Player Round Team
1982 Thomas Czuk 24 Athletics
1987 Randall Ward 36 Braves
1989 Mark Ettles 33 Tigers
1991 Patrick Underhill 50 Rangers
1992 Jason Smith 37 Red Sox
1993 Chris Schmitt 21 Brewers
1994 Greg Beck 34 Brewers
1997 Ron Ricks 57 Angels
2003 Jeremy Noegel 34 Blue Jays
2004 Pat Cottrell 33 Devil Rays
2009 John Church 23 Mets
2010 Kevin Johnson 20 Angels
2011 Greg Pron 42 Mets
2011 Brandon Brewer 36 Angels
2011 Ben Hawkins 36 Nationals
2011 Daniel Vargas-Vila 28 Angels
2011 Dustin Lawley 19 Mets
2012 Brian Ellington 16 Marlins

Achievements[4]

NCAA Division II Team National Championships (9)
  • Baseball: 2011
  • Football: 2019
  • Men's Golf: 2001, 2008
  • Men's Tennis: 2004, 2005, 2014, 2017
  • Women's Soccer: 2012

NAIA Team National Championships (1)
  • Softball: 1993

Gulf South Conference All Sports Trophies (30)
  • Men's: 8 (97-98, 02–03, 06–07, 11–12, 12–13, 15–16, 16–17, 17–18)
  • Women's: 16 (97-98, 98–99, 03–04, 05–06, 06–07, 07–08, 08–09, 09–10, 10–11, 11–12, 12–13, 13–14, 14–15, 15–16, 16–17, 18–19)
  • Overall (started in 2013–14): 6 (13–14, 14–15, 15–16, 16–17, 17–18, 18–19)

NCAA Division II Individual National Championships (18)
  • Men's Golf – Orjan Larsen (1998)
  • Men's Golf - Chandler Blanchet (2017)
  • Women's Swimming & Diving - Monica Amaral (2016 1-Meter & 3-Meter Diving)
  • Women's Swimming & Diving - Theresa Michalak (2016 100-Yard Breaststroke)
  • Women's Swimming & Diving - Monica Amaral (2017 1-Meter & 3-Meter Diving)
  • Women's Swimming & Diving - Theresa Michalak (2017 50-Yard Freestyle, 100-Yard Freestyle, 100-Yard Breaststroke, 100 Butterfly)
  • Men's Tennis – Jens Gerlach/Matt Wallhead (1996)
  • Men's Tennis – Radovan Chrz (2000 – ITA Singles, ITA "Super Bowl")
  • Men's Tennis – Radovan Chrz (2000 – ITA Singles)
  • Men's Tennis – Bruno Savi (2013 – ITA Singles)
  • Men's Tennis - Alex Peyrot/Pedro Dumont (2016 - ITA Doubles)
  • Women's Tennis - Berta Bonardi (2018 - ITA Singles)
  • Women's Tennis - Berta Bonardi (2019 - ITA Singles)

NAIA Individual National Championships: (6)
  • Men's Cross Country – John Viitanen (1996 – Marathon)
  • Men's Tennis – Eric Hochman (1990 – Singles)
  • Men's Tennis – Eric Hochman/Geoffrey Watts (1991 – Doubles)
  • Men's Tennis – Sorin Cherebetiu/Andrej Tonejc (1992 – Doubles)
  • Women's Tennis – Bronna Allison/Laura Cadena (1988 – Doubles)
  • Women's Tennis – Bronna Allison (1989 – Singles)

Gulf South Conference Championships (109)
  • Baseball: 2 (2007, 2021)
  • Football: 2 (2021, 2022)
  • Men's Basketball: 1 (2018)
  • Men's Cross Country: 2 (1994, 1996)
  • Men's Golf: 18 (1995-98, 2001-03, 2006-08, 2011, 2013-19, 2021)
  • Men's Soccer: 10 (1998, 2001, 2003, 2006-10, 2013, 2021)
  • Men's Tennis: 14 (1995, 1997-99, 2002-03, 2005-06, 2012-15, 2017, 2022)
  • Softball: 4 (1998, 2004-05, 2019)
  • Volleyball: 11 (2008-13, 2017-19, 2021-22)
  • Women's Basketball: 1 (2014)
  • Women's Cross Country: 3 (1996, 2011-12)
  • Women's Golf: 11 (2006-10, 2012-16, 2021)
  • Women's Soccer: 11 (1996, 1998-99, 2006, 2008-10, 2012-13, 2016, 2018)
  • Women's Tennis: 19 (1995-96, 1998-99, 2000-02, 2006-07, 2009, 2011-19)

New South Intercollegiate Swimming and Diving Conference Championships (6)
  • Women's Swimming and Diving: 6 (2015-16, 2020-23)

Gulf South Conference Commissioner's Trophies (8)
  • Krissy Styrna - Softball (2001–02)
  • Kevin Warrick - Men's Golf (2002–03)
  • Lindsay Nemanich - Women's Soccer (2006–07)
  • Suzana Cavalcante - Women's Tennis (2007–08)
  • Courtney Jones - Women's Soccer (2009–10)
  • Kevin Ducros - Men's Tennis (2012–13)
  • Autumn Duyn - Women's Volleyball (2015–16)
  • Chandler Blanchet - Men's Golf (2017–18)

Gulf South Conference Hall of Fame (4)
  • Richard Berg, Athletic Director - Class of 2014 (Inaugural Class)
  • Radovan Chrz, Men's Tennis - Class of 2017
  • Suzana Cavalcante, Women's Tennis - Class of 2018
  • Kevin Warrick, Men's Golf - Class of 2019

Notable athletes
  • Mickey Gorka (born 1972), Israeli basketball player and coach
  • Moochie Norris graduated in 1996 and played in the NBA for many years.

References
  1. University of West Florida Art Sheet (PDF). December 14, 2014. Retrieved January 15, 2017.
  2. "University of West Florida Argonauts - University of West Florida". goargos.com. Retrieved 2020-10-05.
  3. "MLB Amateur Draft Picks who came from "University of West Florida (Pensacola, FL)"". Baseball-Reference.com. Retrieved 2013-10-03.
  4. "UWF Athletics History". UWF Athletics. Retrieved 22 April 2016.
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