Gator Third at SEC Championships; UF Sweeps Apparatus Titles

Saturday, March 24

St. Louis, MO

7 PM

Florida Gators

SEC Championships

The Gators cheer Alyssa Baumann after her balance beam routine. Baumann joined Alicia Boren (floor) and Alex McMurtry (vault, bars) as Southeastern Conference event champions Saturday in St. Louis.

Gator Third at SEC Championships; UF Sweeps Apparatus Titles

Saturday, March 24, 2018 | Gymnastics

Photo Galley by Erin Long Meet Results

The Gators led the competition on three events Saturday. Its floor performance kept Florida from claiming its 11th SEC Championship team trophy.

By: Mary Howard

ST. LOUIS, Mo. – The Gator gymnasts led all teams on three events Saturday at the Southeastern Conference Championships. Unfortunately, Florida's performance on floor exercise ended their pursuit for their 11^th team title.

Louisiana State made it a sweep of the 2018 SEC gymnastics titles Saturday with its win in front of 6,073 at the Chaifetz Arena. Earlier this month, LSU claimed its second consecutive SEC regular-season title with a 7-0 league record. Tonight, LSU claimed its third SEC Championship – and second consecutive - with a score of 197.40.

Alabama took second (196.975) and the Gators were third at 196.825.

It was a disappointing ending for UF after leading the meet at the midway point. Falls from two consecutive Gator floor performers – freshman Megan Skaggs and defending SEC all-around champion Alex McMurtry – forced the team to count a miss in its final floor total.

"I think the Gators realized the potential is there," Florida Head Coach Jenny Rowland said. "They are one of the best teams in the country They will build from it, learn from this competition, move forward and rock it for the rest of the season."

Other team scores Saturday included Kentucky (196.55), Arkansas (196.425), Georgia (196.35), Missouri (196.10) and Auburn (195.65).

52599 — Alex McMurtry won two Southeastern Conference event titles Saturday - vault (9.975) and uneven bars (9.95). She is now one of six in the 38-year history of the SEC Championship to win at least one event title in four consecutive seasons.

Gator Event Winners:
A Gator took at least a share of every apparatus title. Two titles came from nearly perfect marks of 9.975 – McMurtry on vault and freshman Alyssa Baumann on balance beam. McMurtry also won bars at 9.95.

Junior Alicia Boren shared the evening's floor exercise win at 9.90. She was second in the all-around, as LSU's Sarah Finnegan edged her by the slightest of margins, 39.50 – 39.475, for the title.

52600 — Alyssa Baumann equaled her collegiate best of 9.975 to win the Southeastern Conference balance beam title. The 9.975 equaled teammate Alex McMurtry's vault score as the high individual mark of the 2018 SEC Championships and is second only to Georgia's Cory Fritzinger's 10.0 in 2004 SEC Championships' beam competition.

Four Gators posted or equaled collegiate or season-best marks Saturday:
                Alyssa Baumann 9.975      Beam     Collegiate best
                Alicia Boren          9.925      Beam     Season best
                Amelia Hundley   9.90        Vault       Collegiate best
                Megan Skaggs     9.90        Beam     Collegiate best

Florida's team totals for vault (49.475) and beam (49.55) led all teams Saturday and UF shared the high team total on bars (49.40) with LSU.

52602 — Alicia Boren shared the Southeastern Conference floor exercise title at 9.90. It is her fifth floor title of 2018 and third of the last four meets.

McMurtry Joins Select Group
With her two event titles Saturday, McMurtry is now one of six in the 38-year history of the SEC Championships to claim at least one event title in four consecutive seasons.

The last to reach that milestone was her 2015 Gator teammate Kytra Hunter.

She is the third in league history (joining Jenny Hansen of Kentucky and Karin Lichey of Georgia) and first since 1999 with a 'SEC Slam' - a win each of the five events (vault, bars, beam, floor, all-around) in SEC Championships competition. .

McMurtry's six career SEC event titles is second for the Gators' behind Hunter's seven. Gator Great Bridget Sloan also claimed six SEC titles.

SEC Gymnasts winning SEC titles each year of collegiate career:
Alex McMurtry, Florida	2015 V, 2016 BB, 2017 AA, FX, 2018 V, UB
Kytra Hunter, Florida	2012 AA, V; 2013 FX, 2014 BB, 2015 AA, V, FX
Lloimincia Hall, LSU	2012 FX, 2013 FX, 2014 FX, 2015 FX
Ashley Miles, Alabama	2003 FX, 2004 FX, 2005 V, UB, FX, 2006 FX
Jenny Hansen, Kentucky	1993 AA, V, UB, 1994 V, FX 1995 BB, FX 1996 BB, FX
Kathy McMinn, Georgia	1981 UB, 1982 V, 1983 UB, 1984 AA, UB

SEC Honors
Six Gators earned All-SEC or SEC All-Freshman in Saturday's competition.

The All-SEC Team is comprised of the student-athletes with the top two event scores (including ties) in each session of the SEC Championships. The All-Freshman team is comprised of the freshmen student-athlete with the top score (including ties) on each event in each SEC Championships' session.

Gator Gymnast	All-SEC (Qualifying Events)	SEC All-Freshman (Qualifying Events)
Alyssa Baumann	Beam	Beam
Alicia Boren	All-Around, Floor
Rachel Gowey	Bars
Amelia Hundley	Vault, Bars
Alex McMurtry	Vault, Bars, Beam
Megan Skaggs		Beam
Rachel Slocum	Vault

Earlier in the evening, McMurtry was announced as the SEC Scholar-Athlete for gymnastics – her second consecutive such honor.

