We have finally reached the top moment of the 2018-19 FSW Athletics year and what a year it was! We have counted down championships, and records, and firsts and today as we get to #1, we look back at arguably the most impressive streak for any school, at any level, in collegiate sports history. Our #1 moment is the Bucs’ combined 57 game winning streak across their four sports.
In the long history of collegiate athletics there have been records that have stood the test of the time and those that are constantly changing. Our #2 moment of the FSW Athletics year brings us to one that a Buc freshman now owns, Rebeca Laudino’s collegiate record 49 game hitting streak.
Having already touched on a number of firsts during our countdown of the top 10 moments in the 2018-19 FSW Athletic season, as we work our way to #3, we have another. Our #3 moment is the Bucs taking over the NJCAA National rankings with both Men’s Basketball and Softball finishing the regular season ranked #1, Women’s Basketball climbing into the top 10 for the first time in program history, and Baseball receiving their first national ranking in program history this year.
After coming in at #6 on our countdown by finding out they were headed to the NJCAA National Tournament, the FSW Women’s Basketball checks in at #4 today for what they did at the Big Dance.
After just three short years of competition, three of the four FSW Athletics programs had already claimed their place atop the Suncoast Conference hierarchy, bringing home at least one conference championship in their respective sport. In year four, the fourth team joined the club, which brings us our #5 moment of the Bucs’ 2018-19 year, Baseball claiming their first Suncoast Conference title, on the last day of the regular season to boot.
The FSW Men’s & Women’s Basketball teams rolled through their respective regular seasons, leaving a trail of destruction for their 2018-19 opponents. Both teams went undefeated in conference play to capture league titles and both worked their ways to the top national rankings in program history. Unfortunately, the two both fell short to quality foes in the FCSAA State Tournament, which set up our #6 moments of the FSW Athletics year.
2018-19 was a magical year for Florida SouthWestern Athletics in a number of ways, but the most impressive of feats was the well-roundedness of the Bucs success. Our #7 accomplishment of the year highlights just that, as all four FSW teams captured Suncoast Conference Championships and each also sported an All-American, both firsts in the Bucs young history.
The second FSW Softball pitcher to find her way into the Bucs’ Top 10 is sophomore Kelsi Collins who checks in at #8 after being named the 2019 NJCAA National Pitcher of the Year.
Our #9 moment of the FSW Athletics year comes courtesy of the Bucs Baseball team, who made it be known that they would be a force to be reckon with in 2019 with this result.
Over the next two weeks, we will count down the top 10 moments of the 2018-19 Florida SouthWestern State Athletics year. Today we begin at #10 with perfection.
The 2018-19 athletic season was a historic one for the Florida SouthWestern State Buccaneers. The Bucs four squads each captured Suncoast Conference Championships and advanced to the FCSAA State Tournament, the only school in Florida to boast that, while FSW teams combined for a .865 overall winning percentage, easily the top mark in the Sunshine State and likely the highest nationwide.
Along with a historic year on the diamonds and the courts at Florida SouthWestern State this season, 38 Buccaneer student-athletes doubled down with excellent years in the classroom, earning Suncoast Conference, FCSAA, and NJCAA Academic Awards for the 2018-19 school year.
The Florida SouthWestern State Buccaneers cleaned up on the weekly FCSAA awards released on Tuesday as Bucs softball players Owen Bowers and Sarah Lawton were named the state’s Player and Pitcher of the Week respectively, while FSW baseball players Victor Florentino and Ryan Gusto took home the same awards on their side of things.
Can’t make it to Lubbock or Hutchinson for the NJCAA National Basketball Tournaments to cheer on your Bucs? No problem. Il Primo Pizza & Wings will be carrying all of the FSW games in both tournaments live in the restaurant free of charge! As an added bonus, all FSW fans wearing the Buc gear to the showings will receive 10% off of their food purchases.
Both Bucs basketball teams are headed to the FCSAA tournament and you are invited to be there to cheer them on! FSW Athletics is once again chartering buses to Ocala for fans to join the teams and cheer them on at the tournament. Buses will leave each day from the Suncoast Credit Union Arena parking lot at designated times and will return after the games to the arena. The cost for each trip is $35 per person, payable by cash or check the day of the trip. There is also an admission fee of $10 per game or $25 for a tournament pass to be paid at the conference venue. There must be a minimum of 25 people to sign up for each trip to happen. For more information contact Joe Turner at 239-489-9432 or CLICK HERE for the trip flier.
Florida SouthWestern State Athletics is still in its infancy stages, but its successes are not. In just their fourth year of a respawn of their athletic department, the Buccaneers are in the midst of a run that collegiate athletics at any level may have never seen before. Dating back to December 10th, across their four different sports (Baseball, Softball, Mens & Women’s Basketball), FSW has won 54 straight games.
Florida Southwestern State Athletic Director George Sanders has announced the hiring of Sports Information Director Roy Allen, who will take over the reins of Bucs media relations after nine years as SID and one as Athletic Director at Seward County CC in Kansas.