Sept. 28, 2007

PENSACILA, Fla. - The recent Hall of Fame inductions for the University of West Florida Athletics include the 1997 Men's Tennis Team, Jerry Fogle of Men's Basketball, Frank Leo of Men's Golf, Men's Tennis Doubles Partner's David Brandt and Nick Lioce, and Cross Country Coach Stuart Towns. The induction will take place at the UWF Fieldhouse, Saturday, September 29th at 11:30 AM.

The 1997 Men's Tennis team coached by Ralph "Skeeter" Carson had an outstanding year in their first year of eligibility in the NCAA, by finishing its season in the NCAA Championship match. The second seeded Argonauts would fall in the finals to top-ranked Landers; however, playing in the finals and earning a #2 final ranking was an outstanding achievement for a team moving from the NAIA to the NCAA Division II. The 1997 team had three All-Gulf South Conference players, including the GSC East Player of the Year, Patric Stabark , and the doubles team of Holger Rebholz and Jens Gerlach, who earned ITA/NCAA Division II All-American Doubles honors.

Frank Leo was a Division II PING All-American in both 1998 and 1999. Leo finished tied for 15th at the 1999 NCAA Division II National Championships. Over a four year career from 1995-99, he finished in the top 10 in nearly every regular season tournament, and twice qualified for the Division II National Championships, and placed 10th in the NAIA National Championships in 1996.

Jerry Fogle played Men's Basketball for Coach Don Hogan from 1996-1998 as a guard, and was named to the 1997 All-GSC First Team, and the 1998 All-GSC Second Team. Currently, Jerry has 28 records that still rank in the UWF top 10 All-time.

In 1997, Jerry led the GSC in scoring at 19.2 points per game and was in the top ten in the conference for three point shooting. During that season he also set the single game scoring record with 39 points against William Carey, a record which stills stands today.

During his career, Fogle scored in double figures in 48 of the 54 games he played in, and led the team in scoring 27 times. He finished his career with 958 points, sixth in school history, and a 17.7 scoring average, second in UWF history.

Dr. Stuart Towns founded the West Florida Men's Cross Country Program in 1986, and while Coaching the Argos from 1986 to 1999, he took nine teams to the NAIA National Championship Meet. The best team in his tenure may have been the 1993 team that finished 19-1 and finished in the top 20 at the National Meet.

During his reign as head coach, Towns was named NAIA District 27 Coach of the Year twice, in then in 1996 and 1998, he received GSC Coach of the Year honors. Coach Towns also had 17 harriers reach All-GSC status, six NAIA All-Americans, and six GSC scholar-athletes, all while accumulating a 384-154 record. His teams won two Gulf South Conference Championships, and twice finished second in the conference.

Men's Tennis Doubles partners David Brandt and Nick Lioce were the Argos #1 Doubles team for much of 1986, 1987, and 1988. In 1987, they reached the NAIA National Doubles Semi-finals.

During a fabulous 1987 season, the two were named NAIA All-Americans in doubles, while Lioce was also an NAIA Academic All-American, and Brandt was also a NAIA All-American in Singles.

Lioce was also named the UWF Athlete of the year for 1988, while Brandt was the ITA/NAIA Senior Player of the year for 1989.