The West Florida Argonauts (also known as the Argos) are the athletic teams that represent the University of West Florida, located in Pensacola, Florida. The Argonauts compete in NCAA Division I as members of the Atlantic Sun Conference (ASUN) in most sports and the United Athletic Conference (UAC) in football (FCS).
The university sponsors 15 varsity sports. Men's sports include baseball, basketball, cross country, football, golf, soccer, and tennis. Women's sports include basketball, cross country, golf, soccer, softball, swimming and diving, tennis, and volleyball.
History The Argonauts previously competed at the NCAA Division II level as members of the Gulf South Conference (GSC) from the 1994–95 academic year through the 2025–26 academic year. Prior to joining the NCAA, the program competed in the Southern States Conference of the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA) from 1974–75 to 1993–94, with a brief hiatus from 1976–77 to 1979–80 when the athletics program was dropped.
On April 2, 2026, the University of West Florida announced it would reclassify to NCAA Division I, joining the Atlantic Sun Conference for all sports except football, which joined the United Athletic Conference. The move became effective on July 1, 2026.
Varsity sports Men's sportsWomen's sportsBaseballBasketballBasketballCross CountryCross CountryGolfFootballSoccerGolfSoftballSoccerSwimming & DivingTennisTennisVolleyball
Baseball West Florida has had 24 Major League Baseball draft selections since the draft began in 1965.
Year Player Round Team 1982 24 Athletics 1987 36 Braves 1989 33 Tigers 1991 50 Rangers 1992 37 Red Sox 1993 21 Brewers 1994 34 Brewers 1997 57 Angels 2003 34 Blue Jays 2004 33 Devil Rays 2009 23 Mets 2010 20 Angels 2011 42 Mets 2011 36 Angels 2011 36 Nationals 2011 28 Angels 2011 19 Mets 2012 16 Marlins 2014 12 Cardinals 2014 24 Athletics 2014 30 Giants 2015 12 Rangers 2024 6 Padres 2025 10 Orioles
Football
West Florida made the decision to add a football program in 2013. The Argonauts signed their first recruiting class in February 2015 and the fall of 2015 featured practice and intrasquad scrimmages. The first year of varsity competition was the 2016 season. The Argos’ first home game was on September 10, 2016, at Blue Wahoos Stadium against Missouri S&T. In 2017, the Argonauts advanced to the national championship game, where they lost to Texas A&M–Commerce 37–27. In 2019, West Florida won their first national title when they defeated Minnesota State 48–40.
Program achievements Title Years won Gulf South Conference Champions 2021, 2022, 2025 NCAA Division II Team Playoff Participants 2017, 2019, 2021, 2022, 2023, 2025 NCAA Division II Regional Championships 2017, 2019, 2022 NCAA Division II National Championships 2019
Achievements Source:
NCAA Division II Team National Championships (10) Baseball: 2011 Football: 2019 Men's Golf: 2001, 2008, 2025 Men's Tennis: 2004, 2005, 2014, 2017 Women's Soccer: 2012
NAIA Team National Championships (1) Softball: 1993
Gulf South Conference All Sports Trophies (30) Men's: 8 (97-98, 02–03, 06–07, 11–12, 12–13, 15–16, 16–17, 17–18) Women's: 16 (97-98, 98–99, 03–04, 05–06, 06–07, 07–08, 08–09, 09–10, 10–11, 11–12, 12–13, 13–14, 14–15, 15–16, 16–17, 18–19) Overall (started in 2013–14): 6 (13–14, 14–15, 15–16, 16–17, 17–18, 18–19)
NCAA Division II Individual National Championships (18) Men's Golf – Orjan Larsen (1998) Men's Golf - Chandler Blanchet (2017) Women's Swimming & Diving - Monica Amaral (2016 1-Meter & 3-Meter Diving) Women's Swimming & Diving - Theresa Michalak (2016 100-Yard Breaststroke) Women's Swimming & Diving - Monica Amaral (2017 1-Meter & 3-Meter Diving) Women's Swimming & Diving - Theresa Michalak (2017 50-Yard Freestyle, 100-Yard Freestyle, 100-Yard Breaststroke, 100 Butterfly) Men's Tennis – Jens Gerlach/Matt Wallhead (1996) Men's Tennis – Radovan Chrz (2000 – ITA Singles, ITA "Super Bowl") Men's Tennis – Radovan Chrz (2000 – ITA Singles) Men's Tennis – Bruno Savi (2013 – ITA Singles) Men's Tennis - Alex Peyrot/Pedro Dumont (2016 - ITA Doubles) Women's Tennis - Berta Bonardi (2018 - ITA Singles) Women's Tennis - Berta Bonardi (2019 - ITA Singles)
NAIA Individual National Championships: (6) Men's Cross Country – John Viitanen (1996 – Marathon) Men's Tennis – Eric Hochman (1990 – Singles) Men's Tennis – Eric Hochman/Geoffrey Watts (1991 – Doubles) Men's Tennis – Sorin Cherebetiu/Andrej Tonejc (1992 – Doubles) Women's Tennis – Bronna Allison/Laura Cadena (1988 – Doubles) Women's Tennis – Bronna Allison (1989 – Singles)
Conference Championships (115) Gulf South Conference Championships (109) Baseball: 2 (2007, 2021) Football: 2 (2021, 2022) Men's Basketball: 1 (2018) Men's Cross Country: 2 (1994, 1996) Men's Golf: 18 (1995–98, 2001–03, 2006–08, 2011, 2013–19, 2021) Men's Soccer: 10 (1998, 2001, 2003, 2006–10, 2013, 2021) Men's Tennis: 14 (1995, 1997–99, 2002–03, 2005–06, 2012–15, 2017, 2022) Softball: 4 (1998, 2004–05, 2019) Volleyball: 11 (2008–13, 2017–19, 2021–22) Women's Basketball: 1 (2014) Women's Cross Country: 3 (1996, 2011–12) Women's Golf: 11 (2006–10, 2012–16, 2021) Women's Soccer: 11 (1996, 1998–99, 2006, 2008–10, 2012–13, 2016, 2018) Women's Tennis: 19 (1995–96, 1998–99, 2000–02, 2006–07, 2009, 2011–19)
New South Intercollegiate Swimming and Diving Conference Championships (6) Women's Swimming and Diving: 6 (2015–16, 2020–23)
Gulf South Conference Commissioner's Trophies (8) Krissy Styrna - Softball (2001–02) Kevin Warrick - Men's Golf (2002–03) Lindsay Nemanich - Women's Soccer (2006–07) Suzana Cavalcante - Women's Tennis (2007–08) Courtney Jones - Women's Soccer (2009–10) Kevin Ducros - Men's Tennis (2012–13) Autumn Duyn - Women's Volleyball (2015–16) Chandler Blanchet - Men's Golf (2017–18)
Gulf South Conference Hall of Fame (4) Richard Berg, Athletic Director - Class of 2014 (Inaugural Class) Radovan Chrz, Men's Tennis - Class of 2017 Suzana Cavalcante, Women's Tennis - Class of 2018 Kevin Warrick, Men's Golf - Class of 2019
Notable athletes Mickey Gorka (born 1972), Israeli basketball player and coach Moochie Norris (1996), former NBA player. Daniela Cruz - professional soccer player for the Costa Rica women's national football team Austin Reed, NFL quarterback
References
External links