 "Photo: CFF Archive")
After three former Knights were drafted in last month’s MLB First-Year Player Draft, another recently signed a contract to try and make his way in professional baseball.
Former catcher Brandon Romans, who led UCF with 14 home runs last season, signed a contract to play for the Rockford RiverHawks on Tuesday, according to a UCF release.
The RiverHawks, who play at RiverHawks Stadium in Loves Park, Ill., are members of the Frontier League, a 12-team independent league.
The RiverHawks started their season in late May, were 15-21 and in fourth place in the West Division as of press time.
Romans played three seasons for UCF after transferring from Birmingham-Southern, starting out as a catcher and moving to the outfield.
He finished his career with the Knights with 17 home runs and 77 RBIs.
Men’s soccer
Florida Christian High School standout and UCF signee Andrew Quintana was recently named to the EA Sports All-American team, ESPN.com reported.
Quintana was one of 15 players to be named to the team.
“This honor speaks highly of Andrew’s talent as well as the hard work that he has put into his game,” UCF head coach Bryan Cunningham said in a UCF release. “We are excited to have Andrew join our program and experience continued success at UCF beginning this fall.”
Women’s soccer
Following a stellar freshman season, goalkeeper Aline Reis was selected to the Brazil National Team’s roster as the team prepares for World Cup qualifying, according to a UCF release.
Reis was selected as an All-American after her first campaign with UCF, a season in which she was second in Conference USA with 96 saves and six shutouts. Reis started 21 of the Knights’ 23 games in 2008.
“Getting called to the Brazilian National Team is definitely a great and exciting surprise,” Reis said in a UCF release. “I feel very pleased right now and I am looking forward to joining the Brazilian group. It will certainly be a great experience for me and I’ll try my best to learn as much as I can from it.”
Track and field
Senior Tiki James competed in the 2009 USA Track & Field National Championships this past weekend in Eugene, Ore., finishing 14th in the semifinals of the 100-meter hurdles with a time of 13.27 second.
Dawn Harper won the event.
James reached the National Championships with a qualifying mark of 13.03 seconds, which ranked third among college athletes heading into the event.
Women’s tennis
The UCF Women’s Tennis team joined the ranks of UCF programs reworking their coaching staffs when head coach Stephanie Nickitas announced the hiring of assistant Tony Gianonni on Friday.
Gianonni, who graduated from the University of Florida in 2005, had spent the past two years with the Gators as a volunteer assistant coach.
Nickitas said that Gianonni’s connection to the state of Florida will help the team with recruiting.
“We are really excited to have Tony join our program,” Nickitas said in a UCF release. “He brings a vast amount of coaching experience and has a long background at both the junior and collegiate levels.
“He’s been working for Florida the last two years, which is a national caliber team, and that knowledge and experience will help our program grow to where we want to take it. Tony also is from Florida so he is well connected in recruiting circles which will allow us to bring in those players that will help this team excel.”
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