GSC 2020 SPRING ALL-ACADEMIC & ACADEMIC HONOR ROLL
BIRMINGHAM, Ala. – The UWF spring sports teams had 12 student-athletes voted onto the Spring All-Academic Teams as announced by the Gulf South Conference on Wednesday. Additionally, 59 total Argonauts in the sports of baseball, softball, men's and women's golf and men's and women's tennis were named to the Academic Honor Roll.
Matthew Estrada and
Daniel Floyd from baseball,
Grace Gilbert and
Kelsey Sweatt from softball,
Harry Butler and
Adam Guedra from men's golf,
Kelie Kan and
Ronja Taipale from women's golf,
Berta Bonardi and
Gabriela Araujo from women's tennis, and
Juan Cabrera and
Juan Motta from men's tennis made UWF the only school in the conference with multiple award recipients in all six sports.
West Florida had a school-record 152 student-athletes on the GSC Academic Honor Roll between the fall, winter and spring seasons (six more than the 2018-19 season and 18 more than 2017-18).
Estrada is a two-time All-GSC selection and has twice earned All-South Region honors. This year, the Pensacola native started all 22 of the Argos' games and hit .314. Estrada led UWF in hits (27) and at-bats (86), and his hit total ranked seventh in the GSC. Estrada is a junior with a 3.69 GPA in general business.
Floyd made six starts on the mound for the Argos this season, going a perfect 4-0 with a 1.93 ERA. The senior from Chipley, Fla. struck out 40 batters while walking only eight and led the GSC in innings pitched (42.0), was second in opposing batting average (.182), and was fourth in ERA. Floyd holds a 3.60 GPA in general business.
Gilbert put together one of the best two-way seasons in the country in 2020, with a .381 batting average and 28 RBIs to go along with a 1.65 ERA over 11 starts in the circle. She was second in the GSC in RBIs (28), and was third in hits (32) and triples (3). The junior also ranked second in the GSC in wins (6), sixth in ERA (1.65), eighth in innings pitched (68.0), and ninth in opponent batting average (.202). A native of Chipley, Fla., Gilbert is a junior with a 3.61 GPA in health care administration.
Sweatt posted a 2.43 ERA and a 7-3 record over 18 appearances and 10 starts in 2020. She led GSC in wins (7), and led UWF in innings pitched (69.0) and strikeouts (74). Despite the short season, Sweatt tied single-season UWF record with 3 saves, and she ranked fourth in the GSC in strikeouts (74) and sixth in opponent batting average (.184). Sweatt is a junior from Jacksonville, Fla. with a 3.22 GPA in health care administration
Butler is a 2020 Golf Coaches Association of America All-America and led the team with a 72.81 stroke average. The senior from Chigwell, England ranked third among GSC players and 30th overall in the final Golfstat Ratings. He carries a 3.85 spring GPA in Economics.
Guedra is a sophomore from Vasteras, Sweden with a 3.64 GPA in Sport Management. He ranked fourth on the team with a 74.61 stroke average and posted five rounds at par or better with 12 at 74 or lower. Had three top 20 finishes and his low 54-hole score was a 70-72-73=215 at Innisbrook in the UWF Copperhead Championship in the fall.
Kan, a senior from Selangor, Malaysia has a 3.56 GPA in Cybersecurity and was ranked second on the women's golf team team with a 77.31 stroke average over 16 rounds. She also had 11 of 16 rounds in the 70s and is a 3-time GSC Spring Academic Honor Roll member.
Taipale ranked third on the team with a 79.31 stroke average and had 10 of 16 rounds in the 70s. She finished 12th in the season-opening Montevallo Tournament with a 76-78-154 total - her best 36-hole score of the year. The sophomore from Espoo, Finland has a 4.0 GPA in Legal Studies and has been on the UWF President's List all four semesters.
Berta Bonardi, the ITA National Champion in singles during the 2018 and 2019 fall seasons, was previously named to the 2020 CoSIDA Academic All-District At-Large team. The junior who is majoring in exercise science with a 3.85 GPA, was also named as a 2020 ITA All-American in singles after going 6-0 in singles play during the spring season and holding the distinction of being the top ranked-singles player in the nation by the ITA. Bonardi won GSC player of the week for her play in early March.
She was also named to the GSC All-Academic team in 2019.
This marks Araujo's first appearance on the GSC All-Academic team. The senior from Brazil who is majoring in mechanical engineering and has a 3.28 GPA, stood out this season as her and doubles partner
Karolina Silwanowicz who were ranked in the top 10 regionally in doubles, went 7-0 in doubles play during the spring. She also went 6-1 in singles play.
The Argos have had at least two women named to the GSC All-Academic team since the 2015 spring season. In total, 20 women's tennis standouts have been named to the GSC Spring All-Academic squad including Araujo and Bonardi.
Senior Juan Cabrera collects his third selection to the GSC All-Academic squad after previously being named in both 2018 and 2019. A professional accountancy major who holds a 3.70 GPA, Cabrera excelled as the 30th ranked player in the nation by the ITA in singles play. Cabrera earned six wins in single play during the spring season to go along with one win in two doubles matches. The native of Buenos Aires, Argentina had his best season in 2018 when he went 24-1 in singles play that season.
Motta, a senior from Buenos Aires, was selected to the squad with a 3.77 GPA in Accounting. He began the spring season as 18th ranked player in the South Region and collected four victories at No. 1 singles in the spring. He was also unbeaten in six doubles contests.
In the 14 sports in which UWF participates in the GSC, the Argonauts' 20 All-Academic selections during the 2019-20 academic year were the most in the conference.
The Spring All-Academic Teams were selected by the GSC Sports Information Directors (SIDs) and Faculty Athletic Representatives (FARs). Nominated student-athletes must have an overall grade point average (GPA) of 3.20 or better on a 4.00 scale for their entire academic career and may not be freshmen or first-semester or quarter transfers.
The student-athlete must be a significant contributor to the squad. Other factors include leadership, community service and extra-curricular activities. SIDs and FARs are not allowed to vote for their own student-athletes. The number of student-athletes selected in each sport is determined by the number of positions normally involved in the playing of that sport.
Additionally, UWF placed 59 student-athletes on the GSC Spring Academic Honor Roll, which requires a 3.00 grade point average. A minimum grade point average of 3.00 is required to be named to the GSC Academic Honor Roll. Qualification for this particular honor is automatic based on GPA and nomination.
