Alex McMurtry departs as the UF gymnastic program's all-time leader with nine career perfect 10s. (Photo: Susan Erdelyi/UAA Communications)
McMurtry's Finish Further Proof of Her Greatness
Saturday, April 21, 2018 | Gymnastics, Scott Carter
Gators senior Alex McMurtry refused to let a fall on beam spoil her final performance for the Gators.
It appeared Oklahoma was on the way to a third consecutive national title, but UCLA finished with a flurry on the beam, highlighted by a perfect 10.0 from Peng-Peng Lee. The Bruins overtook the Sooners for the title while the Gators placed third for the second consecutive season.
As UCLA fans screeched with excitement, a different kind of drama unfolded on the floor. Florida senior Alex McMurtry, watching teammate Amelia Hundley close the competition in the floor routine, broke into tears.
Moments earlier, McMurtry had completed the final routine of her gymnastics career, finishing with a 9.9125 floor routine. That was only part of the reason for her moist eyes.
With the Gators on Oklahoma's heels, freshman Alyssa Baumann put up an outstanding 9.9375 score on the beam. McMurtry, who anchored three of Florida's four rotations on Saturday, hopped on the apparatus with visions of a big score.
Instead, McMurtry fell off in the middle of her performance.
"I told her that her team had her back and not to worry about it,'' UF head coach Jenny Rowland said. "She's had their back so many times."
McMurtry regrouped and finished the routine smoothly, determined not to let the moment define her last time in a Gators leotard. She responded with a strong floor routine to cap one of the great careers in UF gymnastics history.
Did you expect anything less?
"I could have closed up internally after I fell on beam but rose to the occasion. I think that is just an accurate representation of life,'' McMurtry said. "You've got to get back up. My four years have been anything but easy and this third place, we deserve it. We tried so hard. That's what I'm going to take with me. Fight every inch."
McMurtry never stopped fighting for the Gators.
As a freshman in 2015, she helped the Gators win a third consecutive national title. As a sophomore, she served as one of the cornerstones in the first year of Jenny Rowland's tenure as head coach. As a junior and senior, McMurtry was nothing less than the face of the program, one of the country's top gymnasts.
McMurtry is the only gymnast in program history to record a pair of perfect 10s in a single meet – a Jan. 26 home win over the Sooners – and is one of 10 gymnasts in the 37-year history of NCAA Gymnastics to complete a career "gym slam," a perfect 10 on each of the four events.
McMurtry's nine perfect scores eclipsed the school record of eight held by former UF All-American Bridget Sloan, a teammate of McMurtry's for two seasons and who served as an SEC Network analyst during the NCAA Championships.
"Alex had a great career. She should be so proud of herself,'' Sloan said. "No matter what happened tonight, you've got to be happy. You're in the Super Six. Now that I'm on the other side, I understand that's an accomplishment all on its own. She had that fall on beam. I'm sure she's a little bummed. It just goes to show how passionate she is as an athlete."
McMurtry said the fall wasn't what opened her tear ducts as she watched Hundley compete.
It was the moment she realized this was it, a gymnastics career ending that started as a toddler on jungle gyms and kitchen cabinets while growing up in Midlothian, Va.
"It was emotional. When I started sobbing, I think it all just hit me,'' McMurtry said. "I was watching Amelia out there and I could just feel the emotions. We had the toughest season that I've ever been a part of.
"I started balling, and not because I was that upset, because I was so happy that we finished on a strong note. Coming off of the fall on beam and then hitting my floor routine – almost the best one I've had all season – that's what I really needed, to go out with a bang on my favorite event."
Rowland took over the program prior to McMurtry's sophomore season and relied heavily on her and Sloan to set the tone that first season. Besides being a four-time All-Southeastern Conference performer, McMurtry is a star in the classroom and well-equipped at multi-tasking.
She repeated as SEC Scholar-Athlete of the Year as a senior and is set to receive a $10,000 post-graduate scholarship as Florida's nominee for the SEC's Boyd McWhorter Award.
Rowland is forever thankful for McMurtry's contributions.
"Alex has just been a real steady force,'' Rowland said. "She has been a leader in many different ways and a leader by example in the gym. She just comes in and does everything she can to make herself better every single day. Not only inside the gym, but outside the gym she is a great mentor for everybody on the team, helps them do the right things. I'm just so very grateful for all her leadership, he sass, her heart, her dedication.
"I'm so excited to see what's next in store for her."
If McMurtry needs someone to talk to as she embarks on her post-gymnastics career, she can call Sloan, who knows the road ahead for McMurtry like few can.
Sloan, who now lives in Orlando, said it took a while to find her way after being laser-focused on gymnastics for all her life. She started working for the SEC Network last year and recently took a sales job for an oil and petroleum company.
"Being a gymnast, it's an amazing accomplishment, something to be very proud of, but it does come to an end,'' Sloan said. "For me, it was really hard to understand what it was like to be without gymnastics. Gymnastics is great, but it's not everything. You've got to hang up the leotard at some point."
That time has come for McMurtry. She plans to take some time away before pursuing a career in the medical field.
She needed only two words to sum up what transpired on Saturday and the past four years with the Gators.
"No regrets."
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