Florida Sweeps Halifax Media Group Southeastern Conference All-Sports Titles

The University of Florida swept the 2011-12 Halifax Media Group's Southeastern Conference All-Sports titles – the 12th time the Gator program has taken the three titles. The determination of the SEC All-Sports standings came after the conclusion of the regular-season baseball schedule, the final league sport to award a title in 2011-12.   The Gator athletics program took the overall, men’s and women’s SEC All-Sports titles. UF is the only school to collect all three titles in a single season.   The overall SEC All-Sports title is the 22nd for Florida, while the Gator program also earned its 19th women's and 16th men’s titles.   Did You Know… ·         Florida has claimed 205 Southeastern Conference team titles in its history, the most in the SEC. In the last 10 seasons, UF leads the league with 49 titles.   ·         Florida shared the SEC lead with three league titles in 2011-12. Arkansas, Kentucky and LSU also collected three SEC titles in 2011-12.   ·         Florida picked up six SEC Athlete of the Year honors in 2011-12 (baseball still to award their yearly honors).   ·         Florida has now won 22 Overall SEC All-Sports trophies   ·         Florida's first Overall SEC All-Sports title came in 1987-88.   ·         Florida is the only league program to collect all three titles (overall, men’s and women’s) in a single season. This year, Florida claimed SEC titles in gymnastics, women’s tennis and women’s indoor track & field. The Gators now own 49 titles since the 2002-03 academic year, the most by any conference school during the 10-year span. One other Florida sport claimed a league crown in 2012 as the Gator lacrosse team took the American Lacrosse Conference title for the second consecutive year.   "Claiming the SEC All-Sports title is something we take a lot of pride in. The level of competition in the Southeastern Conference is so challenging, as so many league teams are among the top contenders for national titles,” UF Athletics Director Jeremy Foley said. “To win the trophy is a credit to the efforts of our coaches and their athletes."   Florida finished this year with a total of 156.50 points in 16 sports to win its sixth consecutive overall all-sports title with an average of 9.78 points. Georgia was second with an average of 8.81 points.   The Florida women stayed on top for the sixth consecutive year with an average of 10.00 (90.0 total points in nine sports). Georgia was second with 82 points (9.11 average for nine sports).   In men’s competition, the Gators tallied 66.50 points for an average of 9.50 in its seven sports. The Georgia men's program was second with its seven sport average of 8.43.   The Halifax Media Group, which includes 14 newspapers throughout the Southeastern United States, awards the overall, men’s and women’s SEC All-Sport trophies. A first-place SEC finish is worth 12 points, second is given 11 points, and so on. The sports of cross country, indoor and outdoor track & field are combined. A program's outdoor track finish makes up half, while the remaining two quarters are based on the cross country and indoor finishes. A school's point total is divided by the number of sports it fields to arrive at the average.   This is the first year for the Halifax Media Group to award the SEC All-Sports Trophy. The New York Times Regional Newspaper Group gave the awards from the 1994-95 through 2010-11 seasons. Prior to that, the league tabulated the SEC All-Sports totals.    UF is hopeful of finishing among the nation's top 10 most successful overall athletic programs for the 29th consecutive year when final national all-sports rankings are released June 27. Florida is the only school to finish among the nation's top 10 overall most successful athletic programs each year since 1983.