Edwards and Stravato have volunteered 49.75 hours giving back to the local Gainesville community.
GAINESVILLE, Fla. – Jess Edwards and Joey Stravato were named to the 2024 Southeastern Conference Track & Field Community Service Team as announced by the league office on Thursday.
Edwards, the redshirt sophomore from Cape Coral, Florida, spent 37 hours serving the community during the 2023-2024 school year. The majority of Edward’s time is spent being an adaptive gymnastics volunteer at Balance 180 where she helps gymnasts with physical or intellectual disabilities learn the foundational skills of gymnastics. She has also helped at other organizations such as Oak Hall School and Lake Forest Elementary.
Edwards has also had a successful season on the track as she set a personal record in the 800m on two separate occasions. She first set her personal record at the Tom Jones Memorial Invitational as she finished 16th with a time of 2:05.99, topping her previous best by nearly two seconds. Two weeks later, she tallied a time of 2:05.95 at the LSU Invitational. Edwards ended the 2024 season competing in the first round of the 800m at the NCAA East Preliminaries.
Stravato, a senior from Orlando, Florida, has completed 12.75 hours of community in 2023-2024. He has also volunteered for organizations such as the St. Francis House, Xtradinary Joy, Idylwild Elementary School, Oak Hall School but most significantly Climb for Cancer. Climb for Cancer is a non-profit organization that sponsors children who have fought or are fighting cancer and gives them an opportunity to participate in a sports clinic and interact with Florida student-athletes.
On the track, Stravato has set a personal record on seven different occasions over the course of the indoor and outdoor season while competing in the 60m hurdles and 110m hurdles. His career best 60m H performance came at the Tyson Invitational as he crossed the finish line in 7.95. Stravato ended his 2024 outdoor season with a personal record as he completed the 110m H at the SEC Outdoor Championships in 14.13.
The Southeastern Conference names a Community Service Team in each of its league-sponsored sports which aims to highlight a student-athlete that is also giving back to his or her community through service efforts.
Below is a full list of the 2024 members of the SEC Track & Field Community Service Team.
2024 SEC TRACK & FIELD COMMUNITY SERVICE TEAM
Jess Edwards, Florida
Joey Stravato, Florida
Victor Kiprop, Alabama
Macy Schelp, Alabama
Justin Stucky, Auburn
Lalah Hasbrouck, Auburn
Marc Minichello, Georgia
Gracie O’Neal, Georgia
Bryanna Luca, Kentucky
Jevan Parara, LSU
Thelma Davies, LSU
Iangelo Atkinstall-Daley, Ole Miss
Kyle McLaurin, Ole Miss
Carter Bajoit, Texas A&M
Brooke Forbes, Texas A&M
Santana Spearman, Vanderbilt
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