A big group of Gators are set to be inducted into the 2023 UF Athletic Corridor of Fame class, the College of Florida F Membership and Gator Boosters introduced Wednesday.
UF Athletic Corridor of Fame inductees are chosen by the F Membership Committee primarily based on three classes: Gator Greats, Distinguished Letterwinners and Honorary Letterwinners.
The 2023 class consists of eight Gator Greats and one honorable point out winner.
The listing of Gator Greats on this 12 months’s class contains Kelsey Bruder (Softball), Omar Craddock (Males’s Observe & Discipline), Lauren Embree (Ladies’s Tennis), Jabar Gaffney (Soccer), Corey Hartung (Gymnastics), Kelly Murphy (Volleyball), Erika Tymrak ( Soccer) and Marc Valdes (Baseball).
As well as, former swim coach and longtime UAA administrator Skip Foster will attend as an honorary letterwinner.
Gator Greats are letterwinners who introduced recognition and prominence to the College of Florida and themselves by their athletic achievements as a student-athlete.
An honorary letterwinner is a coach or athletic official (post-retirement) who was not a letterwinner or athlete on the College of Florida, however who however offered excellent service to this system by way of private time, effort, curiosity and thru years of continued service.
The Corridor of Fame Banquet will happen on Friday, October 6, 2023 previous to the Vanderbilt dwelling sport.
2023 UF Athletic Corridor of Fame inductee
Gator giant
Kelsey Brother | Softball, 2008-11
Bruder is the fifth softball participant to be inducted into the UF Athletic Corridor of Fame, becoming a member of Chelsey Sakizzie (2008), Jenny Gladding (2014), Stacey Nelson (2019) and Michelle Moultrie (2022) amongst Gator Greats to by way of program.
In 2011, she grew to become this system’s first NCAA High VIII Award winner, the primary Collegiate Ladies Sports activities Award (CWSA) Honda Award softball winner and the third SEC Participant of the Yr. She additionally earned a spot on the 2011 Ladies’s School World Collection All-Event Staff together with being named a two-time Nationwide Fastpitch Coaches Affiliation (NFCA) All-American in 2009 and 2011, a two-time All-SEC First Staff choice in 2009 and 2011, and eventually an SEC All-Event Staff member in 2009 and 2009 SEC All-Defensive Staff choice.
Academically, Bruder was a two-time Educational All-American in 2009 and 2011 and a three-time SEC Educational Honor Roll member.
Omar Craddock | Males’s Athletics, 2010-13
Omar Craddock competed for the Gators from 2010-2013 and earned a number of nationwide titles throughout his time at Florida. Craddock was a seven-time All-American, gained the 2012 Indoor NCAA Triple Soar Title and was the back-to-back Outside Triple Soar Nationwide Champion in 2012 and 2013. He holds the fifth-best mark at school historical past each indoors and open air. out of doors triple bounce.
In 2010, Craddock helped the Gators’ males’s group to their first-ever indoor nationwide championship and their first SEC out of doors championship since 1987. Two years later in 2012, he gained the SEC titles within the males’s indoor and out of doors triple bounce. Craddock additionally gained sixth and seventh straight NCAA triple bounce titles for the Gators. The next 12 months, Craddock gained each out of doors competitors he entered and was named the 2013 USTFCCCA South Area Males’s Outside Discipline Athlete of the Yr. The Killeen, Texas native additionally gained the 2013 USA Outside Observe and Discipline Triple Soar Title.
Lauren Embree | Ladies’s Tennis, 2010-13
One of the achieved athletes within the prestigious Florida ladies’s tennis program, Lauren Embree competed for the Gators from 2009-2013.
Throughout her time with the Orange & Blue, Embree made her mark all around the historical past books, proudly owning an .880 singles profitable proportion and a .935 doubles singles profitable proportion, the third and second finest marks in UF historical past, respectively. Between singles and doubles, Embree amassed 236 whole victories, which ranked her fifth-most in program historical past.
Along with serving to lead the Gators to the 2011 and 2012 NCAA titles, Embree was named the 2013 Intercollegiate Tennis Affiliation Participant of the Yr whereas incomes 5 All-American honors, which included a singles and doubles honor in the course of the 2012 marketing campaign. A Honda Award finalist in 2011 and 2013, Embree was a three-time SEC Participant of the Yr and a four-time First Staff All-SEC choice. On the nationwide stage, Embree was twice named the NCAA Championships Most Excellent Participant. Most lately, she served as an assistant coach for the Gators from 2019-2023, the place she performed a key function within the improvement of Gator nice, McCartney Kesslerwho additionally claimed an SEC Participant of the Yr honor.
Jabar Gaffney | Soccer, 1999-2001
Jabar Gaffney was a large receiver for the Gators soccer group from 1999-2001. He appeared in 24 video games with 20 begins and completed with 138 catches for two,274 yards (17.2 avg.) and 27 landing catches. He’s the one participant at school historical past to document back-to-back 1,000-yard receiving seasons (2000-01) and is the final participant to have a 1,000-yard receiving season. Gaffney ranks first in 100-yard video games (15), consecutive 100-yard video games (6), second all-time in receiving yards (2,274) and fourth in receiving touchdowns (27).
