Gators Win NCAA Regional

Saturday, April 7

University Park, PA

4 PM

Florida Gators

197.725

NCAA Regional Championships

Florida claimed its 18th NCAA Gymnastics Regional team title Saturday at Penn State.

Saturday, April 7, 2018 | Gymnastics

Photo Gallery by Lloyd Smith Boxscore

Florida advances to the NCAA Championships for the 36th time in the meet's 37-year history

By: Mary Howard

STATE COLLEGE, Pa. – The Florida gymnastics team is off to the NCAA Championships after winning the University Park Regional title, held Saturday afternoon in front of 2,755 at Penn State's Rec Hall. The win advances Florida to St. Louis, Mo., where the NCAA Championships appears for the second consecutive year.

The Gators turned in a 197.725 Saturday for the team's seventh consecutive NCAA Regional title. The top two teams in regional competition advance to the NCAA Championships. Washington claimed the other berth at 196.275. Arizona State was third at 195.75, followed by New Hampshire (194.95), Penn State (194.900) and West Virginia (194.40).

Senior Alex McMurtry won three event titles, including her second all-around title of 2018. Her winning all-around total of 39.725 is just a tenth away from the school record (39.825) she shares with Bridget Sloan and Alaina Johnson.

The Gators' Meet Performance:
The Gators put together a complete meet, with the top Gator score on each event taking the regional title.

Florida opened the meet on the two power events – floor exercise and vault. A solid floor set led by All-Americans Alicia Boren and Rachel Slocum's 9.90 gave the Gators a 49.325 for their opening event.

Gators looked sharp on vault, with the final three posting marks of 9.90 or better – Boren (9.90), Alex McMurtry (9.925) and Rachel Slocum (9.95).

Florida's 49.50 equals the team's third-highest uneven bars total this season. Three turned in marks of 9.90 or better – Megan Skaggs (9.90), Rachel Gowey (9.90) and McMurtry (9.975).

The Gators closed the meet on balance beam, again turning in a 49.50. A trio of Gators earned scores of 9.90 or better – Boren (9.90), Gowey (9.925) and McMurtry (9.95).

GATOR PERFORMANCE NOTES:

The three titles for McMurtry tonight gives her 26 event wins for the season. That sets her career high for event wins, as she collected 24 wins as a junior.
This is the third consecutive NCAA Regional event win for Slocum. As a sophomore with Eastern Michigan in 2016, she shared the NCAA Ann Arbor Region floor exercise title. That win advanced her to the NCAA Championships as an individual competitor. She won the Gainesville Regional with a 9.95 and used that mark again to take the University Park vault win.
The regional all-around title has gone to a Gator each of the past nine seasons – Ashanée Dickerson (2010, 2012), Alaina Johnson (2011 & 2014), Kytra Hunter (2013), Bridget Sloan (2015, 2016) and McMurtry (2017, 2018).
Boren's share of the floor win is her sixth title on the event this season. She also used a 9.90 to share the 2018 Southeastern Conference floor crown.
Slocum wins her first floor title as a Gator and the seventh of her collegiate career.
Sophomore Amelia Hundley was second in the all-around (39.30)
Three season-bests were turned in Saturday – Megan Skaggs (9.90/bars), Alex McMurtry (9.975/bars) and Rachel Slocum (9.95/vault)
The win ups Florida's regional team titles total to 18 (1982, 1984, 1985, 1987, 1997, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018)
In the NCAA Championships' 37-year history, Florida has now advanced to the national championships 36 times, missing only the 2000 event.

2018 NCAA Gymnastics Championships – April 20-21
Chaifetz Arena – St. Louis, Mo.
Date	Competition	Time (ET)
Friday, April 20	Semifinal I	1 p.m.
	Semifinal II	7 p.m.
Saturday, April 21	Super Six Team Final	7 p.m.

NOW WHAT?
The 12-team field for the NCAA Championships is determined tonight, as the top two teams in each of the nation's six regional sites advance to St. Louis, Mo., for the April 20-21 national championships.

The 12-team NCAA Championships' field competes on April 20 in two semifinal sessions of six teams each. The top three teams in each session advance to the April 21 NCAA Super Six to determine the team champion.

The Gators have advanced from the NCAA Championships semifinal competition to the NCAA Super Six team final 12 of the last 14 years (2004, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017). Florida took third in 2017 NCAA Super Six action.

Selection information for the 12-team field and individual event competitors will be available on NCAA.com after noon ET on Monday, April 9. The NCAA Individual Event Finals discontinued after the 2015 season. NCAA event champions are based on April 20 semifinal scores.

For the first time in @SEC history, 6? teams are headed to the #NCAAGym Championships! pic.twitter.com/hHyHHLgyN0
— SEC Network (@SECNetwork) April 8, 2018

SEC SENDS SIX
In the final year of the 12-team NCAA Championships' field, half comes from the Southeastern Conference – Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky and LSU. This will be Kentucky's first appearance at the NCAA Championships' final site.

Six sets the league record, as the previous high of five representatives happened 10 times – 1991, 1993, 2003, 2006, 2008, 2009, 2012, 2013, 2015 and 2016.

McMURTRY IS SOUTHEAST REGION GYMNAST OF YEAR – AGAIN:

52812 — Alex McMurtry took the NCAA University Park Regional event titles for all-around, uneven bars and balance beam. She also picked up her second consecutive NACGW Southeast Region Gymnast of the Year honor.

The National Association of Collegiate Gymnastics Coaches/Women (NACGC) announced NCAA All-Southeast Region honors Saturday.

Florida's McMurtry, who was named SEC Specialist and Scholar-Athlete of the Year last month, claims her second NACGC Southeast Region Gymnast of the Year honor. She is the fourth Gator to claim the honor since 2010. Other Gators to be named Regional Gymnast of the Year include Ashanée Dickerson (2010, 2011), Kytra Hunter (2015) and Bridget Sloan (2014, 2016).

