orlandosentinel • 14th May 2023

Windermere completes 2-day FHSAA baseball region win vs. Durant; Winter Springs stays alive

Brayden Badua went 3 for 4, including a three-run home run that gave the Windemere Wolverines a 10-4 homefield victory over Plant City Durant in a FHSAA Class 7A Region 2 baseball semifinal that began Saturday and was completed Sunday.

Windermere (25-3-1) is set to play a Tuesday region final against the winner of a Lakewood Ranch (18-7) at Tampa Plant (18-7) game that was postponed to Monday night due to inclement weather. Windermere would travel to top seed Plant, which topped the Wolverines

orlandosentinel • 16th April 2023

Cancer concerns inspire FHSAA weightlifting champions Andres Giron, David Izquierdo

Lake Howell senior David Izquierdo and Windermere junior Andres Giron swept their divisions in Class 3A of the FHSAA boys weightlifting championships on Saturday.

But their performances as two of Saturday’s seven Orlando area champions carried more weight than just winning a gold medal, at least emotionally.

For Izquierdo, it was a chance to win for his dad, who is battling cancer, and to redeem himself after falling short in 2022.

“My dad going through a whole bunch of stuff, fighting cancer

NSM.today • 21st March 2023

Pitching and comeback victory highlight three-game sweep of Dartmouth

UCF baseball extended its win streak to five with a 5-2 win on Sunday over the Dartmouth Big Green (1-11) to complete the weekend sweep at home.

“We talk all the time about being dynamic,” UCF head coach Greg Lovelady said. “You’ve got to win different ways. If you’ve got to win 1-0, or you’ve got to win 21-20, today it was pitching and defense and getting some timely hits.”

The Knights (15-5) dominated on Friday night with a 16-1 win. Redshirt senior righty Ruddy Gomez had a career-high 12 st

NSM.today • 17th March 2023

UCF baseball sweeps FSU in two-game series

As the final out was recorded on a cold and windy Wednesday afternoon, UCF baseball had accomplished something for the first time in program history.

“It’s just big wins to get us back on the winning side of things,” UCF head coach Greg Lovelady said. “It’s been a crazy couple of weeks. The sweep of Clemson and not really playing, not really pitching up to our ability. When we do pitch, it just changes our team.”

UCF (12-5) drubbed No. 21 FSU 14-3 on Tuesday, then jumped out to another big lea

NSM.today • 7th March 2023

UCF men's basketball rolls past ECU on senior night

UCF men's basketball turned in a complete performance on Sunday with an 84-58 win over East Carolina at home on senior night.

Freshman forward Taylor Hendricks had a double-double with a career-high 25 points along with 10 rebounds in potentially his final game at UCF for the projected first round pick. Hendricks’ performance marked the sixth time the star freshman has scored over 20 points in a game this season.

“When you’re that talented, you love to see a guy be that coachable,“ UCF head co

Orlando Sentinel • 4th March 2023

Windermere Prep’s 3A title game loss leaves Orlando area without a boys champion

LAKELAND — Windermere Prep’s offense sputtered in the FHSAA 3A state title game Saturday, a 51-27 loss to Miami Riviera Prep, leaving the Orlando area without a boys basketball champion for the first time in eight years.

Orlando Sentinel • 3rd March 2023

Miami Columbus routs Colonial in 7A boys basketball semifinal

Colonial’s Cinderella run through the Class 7A playoffs came to a screeching halt on Friday at RP Funding Center.

The Grenadiers (24-7) provided little resistance against Miami Columbus (25-4), the defending champs in Class 7A, which blew the game open in the second quarter and won 71-28.

Orlando Sentinel • 3rd March 2023

Oak Ridge comes up just short vs. Winter Haven in 7A boys basketball semifinal

With 10.9 seconds left in the game, the Oak Ridge Pioneers’ defense was one stop away from forcing overtime.

