Staff

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• Lilianne Fernandez

  Lilianne is a first-year English student and the University desk's Spring 2026 Santa Fe reporter. In her free time, she enjoys going on runs, hanging out with friends, or listening to music. 

• Aaliyah Evertz - The Avenue General Assignment reporter

  Aaliyah is a general assignment reporter for The Avenue. She's a second-year journalism student in her first semester at The Alligator. In her free time, she loves to bake, read and also write for Her Campus UFL.

• Aaron Zagal Yaji

  Aaron Zagal Yaji is a public relations and economics freshman in his first semester at The Alligator. He covers El Caimán metro. In his free time, he enjoys going to the beach (or reminiscing about it), cooking Peruvian food, and squandering his money on golden shiny things. 

• Abigail Trachtenberg
• Adrian Carmona - Soccer reporter

  Adrian is a senior journalism major and the soccer reporter for Fall 2025. He enjoys playing Sporcle quizzes and ranting about South Florida sports.

• Aidan Ragan

  Aidan Ragan is a UF computer science senior. 

• Alabama Weninegar

  Alabama Weninegar is a first-year journalism major and The Alligator's Spring 2026 University General Assignment Reporter. She also works a part-time job at Wyatt's Coffee downtown. In her free time, she enjoys watching her favorite shows on a rainy day or re-reading the Twilight series. 

• Alanna Robbert - Data reporter

  Alanna is a journalism senior and the Fall 2025 data reporter for The Alligator's Enterprise desk. She was previously a general assignment reporter for metro. Outside of reporting, she is found either with a book, in the gym or with friends playing pool.

• Alannah Peters

  Alannah Peters is a junior majoring in journalism and minoring in public relations. In her spare time, she can be found trying new coffee shops with friends, traveling the U.S. or going on hot girl walks at Lake Alice. 

• Alejandra Agustin
• Alexa Ryan - Criminal Justice reporter

  Alexa is a second-year journalism and international studies students serving as the Fall 2025 Criminal Justice beat reporter. She previously served as a copy editor. She spends her free time running, traveling, having movie nights and going on random side quests with friends.

• Alissa Gary - Editor-in-Chief

  Alissa is the Fall 2025 editor-in-chief of The Alligator. She has previously been engagement managing editor and university editor, and she has covered stories across UF and Gainesville. She was also an intern at the Orlando Sentinel and The Chronicle of Higher Education. In her free time, she likes to spend time with her cat and take care of her plants.

• Alligator Staff report
• Amanda Roman - Assistant Sports Editor

  Amanda is The Alligator's Assistant Sports Editor and a senior sports journalism student. She previously worked as the soccer and women's basketball reporter. She also interned at Fort Lauderdale United FC. In her free time, she enjoys weight lifting, shopping and reading.

• Angelique Rodriguez - Graduate School reporter

  Angelique is a first-year journalism major and the Fall 2025 graduate school reporter. In her free time, she'll probably be reading, writing, hanging out with her friends or looking through the newest fashion runway shows on Vogue.

• Anirudh Kannan
• Anthony Duarte
• Ariana Badra - El Caiman reporter

  Ariana is a first-year journalism major and an El Caimán reporter for the Fall of 2025. In her free time, she enjoys reading, spending time with friends and scouring for new songs to play on repeat to an absurd degree.

• Autumn Johnstone - Avenue Music Reporter

  Autumn Johnstone is a freshman journalism/art student and a music reporter for The Avenue. When they're not writing, you can find them enjoying a nice cup of coffee at a nearby café or thrifting for vinyls.

• Ava DiCecca - Sports Editor

  Ava is a sophomore sports journalism student and the Spring 2026 sports editor. Previously for The Alligator, she covered volleyball and did sports enterprise. Ava enjoys watching and playing sports in her free time and has been a Boston sports fan all her life. (Brad Marchand is still everything.)

