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.
Contents
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
Baseball
West Florida has had 24 Major League Baseball draft selections since the draft began in 1965.
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.
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)
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)
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