Orlando Sentinel • 28th February 2023

One time only: Rays dominate Yankees in rare spring training game at Disney

For the first time since March 23, 2019, Major League Baseball is back at ESPN Wide World of Sports for spring training.

At least, for a moment.

NSM Today • 27th January 2023

Three takeaways from UCF's 82-71 loss to No. 3 Houston

The home crowd reached a fever pitch after a 3-pointer from senior guard C.J. Kelly cut Houston's lead to three with 14:37 left to play.

On the ensuing possession, Houston freshman Jarace Walker drove to the basket, where fellow freshman Taylor Hendricks was waiting for him. As Walker left his feet to shoot, Hendricks leapt with him and drew a defensive foul — his fourth of the game.

The call drew the ire of the UCF faithful and head coach Johnny Dawkins, which led to him getting a technical foul. The tech and foul on Hendricks gave Houston four free throws, and they made each one. The Knights ultimately wouldn’t get any closer than four points, and they fell to No. 3 Houston 82-71 on Wednesday at Addition Financial Area.

NSM.today • 20th January 2023

UCF football player Justin Hodges arrested on Thursday, police records show

UCF defensive back Justin Hodges has been dismissed from the football team after his arrest on Thursday, according to the Orlando Police Department, UCF Athletics Department and Orange County jail records.

Hodges is being charged with home invasion robbery with a firearm and a mask, according to the Orange County Inmate Database's booking record.

Following the arrest, UCF Athletics spokesperson John Heisler issued a statement via email on behalf of the football program and athletic department.

12th January 2023

UCF men's basketball wins double-overtime slugfest against Memphis

Forty minutes wasn't enough to decide the game between UCF and Memphis.

Then, 45 minutes wasn't enough.

But when the dust settled after two overtime periods, UCF men's basketball (13-4, 4-1 AAC) prevailed and walked away with a 107-104 American Athletic Conference win over the Tigers (12-5, 2-2 AAC) on Wednesday at Addition Financial Arena.

NSM Today • 29th August 2022

No. 23 UCF women's soccer bounces back to beat Florida Gulf Coast

Before No. 23 UCF women's soccer could blink, the team found itself down for the first time this season.

The Knights (2-0-2) responded to the early deficit by scoring three unanswered goals in their 3-1 win over Florida Gulf Coast University (1-3).

NSM.today • 3rd April 2022

UCF baseball pitches back-to-back shutouts against USF

Heading into conference play, there were numerous injuries and question marks surrounding UCF’s pitching staff.

Those questions were emphatically answered as the Knights threw back-to-back one-hit shutouts at home for a 5-0 win on Friday, and a 4-0 win in the first game of a doubleheader on Sunday.

In his first Friday night start on Mar. 18, Connor Staine left after only facing one batter due to back spasms.

This time, the redshirt sophomore put UCF (17-10, 2-0 AAC) on his back in the Knights

NSM.today • 20th March 2022

UCF softball run-rules Furman to extend win streak to 15

While No. 24 UCF softball may have flipped the script with its new uniforms, its winning ways stayed just the same.

The Knights (26-7) run-ruled Furman (9-13) 9-0 in five innings on Sunday to extend their winning streak to 15 games.

“I like how we played a little cleaner today," UCF head coach Cindy Ball-Malone said. “I think just all the way around we took care of the ball, we got ahead of batters and then offensively scoring.”

Of the nine runs that UCF scored, eight of them came with two ou

NSM Today • 11th March 2022

UCF men's basketball advances in AAC tournament with win over USF

With the game tied at 56 with one minute left, there was an eerily similar feeling for UCF men's basketball.

UCF blew a late lead and lost 73-72 to Tulsa on a buzzer-beating three-pointer on Sunday.

NSM Today • 6th March 2022

UCF baseball drops series to No. 2 Ole Miss

From slugfests to pitching duels, UCF baseball's three-game series against No. 2 Ole Miss had it all.