QUOTES
Opening Statement:
"It was a great night. We came in and did our job and that's what we set out to do. The team performed tonight like they have been doing in the [practice] gym. This team has a lot to be proud of.

"We had a little bit of adversity tonight but picked each other up and carried on just as nothing ever happened. That was great and they handled it very well." – Florida Head Coach Jenny Rowland

What was the adversity the team faced tonight?
"We had Megan Skaggs out of the beam lineup and put Jazmyn Foberg in for her. The team's first five [on beam] were rock solid just as they do in practice and it took the pressure off everybody.

"Alicia Boren had a little mistake on bars and covered it to the best of her ability. I was very proud of her for finishing as strong as she did, but the next five [on bars] just killed it. Didn't miss a beat and their confidence didn't sway whatsoever, so it was really good to see them just go up and perform like they do in practice." – Florida Head Coach Jenny Rowland

How about Rachel Slocum's 9.95 on vault?
"Rachel Slocum oh my gosh! She had an amazing vault! The best vault I have ever seen her do in her entire life. I am super excited for her.

"This was really the best meet we have had on the road this year. It was really good to see the team perform at this level with the nerves and knowing that they have to qualify to nationals. They handled everything under pressure very well."

"Alex {McMurtry] didn't have the best warm up today which isn't unusual. I went up to her before we started and asked if she was feeling okay and she said "I got it Jenny don't worry." Of course, one-hundred percent if she's ready to go then it's a go. I am very proud of her for coming in and performing." – Florida Head Coach Jenny Rowland

52814 — Rachel Slocum was a double winner in Saturday's NCAA Regional competition. She shared the floor title at 9.90 and equaled her season vault best of 9.95 to take the Regional win for the second-straight year.

What did you think of the team performance tonight?
"That was my best experience at a regional championship. It's usually a tough meet coming from a bye weekend and coming from podium back to regular season competition equipment, but I am so proud of the Gators tonight.

"Starting on floor and conquering the trouble we had at SECs on floor - I knew it was going to be a great meet once we hit our floor rotation. We just kept the momentum going.

"A good loss is really motivating sometimes and I think that is what SEC's did to us. We got back in the gym and worked our butts off and it obviously showed tonight. We're going to build off the momentum from regionals and move into the bye-week and fix those little details and again show up at nationals." – senior All-American Alex McMurtry

On the team's performance:
"As a team, I think we had one of the best meet of this season. We still have a few things we can fix, but we are going to be hungry of NCAA's." – senior All-American Rachel Slocum

On individual performance tonight:
It's a really long day, it's a long meet. For some of the meet I was conserving my energy, but I had to just bring it back up and leave it all out there for the team. I was screaming my heart out so I am really glad it paid off for the team. We had each other's backs the whole time with some mistakes here and there, but the work in the gym is really paying off and I am glad I could hit all around for the team." – senior All-American Alex McMurtry

Did you like this rotation? You got your events done and then could focus on the team.
"I did like this rotation because I was able to get my stuff done, and finish out the meet and give every fiber of my being to my teammates. This is something I really love to do and I think it's definitely my favorite part of the whole competition." – senior All-American Rachel Slocum

On Rachel Slocum's performance tonight:
"Before we go on each other's events, we always say "set me up" and she really set me up on vault tonight. That is the vault we have been waiting for all season and she nailed it. I can't wait for her to get her confidence back and bring that to nationals." – senior All-American Alex McMurtry

52815 — Alicia Boren shared the NCAA University Park Regional floor exercise title at 9.90. Boren also shared the Southeastern Conference floor title with the same score.

Did you notice the Gator Nation in the stands?
"I hadn't realized there was going to be so many fans up north, but there's fans from all over the place with some Gator posters. They really brought the energy tonight as well as the parents with orange and blue in the stands. It really means a lot." – senior All-American Alex McMurtry

FLORIDA IN THE RANKINGS:
Florida is No. 5 in the final regular-season Road to Nationals rankings.

NCAA University Park Region Event Champions:

All-Around	Alex McMurtry	Florida	39.725
Vault	Rachel Slocum	Florida	9.950
Bars	Alex McMurtry	Florida	9.975
Beam	Alex McMurtry	Florida	9.950
Floor	Alicia Boren	Florida	9.900
	Rachel Slocum	Florida	9.900
	Kristyn Hoffa	Washington	9.900
	Zoey Schaefer	Washington	9.900
	Maya Washington	Washington	9.900

No. 5 Florida at NCAA University Park Region Championships Final Team Totals
April 7, 2018 – Rec Hall (2,755)
*Team*	*Vault*	*Bars*	*Beam*	*Floor*	*Total*
Florida	49.400	49.500	49.500	49.325	197.725
Washington	48.750	49.050	49.125	49.350	196.275
Arizona State	48.675	49.150	49.050	48.875	195.750
New Hampshire	48.625	48.575	48.775	48.975	194.950
Penn State	49.100	48.225	48.800	48.775	194.900
West Virginia	48.750	48.450	48.200	49.000	194.400

2018 NCAA Regional Results
Seed	School	Region Total	Region
1	Oklahoma	198.000	Minneapolis
2	LSU	197.675	Raleigh
3	UCLA	197.650	Columbus
4	Utah	197.475	Salt Lake City
5	Florida	197.725	University Park
6	Alabama	197.225	Tuscaloosa
8	Washington	196.275	University Park
9	California	196.725	Salt Lake City
10	Arkansas	196.775	Columbus
11	Nebraska	197.525	Raleigh
12	Kentucky	197.050	Minneapolis
18	Georgia	196.850	Tuscaloosa