• Ava Walsh
• Avery Parker - Caimán Editor

  Avery Parker is an English and History senior and the Spring 2026 El Caimán editor for The Alligator. He previously worked as The Alligator's University desk editor, as well as a reporter for the University and Enterprise desks. He doesn't know the meaning of the word "freetime," but he can usually be found deep in an archive reading 19th century documents or tending to his four cats.

• Bailey Diem - Engagement Managing Editor

  Bailey Diem is a journalism junior and the Summer 2025 Engagement Managing Editor. She previously edited for the metro desk and reported for the metro and university desks. In her free time, she enjoys playing guitar or getting lost in a book.

• Bart C. Knowles
• Blake Cox
• Brooke Bastedo - Golf reporter

  Brooke is entering her third semester as The Alligator's golf reporter. She is a sophomore sports journalism student with a passion for international sports. She enjoys trying as many new hobbies as possible, spending time with friends and watching Detroit sports (Go Lions!).

• Bruna Arnaes Baptista Moreira
• Cameron Countryman
• Candy Fontana-Verde
• Catalina Frias
• Celine Taragjini
• Christopher Rodriguez - The Avenue Music reporter
• Colby Kistner

  Colby is a junior sports journalism student in his first semester with the Alligator covering golf. He has experience covering Buchholz and Santa Fe High School sports. He also worked in UF's innovation center where he wrote and created radio content for WRUF. He is an avid hockey fan with his teams being the Seattle Kraken and Florida Panthers. He is looking to minor in business administration.

• Cole Kruger
• Constantine Varlamos
• Coral Uzgiden - Lacrosse Reporter

  Coral is a sophomore Sports Journalism student in her first semester with the Alligator covering Lacrosse. She also has experience writing for WRUF and covering beats such as high school football and Gators swim and dive. She is an intern for the Women of the Lowcountry and in her free time enjoys playing waterpolo, going to the gym and being outside.

• Curan Ahern - Football Reporter

  Curan is a third-year journalism-sports & media major who currently serves as the football beat reporter for The Alligator, now in his third semester with the paper. When not at his computer screen writing, Curan enjoys spending time outdoors, hanging with friends, family and pets, and watching the Patriots lose (no, he doesn't miss Brady).

• Daniela Ortiz - Sports Enterprise and Hockey Reporter

  Daniela is a junior sports journalism student and the enterprise/hockey beat reporter for Fall 2025. When not writing an article, you can catch her drawing or playing with her roommates' cats.

• Daniela Peñafiel - Graphic Designer

  Daniela is a graphic designer starting her first semester on The Alligator. She enjoys all kinds of art, and in her free time, she's likely to be animating or watching documentaries.

• David Arreola
• Delia Rose Sauer - Editor-in-Chief

  Delia Rose Sauer is a journalism senior and the Summer 2025 Editor-in-Chief. She reported on the university desk for two semesters. When she's not glued to her laptop, she's drawing on Procreate, crocheting or creating a new Spotify playlist.

• Dulce Rodriguez-Escamilla
• Dylan Santana
• Ed Bielarski
• Eli Neelands
• Elizabeth Maguire
• Elliana Boyarshinov
• Emily Moreno - Columnist
• Eriel Pichardo
• Ethan Feinberg - Mens Tennis Reporter

  Ethan Feinberg is a senior sports journalism student and the Spring 2026 men’s tennis reporter. He has previously written stories and produced audio sessions for WRUF, covering high school football. Ethan enjoys watching and playing sports like football and basketball, working out, fishing, cooking, and having a good laugh with his friends and family. His favorite sports teams are the New England Patriots, Miami Heat, Florida Panthers, and the Miami Marlins. (Drake "Drake Maye" Maye is the GOAT.)

• Evelyn O’Carroll
• Garrett Shanley - University Editor

  Garrett Shanley is a fourth-year journalism major and the Spring 2025 university editor for The Alligator. Outside of the newsroom, you can find him watching Wong Kar-Wai movies and talking to his house plants.

