Six weeks after UF quarterback Tim Tebow announced his intent to lead his team to a third national championship in four years, a different group of Gators athletes quietly beat him to it.
UF's handball team successfully defended its Division II title with a score of 1,359 points Sunday at the U.S. Handball Association's National Collegiates in Minneapolis, becoming the only school ever to win the competition in back-to-back years. No other program has won the title more than once.
"Obviously not on the same scale as the bigger sports, but I think it's kind of neat that this is an era of Gator sports," coach Zach Arem said. "Our team has won three national titles right along (football and basketball), in the same years."
A co-ed team of 15 athletes - nine women and six men - traveled to compete in the five-day tournament.
Handball is a sport similar to racquetball, except players use their hands instead of rackets.
The UF handball program also won the Division II title in 2006 and is only in its fifth year of existence.
Senior Matt Rossheim, who coaches and competes for UF, is one of only three members of the team to be a part of all three championships.
Rossheim said 11 of the athletes who traveled to Minnesota are new to the team this year.
"It's interesting how it works," Arem said. "A lot of these schools are recruiting players that have been playing since childhood, preschool. … Every single person that has come through our program - which is about 70 - they've never played handball before in their lives. I think that really says a lot about our program."
One recent addition is senior Lauren Wadsworth, who led the effort on the women's side. Wadsworth defeated Sinead Earley and Sinead Carroll, both of Dublin City (Ireland) University, on her way to clinching the Contender bracket title.
"I'm still kind of surprised, like, 'Wow, that actually did happen,'" Wadsworth said.
The club's vice president, Lindsey Wuenker, lost in the "C" bracket's final round to Utah State's Krista Allen, who knocked off UF's Brandy Jaworski in the same bracket one round earlier.
Wuenker also brought home one of the tournament's sportsmanship awards, UF's first.
"She was one point from being knocked out of the tournament for the rest of her life - because she's a senior - and she came back and won (three straight matches)," Arem said. "It was a great story."
Wuenker had the opportunity to win her bracket in a forfeit by her opponent, who was unable to compete on Sunday because of a religious prohibition. Instead, Wuenker agreed to play Saturday night and lost the round.
Emily Korszen earned UF its second semifinal finish in the women's Challenger bracket, downing California's Kathleen Heng and Texas' Melissa Abrantes before falling to Kelly Parmet of Southwestern.
Rossheim led the men with 122 points, while Nathan Krowitz played his way to quarterfinal honors in the Intermediate bracket.
Philip Coover made it to the Intermediate bracket's round of 16 before losing.
The UF women's 738 points were the most they have totaled in program history.
"This is the hardest-working team that I have ever been a part of," Arem said. "It's an individual sport, but it was such a total team effort."