Stellar performance from the Ice Queen @Alyssa_Baumann_ on beam tonight. ??????

Relive the celebration with the #Gators again!#SECChampionship #WeChomp pic.twitter.com/2CbqeUm1zE
— Gators Gymnastics (@GatorsGym) March 25, 2018

SEC EVENT CHAMPIONS:

All-Around	Sarah Finnegan	LSU	39.50
Vault	Alex McMurtry	Florida	9.975
Bars	Alex McMurtry	Florida	9.95
Beam	Alyssa Baumann	Florida	9.975
Floor	Alicia Boren	Florida	9.90
	Ariana Guerra	Alabama	9.90
	Sidney Dukes	Kentucky	9.90

Hear From the Gators:
Florida's performance tonight:
"We had a lot of amazing routines tonight. There were some well-executed and very confident performances. We fell short on one event. It certainly wasn't the floor performance we came here to do. Floor is an event we are very good at, but tonight wasn't our night for that event. I was proud how the team finished the meet with a strong vault performance. Overall, on vault, bars and beam, our landings were key tonight. They've been working on those details in the practice gym and it paid off tonight. We just have one more event to put together and then it's going to be gold." – Florida Head Coach Jenny Rowland

Going forward:
"How we react and how we handle this situation going forward is what is going to define us. I'm completely confident that this team is going to go back to the practice gym and keep grinding. They will take it a day at a time, one meet at a time and one routine at a time. We've got three more meets to go and the Gators are going to finish strong." – Florida Head Coach Jenny Rowland

The mood of the Gators after tonight's meet:
"The team was somber after the meet. They knew they had a chance to win tonight. They came in hungry and ready, but unfortunately, a couple of falters brought the mood down. They finished very strong on vault. I was very happy with that because the competition wasn't over. It shows they are resilient. They will stay together and keep grinding. We are better together." – Florida Head Coach Jenny Rowland

What the team will take from tonight's meet:
"What I'll take from this meet is that the Gators were extremely strong on three events. If we had hit four events, there is no doubt in my mind we would have taken the championship tonight. It is hard to be one the routines that had a mistake, but it is a learning lesson. I'll get back into the gym and train harder. Floor is something I know I need to focus on so I can put together a whole meet when it comes to regionals and nationals." – senior All-American Alex McMurtry

"I think we can take a lot from this experience. We had three really outstanding events and we know we have the potential to win. We had some mistakes on floor that kept us from winning but that's going to push us for nationals. That's what we're going to look to next." – freshman Alyssa Baumann

"This shows we have a lot of potential. We need to work on specific details. We got to floor and we knew we were in a great spot. We might have taken advantage of that but we need to take it event by event. We finished with an amazing vault score. We are capable – we just need to put it all together." – junior All-American Alicia Boren

On her beam win tonight:
"I felt really normal out there. I just wanted to do what I do the in the [training] gym over and over. I knew I could hit that routine and had that potential so I was happy I did that tonight for the team." – freshman Alyssa Baumann

On her floor win tonight:
"It felt really good. It gave me a lot of confidence. I told myself [after the misses before her in the lineup] 'Alicia, what happened before you can't be controlled. It's already done so all you can do is do your job.' I'm proud I didn't let that get in my head because I know my team had my back. I went out and did the best I could and it paid off." – junior All-American Alicia Boren

National Rank:
Florida – Florida is No. 5 in the 11^th Road to Nationals poll. The rankings are listed by regional qualifying average (top three road, then next three highest team scores. The high is discarded, with the total of the remaining scores divided by five to compute RQS).
Three other SEC teams rank among the March 19 top 10 - No. 2 LSU, No. 6 Alabama, No. 9 Kentucky.

Up Next:
Florida finds out where it will head for NCAA Regional Championship action. Six school sites will play host to NCAA Regional action on Saturday, April 7.

The reveal for the 2018 NCAA Regional fields is Monday, March 26 at 4 p.m. ET on NCAA.com.

2018 Regional Sites – Saturday, April 7, 2018
Site (Region)	Time (ET)
Columbus, Ohio (Ohio State)	6 p.m.
Minneapolis, Minn. (Minnesota)	TBA
Raleigh, N.C. (NC State)	4 p.m.
Salt Lake City, Utah (Utah)	6 p.m.
Tuscaloosa, Ala. (Alabama)	5 p.m.
University Park, Pa. (Penn State)	4 p.m.

Each of the six regional sites will have six-team fields. The top two teams at each regional site advances to the NCAA Championships, which makes its second-consecutive appearance at the Chaifetz Arena, April 20-21 in St. Louis, Mo.

No. 5 Florida at Southeastern Conference Championships Final Team Totals
March 24, 2018 – Chaifetz Arena (6,073)
*Team*	*Vault*	*Bars*	*Beam*	*Floor*	*Total*
LSU	49.400	49.400	49.300	49.300	197.400
Alabama	49.300	48.950	49.450	49.275	196.975
Florida	49.475	49.400	49.550	48.400	196.825
Kentucky	49.300	49.100	48.875	49.275	196.55
Arkansas	48.975	49.150	49.225	49.075	196.425
Georgia	49.150	49.125	49.025	49.050	196.350
Missouri	48.975	49.025	49.175	48.925	196.100
Auburn	49.125	48.900	48.825	48.800	195.650