Andy Staples, staff writer for SI.com

I knew Jenna had the instincts to make it in this business when my phone rang on a June day in 2007. I was the University of Florida beat writer for The Tampa Tribune, and Jenna had just started working for the Trib as a correspondent. Florida hoops coach Billy Donovan had just flip-flopped on the Orlando Magic, and his lawyers were negotiating with the Magic’s lawyers to allow Donovan to return gracefully to UF. No one was talking on the record; covering that story felt like driving with eyes closed. So as I was plugging away, Jenna’s number popped up on my caller ID. “I just ran into some of the basketball players on campus,” Jenna said. “They said they didn’t know much, but they told me what they did know.” News had slowed to a trickle, and Jenna turned on the faucet. Because of Jenna, the Trib’s story was more complete than everyone else’s.

I have plenty more examples of Jenna saving my bacon. Of the UF students who worked for me in my four years as the Trib’s UF beat writer, Jenna was the only one I trusted enough to allow myself the occasional day off. On a beat as competitive as UF, that’s saying something. Jenna has come a long way since she e-mailed me as a freshman, reminded me that I’d covered her high school basketball team and asked how she could break into the sportswriting biz. Her journey has worn out her poor Nissan Sentra, but it has provided valuable clips — her column about being the only girl in the sports department is a side-splitter.

Nick Zaccardi, staff writer for The Independent Florida Alligator

Jenna Marina is the best college sports writer in the country, bar none. Few if any other college students are covering a sports program like the Gators for a major daily like the Tampa Tribune. She did not start at the paper until her sophomore year, but she’s worked her way up to an internship this summer with the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. I have no doubt she will land a beat position with a major newspaper after that. She has been a guest commentator on ESPN and has been published in the Florida Times-Union, the Miami Herald and the Orlando Sentinel in addition to writing about 100 stories for the Tribune in the past year. The St. Petersburg Times, the rival newspaper of the Trib, even wrote a piece on Jenna's rise last year. How is that for respect!

Mike McCall, sports editor for The Independent Florida Alligator

As a basketball expert with very little football knowledge, some of us thought at first she might be a shaky pick for the football beat last fall. But season's end she was a pro, even serving as the beat writer for the Tampa Tribune for a few months after their writer left for SI.com. Jenna has an ability to connect with people on a different level, treating them as human beings, not interview subjects. She gets deep into profile pieces and writes them extremely well, especially a story on receiver Louis Murphy that blew me away.

Joanne Korth, sports team leader for The Tampa Tribune

In January, the Tribune’s beat writer covering the University of Florida left to take a job at SI.com, leaving us without a full-time staff writer for the second half of the school year. Jenna, who had been our correspondent on campus during football season, stepped in and completely assumed the responsibilities of a full-time beat writer. She communicated with me regularly, filed breaking news stories and wrote engaging features. From briefs for page 8 to front page centerpieces, Jenna did it all.

Four-gone Conclusion

Source | The Independent Florida Alligator
en the ’04s took their starting gigs last season, UF coach Billy Donovan didn’t know where his team would end up, but he predicted fans would enjoy watching the Gators play.

Brotherly Love

Before forward Corey Brewer ever set foot in the O’Dome to dazzle orange-and-blue clad spectators…Before he ever set foot in the Georgia Dome to win two Southeastern Conference Titles…There was his Thunder Dome.

Murphy deals with loss of mother

Source | The Independent Florida Alligator
Every time Louis Murphy scores a touchdown this season, watch him point to the sky. He's talking to his guardian angel. Her name is Filomena.

Sitting This One Out?

Source | The Independent Florida Alligator
A year ago in Florida's locker room at the Georgia Dome, Corey Brewer joked about how hard it was to keep straight the various championship net pieces he had cut down.