A two-time First Staff All-SEC choice, he went on to set quite a few freshmen receiving information that also stand at this time and was named The Sporting Information and SEC Freshman of the Yr. He set freshmen NCAA D1 information for landing receptions in a season with 14 in addition to most receiving yards in a season at 1,184 yards. Gaffney grew to become the primary UF freshman WR to be named an All-American. He would go on to play 10 years within the Nationwide Soccer League and was chosen within the second spherical by the Houston Texans.
Corey Hartung | Gymnastics, 2006-09
Proper from Meet One among her Gator profession, it was clear that Corey Hartung was going to be particular. This all-around victory was the primary by a Florida freshman in his collegiate debut in 20 seasons.
Hartung’s 58 titles got here in each occasion. A lot of the victories got here within the stability and flooring workouts, as her stunning strains and unimaginable flexibility dazzled collegiate gymnastics followers throughout the nation. Her 2008 Southeastern Convention stability beam victory was the primary for the Gators in 9 seasons. Hartung earned All-America honors every of his 4 seasons, totaling 10 for his profession. She superior to the NCAA flooring train finals annually and positioned third in her profession as a senior. Hartung completed No. 6 on Florida’s Profession All-Round Wins chart with 14 titles.
A four-time All-SEC choice, Hartung additionally earned Educational All-SEC and Nationwide Affiliation of Collegiate Gymnastics Coaches Scholastic All-America honors. She acquired her schooling in Sports activities Administration within the spring of 2010.
Kelly Murphy | Volleyball, 2008-11
Kelly Murphy was a twin menace on the courtroom for the Gators in each her perspective and hitting means, and due to that, the Wilmington, Ailing., native grew to become the primary Florida volleyball participant to earn 4 AVCA All-American honors throughout her profession.
Murphy has a bunch of accolades to her title, together with bronze medalist on the 2016 Rio Olympic Video games. Whereas at Florida, she was named SEC Participant of the Yr, AVCA Nationwide Freshman of the Yr and was a finalist for the Lowe’s Senior Class Award .
She was named AVCA Nationwide Participant of the Week three totally different occasions throughout her tenure at Florida, whereas additionally recording 30 profession triple-doubles and 76 profession double-doubles (all-time Florida chief).
Erika Tymrak | Soccer, 2009-12
It wasn’t laborious to think about Erika Tymrak as a skater as she glided across the area for Gator soccer. Florida benefited from Tymrak’s resolution to pursue soccer over performing lutz jumps as she scored 32 targets throughout her Gator profession that included three Southeastern Convention titles.
The 2012 SEC Offensive Participant of the Yr helped lead the Gators to a league title in that marketing campaign, because the Gators gained the common season and event titles. Tymrak’s means to arrange his teammates led to 40 assists, which remains to be tied for No. 3 all-time for the Gators. A two-time All-American, Tymrak continued her soccer profession with the Nationwide Ladies’s Soccer League and at the moment performs for the Orlando Pleasure.
A 3-time All-SEC first-team choice, Tymrak additionally earned Educational All-SEC honors. She acquired her diploma in Criminology in December 2012.
Marc Valdes | Baseball, 1991-93
The winningest pitcher in College of Florida baseball historical past is now formally a UF Athletics Corridor of Famer.
As one in all 23 first-round draft picks in program historical past, Marc Valdes gained a team-record 31 video games for the Orange & Blue from 1991-93. Throughout his three-year profession, Valdes posted a 31-13 document and appeared in 61 video games. No Gator has made extra begins than Valdes, who posted 55 occasions throughout his Gainesville tenure.
Along with holding this system document for wins, Valdes additionally ranks first all-time in innings pitched (394 2/3) and lowest opponent’s batting common (.200). Pushed by 16 full video games (second at UF), the right-hander fired greater than 120 pictures in all three of his collegiate campaigns. Valdes posted a stellar 3.13 profession ERA and struck out 351 batters, which ranks second all-time at Florida.
On the conclusion of the 1993 season, Valdes was chosen twenty seventh general within the first spherical of the MLB Draft by the Florida Marlins. The native of Tampa, Fla. made his MLB debut in August 1995 and pitched six years within the main leagues with the Marlins, Montreal Expos, Houston Astros and Atlanta Braves.
Honorary letter winner
Skip Foster
Skip Foster collected an 18-4 general document in two years as head males’s swimming coach from 1990-92, profitable two SEC titles in that span. Foster was the 1991 SEC and NCAA Males’s Coach of the Yr and acquired the Invoice Harlan Spirit Award in 2011, exemplifying a real dedication to the College of Florida swimming program.
Foster labored as an assistant coach with each the lads’s and girls’s applications from 1981-90 and spent three extra seasons as a males’s assistant coach from 1992-95. He gained two males’s nationwide championships (1983, 1984) and one ladies’s nationwide championship (1982) as an assistant coach. Throughout his 14 seasons, Foster helped Gator swimmers earn 818 All-American honors.
Florida’s annual males’s and girls’s most respected swimmer awards are named after Foster. After his time as a coach, Foster labored 21 years with the College Athletic Affiliation till his retirement in 2016 and continues to be concerned in athletic occasions at UF in his retirement.