• Gleda Kronen
• Grace Anderson
• Grace Larson - City and County Commission reporter

  Grace Larson is a first-year journalism student, currently serving as K-12 education reporter. She has previously served as city/county commission reporter for The Alligator's metro desk. In her free time, she enjoys staying active and hanging out with her family.

• Grace Tran
• Gracie Adams
• Harrison Hove
• Harvey Ward
• Hub Brown - Alligator Columnist
• Hunter DeLauder
• India Houghton
• Isabel Kraby - The Avenue General Assignment reporter

  Isabel is the The Alligator's Spring 2026 music reporter. She is a junior studying journalism at UF and is from Ormond Beach, FL. In her spare time, she loves going to concerts, crafting and practicing guitar. 

• Isabella Cabrera

  Isabella Cabrera is an 18-year-old UF political science freshman.

• Isaiah Sloan
• Isis Snow - Volleyball reporter

  Isis is a junior sports journalism student and is the volleyball beat reporter for fall 2025. This is her third semester with The Alligator. She enjoys reading, playing basketball and weight lifting in her free time.

• Jaime Blanco Pinto
• Jeffrey Serber - Mens Basketball reporter

  Jeffrey is the spring 2026 men's basketball beat reporter and a second-year journalism sports & media major with a media, management and production minor. In his free time, he enjoys hanging out with friends and family, and rooting for the Miami sports teams

• Jin-Hee Lee
• Jon Olson
• Jordan Klucharich - Alligator Staff Videographer

  Jordan Klucharich is a media production sophomore and a videographer for Summer 2025. In her free time, she is likely practicing with Gator Band, watching sports or editing.

• JP Dishinger
• Juan Caballero
• Juliana DeFilippo - Avenue Editor

  Juliana is a second-year journalism student and the Spring 2026 Enterprise environment reporter. This is her fourth semester on The Alligator, and she previously served as an Avenue reporter and the Fall 2025 Avenue editor. In her free time, she loves reading, updating her Letterboxd account and doing crosswords.

• Julianna Bendeck - Alligator Contributing Writer

  Julianna Bendeck is a contributing writer for The Alligator.

• Kaitlyn McCormack
• Kaysheri Haffner - Politics Reporter

  Kaysheri is a junior journalism student and the Fall 2025 politics reporter for the enterprise desk at the Alligator. She previously worked as the criminal justice reporter. Off the clock she enjoys creative writing, and can always be found at either the gym or curled up with a good book.

• Kendall O'Connor
• Lara Caglayan
• Leona Masangkay - Santa Fe College reporter

  Leona is a second-year journalism student and the Fall 2025 Santa Fe College reporter. They previously worked on the audience and growth team over the summer as a social media strategist. In their free time, Leona enjoys going to the gym, listening to music and watching Marvel movies.

• Liam Taylor King
• Lily Haak
• Lily Hartzema
• Lindee Walker
• Logan McBride - K-12 Education reporter

  Logan McBride is a journalism junior and the Fall 2025 K-12 education reporter. In his free time, he enjoys watching TV shows or playing basketball at Southwest Rec. He is also a big football fan and will die for Dak Prescott.

• Lucas Nadeau
• Luke Adragna - Sports Editor

  Luke is The Alligator's Sports Editor and is a senior sports journalism student. In his free time, he enjoys playing with his cat named Pete and going down a rabbit hole of niche professional athletes (shoutout Charles Sims).

• Madeline Herring - University General Assignment reporter

  Madeline is a first-year journalism and environmental science double major and the Fall 2025 general assignment reporter. In her free time she enjoys reading, binging new television series, and browsing the isles of target with her friends.

• Maria Arruda - Student Government reporter

  Maria is the Fall 2025 student government reporter for the Alligator. She's a sophomore journalism and political science major at UF and hopes to work as a political correspondent one day! Maria loves to read, hang out with her friends, see her family and go to the gym in her spare time.