The Rebels took the series 2-1 with an 8-7 win on Friday and a 9-1 win on Sunday at John Euliano Park. UCF won 1-0 in 12 innings on Saturday.

“In the grand scheme of things, we should learn a lot from this weekend, but we’ve got to take it now,” UCF head coach Greg Lovelady said. “We played really, really hard and really, really well Friday and Saturday. We talked about setting the standard an

NSM Today • 21st February 2022

UCF men's basketball beats ECU on buzzer-beater from Darin Green Jr.

With 2.3 seconds left in the game, UCF head coach Johnny Dawkins knew who he wanted taking the final shot.

The in-bound pass from freshman guard Darius Johnson went to junior guard Darin Green Jr., and the game-winning three-pointer caught nothing but net for a 69-66 win over the East Carolina Pirates at Addition Financial Arena on Sunday.

NSM Today • 3rd February 2022

UCF dominates in 68-49 win over USF

UCF dominated USF with a combined 43 points from its starting guards on Thursday at Addition Financial Arena.

Junior guard Darin Green Jr. led the Knights (13-7, 5-5 AAC) to a 68-49 win over USF (6-14, 1-7 AAC) with 23 points and 6-12 shooting from beyond the arc. UCF fifth-year guard Darius Perry scored 20 points and made five of his 10 three-point attempts.

“When they’re making shots, they’re electric,” UCF head coach Johnny Dawkins said. “They've done that at different points of the season,

NSM Today • 8th December 2021

'Beyond gratifying': Board of Trustees approves vice president, general counsel

UCF has now approved its new vice president and general counsel.

Youndy C. Cook, who served as the university's interim vice president and general counsel since December 2020, was officially approved for the permanent role by the Board of Trustees during a special meeting at the downtown campus Thursday.

“It’s beyond gratifying," Cook said. “One of the most amazing and gratifying components of it is how much support that I had from colleagues across the university and from my own team. It gave

NSM Today • 24th November 2021

BOT approves new doctorate program in biomedical engineering

The UCF Board of Trustees unanimously approved a Ph.D. program in biomedical engineering at the Rosen College of Hospitality Management Thursday.

The program's proposal will now go to the Florida Board of Governors for approval, said Alain Kassab, coordinator of the biomedical engineering program. Kassab said he expects the vote to happen in early 2022. If the BOG approves the program, Kassab said course instruction will begin in the fall of 2022.

Timothy Letzring, vice provost for academic af

NSM Today • 24th November 2021

BOT approves renaming research center after Stephen Hawking

The UCF Center for Microgravity Research is one step away from becoming “The Stephen W. Hawking Center for Microgravity Research and Education.”

The UCF Board of Trustees unanimously approved the renaming Thursday. Elizabeth Klonoff, vice president for research and dean of the College of Graduate Studies, said the final hurdle is the Space Florida Board of Directors' approval of the name change. Dale Ketcham, Space Florida’s vice president of government and external relations, said via email the date for that vote has yet to be decided.

NSM Today • 11th September 2021

BOT approves UCF Athletics move to Big 12

The UCF Board of Trustees voted on Friday to accept an invitation to join the Big 12 Conference.

“Knight Nation, welcome to the Big 12,” BOT Chair Alex Martins said after the vote was unanimously passed. “I would also like to thank (Big 12) Commissioner Bob Bowlsby for his confidence in UCF (and) our athletics program, as well as the presidents and chancellors of the Big 12 Conference.”

The Apopka Voice • 16th June 2021

Blue Darters Call and Martinez visit UCF; look forward to 2021 season

By Nathaniel Marerro, Interning Correspondent with The Apopka Voice

Apopka High defensive standouts Kaven Call and Nikai Martinez were among a star-studded group of prospects that visited the University of Central Florida for Bounce House Weekend on June 12th.

“It was amazing because I haven’t had the opportunity to go on campus,” Call said. “So for it to open up again, it was a blessing and I was glad to be able to do it. We did a lot of cool events with the coaches. We bonded with each other