2012-13 Year in Review - Gator Boosters, Inc.

BEN HILL GRIFFIN AWARDben hill griffin awardThis award is presentedannually to the top Universityof Florida female andmale student-athlete foroutstanding levels of successin academics, athletics andleadership. This award wasestablished in 1992 in honorof the entire Griffin family fortheir loyal support over theyears of Gator athletics.Ben Hill Griffin Awardwinners are chosen fromnominations provided by thehead coach of each sport.The award is open to allstudent-athletes and is basedon the calendar year 2012.Elizabeth BeiselWomen’s SwimmingElizabeth Beisel came to Floridafrom North Kingstown, RhodeIsland after a tremendous highschool career as a swimmer andhonors student. Elizabeth hasquickly made a name for herselfsince she arrived at Florida.She is the only freshman in SEChistory to be named the SECFemale Swimmer of the Weekfour times in a single season.She was named the 2011 FemaleFreshman Swimmer of the Yearand picked up five All-Americahonors at the 2011 NCAAChampionships, in the 200 back(1:51.60), 500 free (4:42.18), 400individual medley (4:00.87), 800 free relay and an honorable mentionfor contributing to the Gators’ 400-yard medley relay, all in her firstappearance at the NCAA Championships.As a sophomore, Elizabeth became just the second female swimmerin school history to be named the SEC Female Swimmer of the Year.She had a career performance at the conference championships;winning the 200 back (1:49.82) for the second consecutive year withthe fourth fastest time in NCAA history. She also defended her 2011crown in the 400 IM (3:58.35) while breaking her own SEC recordwhich was the second fastest time in NCAA history and the firstsub-4:00 effort of her career. As a result of her stellar performance atthe conference championships she was awarded the Commissioner’sTrophy (high point award) after earning four All-SEC honors. Elizabeththen went on to claim the first NCAA Championship of her career withher performance in the 200 backstroke (1:50.58), while also earningfour All-America honors at the 2012 NCAA meet.Elizabeth’s achievements have reached far beyond the pool inGainesville. She has been a member of the U.S. National Teamsince the age of 13 and continues to accomplish great things on aninternational level. She has competed in the 2008 and 2012 SummerOlympics and captured the silver medal in the 400-meter individualmedley and bronze in the 200-meter backstroke during the 2012Games.Outside of the water, Elizabeth also displayed excellence in academics.Elizabeth became the first Gator swimmer under head coach GreggTroy and first since Tracy Caulkins in 1984 to be selected to the 2012Capital One Academic All-America Women’s At-Large First Team. Forher accomplishments in and out of the water, we are proud to honorElizabeth Beisel with the 2012 Ben Hill Griffin Award for best femalestudent-athlete at the University of Florida.YEAR IN REVIEW 2012–201340Mike ZuninoBaseballMike Zunino, the highly touted catcher from Cape Coral, made animmediate impact for the Gators as he started 51 games behind theplate in his freshman season. His 41 RBI’s and 31 runs scored helpedhim earn a spot on Baseball America’s Freshman All-American Team.As a sophomore, he started 71 games behind the plate and guidedthe Gator pitching staff to a 2.95 earned run average while sportinga .995 fielding percentage. At one point during the season, he held a17-game hitting streak on his way to leading the SoutheasternConference in total bases, hits, runs scored, doubles and home runs.As a junior in 2012, Mike continued to flourish. He was the first Gatorto take home the USA Baseball Golden Spikes Award, Dick HowserTrophy, Johnny Bench Award and Baseball America’s College Playerof the Year accolades. Mike also became the first Gator catcher toearn first-team All-America honors twice. He also finished the seasonas the Gators’ “Triple Crown” winner, leading the team in battingaverage (.322), RBI (67) and homers (19).Mike’s leadership helped Florida advance to their third consecutiveappearance in the College World Series and helped the Gators posta 147-56 (.724) record over the past three seasons, the top three-yearperformance in the program’s existence. Mike was then chosen thirdoverall in the 2012 Major League Baseball Draft by the SeattleMariners, the highest selection in school history.Off the field, the Advertising major contributed his time to theGainesville community and beyond, assisting with the annual Climbfor Cancer event and visiting local elementary schools to mentorchildren in the Gainesville community. For his contributions on andoff the field, we honor Mike Zunino with his second Ben Hill GriffinAward for the best male athlete at the University of Florida.Mark your calendars for theHall of Fame Banquet April 2014