• Maria Avlonitis - University Editor

  Maria is the Fall 2025 university editor of the Alligator. She previously worked as the university administration reporter Summer 2025. Maria enjoys walking her dog, and on the rare occassion she has free time, she loves attempting to garden and salsa dancing.

• María José Cordero Castillo - Contributing writer

  María José Cordero is a contributing writer and a political scientist currently in her first year of a master’s program in Women’s Studies, Gender and Sexualities. She has a keen interest in feminist perspectives and the intersections of politics and social change. In her free time, she enjoys outdoor activities, soaking up the sun and spending time in nature.

• Marin Chester
• Max Bernstein - Assistant Sports Editor

  Max is a junior sports journalism student in his seventh semester at The Alligator. He serves as The Alligator's assistant sports editor and football beat coordinator. He previously served as The Alligator's sports editor and as a reporter for football, women's tennis, volleyball, lacrosse and sports enterprise. He also has made multiple appearances on the Paul Finebaum Show. Max wants to shoutout his cats, Scooter and Zoe, and niche former Florida Panthers players (shoutout Maxim Mamin).

• Megan Howard - Engagement Managing Editor

  Megan Howard is a journalism senior and the Spring 2026 engagement managing editor. She's previously worked as the senior news director, metro editor, opinions editor and reporter at The Alligator. She also interned at Las Vegas Review-Journal. Megan is passionate about hitting her Goodreads goal, journaling and Instagram.

• Mia Giannicchi
• Natalia Lopez
• Nevaeh Baker Harris
• Nicole Lopez - Womens Tennis reporter

  Nicole is a sophomore journalism student and the women's tennis beat reporter for the fall semester. In her free time, she enjoys reading, collecting records and spending time with her friends and family.

• Nicole Scura - Hockey reporter

  Nicole is a sophomore journalism student in her first semester with the Alligator and she is the beat reporter for the University of Florida Ice Hockey Club. In her free time, Nicole enjoys figure skating, watching football (Go Bucs!), traveling and linedancing.

• Noah Lantor - Multimedia Editor

  Noah is the Spring 2026 multimedia editor. He previously worked as the assistant multimedia editor for one semester and as a staff photographer for two semesters covering community stories and sports across Gainesville. Before his time at UF, Noah worked on the sidelines at Maryland and Penn State photographing their football teams. He has also done freelance and graduate photography work in his home state of Maryland. In his free time, he enjoys following hockey, football and traveling to rural places.

• Olivia Lofaso
• Ornella Moreno
• Parker Duncan
• Paul Hof-Mahoney - Track and Field Reporter

  Paul is a senior in his fourth semester on the track and field/cross country beat for The Alligator. In his free time, you can increasingly see him jogging around Gainesville or endlessly falling deeper down the rabbit hole that is track Twitter.

• Ricardo Quiñones Lugo
• Riley Brinser
• Riley Orovitz - Swim & Dive reporter

  Riley is a sophomore sports journalism student in her second semester at The Alligator. She is the beat reporter for Gators Swim & Dive while also contrubuting to the Gators Football Beat. She previously served in the same role in her first semester with the newspaper. Riley is an avid South Florida sports fan and enjoys playing/following all sports in her free time.

• Rohit Paranjape - Crossword Designer

  Rohit is a first year aerospace engineering student and the Fall 2025 Crossword Designer. He likes dogs, listening to music, anything Tampa Bay Buccaneers related, and of course, solving crosswords.

• Sara Dhorasoo
• Sara-James Ranta - Metro Editor

  Sara-James Ranta is a journalism senior, minoring in sociology of social justice and policy. She previously served as Metro's K-12 education reporter. In her free time, SJ is watching a new show, listening to EDM or discussing Star Wars. 

• Sasha Morel

  Sasha Morel is a freshman studying Philosophy and Politics and is a private debate coach for students across the nation. His opinion pieces for the Alligator focus on the intersectionality between Gainesville and the people, problems, and politics that affect the city. He works to inspire structural changes through intellectually profound and empathetic analysis of current events.

