UF’s campus is bursting with students packing up their shades and bathing suits, eager to hit the beach and make their mark on Spring Break. However, some Gators will be left behind, and rather than donning their swanky swimwear, they’ll be sporting jerseys.
Spring Break is a phenomenon that’s foreign to UF athletes, as most will be on the field or in a gym rather than on the sandy shores of Cabo or some other tropical locale.
Despite not having any scheduled meets for the week of March 8, the ladies of the UF gymnastics team will still be in the all-too-familiar O’Connell Center while the rest of campus gets to take a breather.
“What’s Spring Break?” UF gymnastics coach Rhonda Faehn said. “Though the girls get to relax mentally from their studies, we are still keeping our goals in sight and are maintaining focus.”
The heaviest part of the gymnastics season is underway, as the Southeastern Conference Championships are right around the corner on March 27. To prepare, the gymnasts will put in their usual practice time on the indigo mats over the break — three hours per day, five days a week.
“We essentially have the same training schedule over the course of Spring Break, but our practice times will be pushed back a little bit,” senior gymnast Courtney Gladys said. “Instead of hitting the gymnastics studio at 6:30 a.m., we’ll get the opportunity to sleep in and practice closer to 8:30 am.”
And though the gymnasts won’t be greeting the sunshine at dawn, they still plan on taking advantage of the rays when they aren’t busy practicing.
They hope the temperatures will turn around so they can soak up the sun by relaxing poolside at their Gainesville apartment complexes.
They will also be shining some light on the community, devoting the little time off they have toward giving back, usually through service work at the Ronald McDonald House.
It would be fair for the gymnasts to be envious of peers boasting about their upcoming cruises, but surprisingly, their attitudes are quite the contrary — especially the senior team members.
“I don’t really feel like we are missing out,” senior gymnast Ashley Kerr said. “This is the seniors’ last year in Gainesville. We really want to work hard for the remaining time that we do have left, while getting the chance to hang out with our friends and fellow UF athletes that will be here as well.”
In Good Company
The members of the gymnastics squad aren’t the only ones stuck in Gainesville for the break. The UF lacrosse team will host Georgetown on March 9 and will then leave for Maryland to face Johns Hopkins on the March 13.
“[Eighteen] of us are actually from Maryland,” freshman midfielder Julie Schindel said. “So it’ll be nice to be able to tailgate with our families before the match.”
When not taking part in its games during the break, the team will still have three-hour practices all week long, as well as morning weightlifting sessions.
And with the break from classes resulting in a deserted UF campus, attendance for the home matches during the week is up in the air.
The Gators drew 2,114 fans, and more were turned away at the gate for their inaugural game on Feb. 20, a 16-6 win against Jacksonville, but they don’t expect a similar turnout during the break.
“Just as the basketball team experiences a drop in attendance during winter break, we expect the same to happen to us over Spring Break,” freshman midfielder Caroline Chesterman said. “It should be an interesting turnout, but we can only hope for a large amount of spectator support.”
The Maryland natives on the lacrosse team won’t be able to spend much time in their home state, but the Californians on the softball team will get a sweeter deal.
Back, Back, to Cali, Cali
The Gators will take their annual trip to California for the DeMarini Tournament from March 5-7. Seven UF players call the Golden State home, so many will get to squeeze in some family time in the midst of their five scheduled games in Fullerton.
“We are all going to eat at my aunt’s house in the mountains of Anaheim,” senior left fielder Francesca Enea said. “Her house overlooks all of Orange County, and the view is absolutely gorgeous.”
A chef who goes by the title of “Taco Man” will come in to prepare food for the team’s dinner. And in hopes of viewing more oddities, some teammates will get to make the switch from athletes to tourists in Hollywood for an afternoon.
However, the trip is also about representing southern softball on the West Coast.
“Play is different on the other coast,” Enea said. “The teams out west are supposed to be the best. It’s imperative for us to represent the South and make Florida stand out to them.”
For the Gators who’ve played softball for the majority of their lives, passing up sand for the clay on the field is nothing new.
“Growing up playing softball, I never really got to have a Spring Break,” junior Aja Paculba said. “So by now, I’m used to it.”
The softball team will also make a stop in Athens, Ga., over the break to face Georgia in a double-header. The Gators will wrap up the week by taking on Ole Miss at home, racking up a staggering 10 games during Spring Break.
The Final Lap
Athletes view Spring Break as a major advantage, as the halt in classes allows an opportunity for more training time. Such training is especially crucial for UF’s track and field teams as they prep for the NCAA Indoor Championships on March 12-13.
The teams will compete in “Last Chance Meets” over the Spring Break period, which will be the final opportunity for individuals to qualify for the NCAA Championships.
“Now is the time to really pump our intensity up,” sophomore jumper Christian Taylor said. “It is time for us to take care of business”.
The track team will be spread all over the map, competing in meets in Arkansas, Virginia and Indiana throughout the week.
And those trips will be enough to satisfy the athletes’ need for a spring escape from Gainesville.
“I define a good vacation as being able to compete,” sophomore decathlete Gray Horn said. “We wouldn’t be out here if we didn’t thoroughly enjoy it.”