• Saugat Shrestha
• Seth Haber - Gymnastics Reporter

  Seth is a junior sports journalism student in his first semester with the Alligator covering gymnastics. He has prior experience covering beats for highschool football during his time at WRUF. During his free time you can see him walking around Gainesville or binge-watching the latest and greatest shows on TV.

• Shaine Davison - Enterprise Editor

  Shaine is the Fall 2025 enterprise editor at The Alligator. She has previously written for the sports and university sections. In her free time, she enjoys spending time with friends, going on runs and trying new coffee shops.

• Sofia Alamo - Women's Tennis reporter

  Sofia Alamo is a Sports Journalism freshman at UF and the university’s Women’s Tennis beat reporter. Her favorite sports are soccer and tennis, and she aspires to be a sports broadcaster in the future. 

• Sofia Bravo - Environment reporter

  Sofia is a junior journalism student who is the Fall 2025 enterprise health reporter. She previously worked as a copy editor and translator for El Caimán. In her free time, she enjoys reading and bothering her friends with her digital camera.

• Sonaiya Brown - Alligator Staff Photographer

  Sonaiya Brown is a freshman photographer for Summer 2025. In her free time, she enjoys sleeping, listening to music, and most importantly, talking to her senior puppies a lot.

• Sophia Bailly - Digital Managing Editor

  Sophia is The Alligator's Fall 2025 digital managing editor. She previously served as the enterprise editor and university editor, as well as a beat reporter for three semesters. She has also interned for The Times-Picayune and The News & Observer as a politics reporter. Her non-journalistic passions include long-distance running, reading mystery books and listening to Florence + The Machine.

• Summer Johnston - Food reporter
• Susan Bottcher
• Swasthi Maharaj - University Administration reporter

  Swasthi is the Fall 2025 university administration reporter. She's previously worked as general assignment reporter with The Alligator, and you can also find her work in Rowdy Magazine or The Florida Finibus. When she's not staring at her laptop screen or a textbook, she's probably taking a long walk or at a yoga class.

• Sydney Johnson - Multimedia Editor

  Sydney Johnson is the Fall 2025 multimedia editor. This is her second semester in the role. She previously served as the assistant multimedia editor and a general assignment reporter for the university desk. When she is not at the Alligator, she is capturing North Central Florida for WUFT News. In her free time, she can be found sewing, hiking or logging movies on Letterboxd.

• Sylvain Doré
• Teia Williams - Metro General Assignment Reporter

  Teia Williams is a journalism student and in her second semester at The Alligator. She is a lifestyle and general assignment for The Avenue. In her free time she is constantly reading, going to concerts, or talking about her favorite celebrities. 

• The Alligator Editorial Board
• Timothy Dillehay
• Vera Lucia Pappaterra - Caiman Editor

  Vera Lucia Pappaterra is The Alligator's Fall 2025 Caiman editor and a junior journalism and history student. She previously served as the enterprise race and equity reporter and the university general assignment reporter. In her free time, she enjoys being a menace on wheels (bike wheels).

• Victoria Riccobono - El Caiman reporter

  Victoria is a junior sports journalism student and an El Caimán reporter in her first semester with The Alligator. In her spare time, she enjoys sports photography, reading, spending time with her friends and family, and trying new restaurants.

• Zach Moore - Softball Reporter

  Zach is a sophomore sports journalism student in his first semester at The Alligator, covering softball. He also has experience as an intern in the Florida Collegiate Summer League. Zach enjoys watching sports in his free time, primarily the Minnesota Vikings, Orlando Magic, and Arsenal FC.

• Zoey Thomas - Engagement Managing Editor

  Zoey is the Fall 2025 engagement managing editor of The Alligator. She has previously served as data editor and reported on the university, metro and enterprise desks. Over the summer, she interned for the Orlando Sentinel. Zoey inherited her mom's love of strong coffee and her dad's love of "Buffy the Vampire Slayer."