Florida's Susan Hines Wins NCAA Vault Title

Saturday, April 19

Gainesville, FL

7 p.m.

Florida Gators

NCAA Individual Event Finals

Florida's Susan Hines Wins NCAA Vault Title

Sunday, April 20, 1997 | Gymnastics

Susan Hines is first Gator to claim a NCAA vault title

GAINESVILE, Fla. ‑‑‑ University of Florida sophomore Susan Hines claimed the NCAA vault crown Saturday in the NCAA Individual Event Championships, held Saturday evening in the Stephen C. O'Connell Center. Hines is only the second Gator gymnast to earn a NCAA event title and the first since Maria Anz claimed the 1984 NCAA floor exercise crown.

Hines' title is also the 100th NCAA individual event title claimed by the UF women's athletics program.

The NCAA vault final format differs from the regular season, where the best of two vaults counts toward the team score. In the NCAA vault final, the gymnast must perform two different vaults and the average of the two scores is used to determine the NCAA champion. Hines perform a handspring front pike vault during the course of the regular season, which has a start value of 10.0. The first vault she performed Saturday was a handspring front tuck, which has a start value of 9.90. She nailed both vaults, earning a 9.85 for the handspring front tuck and a 9.925 for the handspring front pike, giving her the top average of 9.8875. Defending NCAA vault champion Leah Brown of Georgia was runner‑up at 9.8625.

Other Gator results Saturday include junior Sybil Stephenson and freshman Chrissy Van Fleet taking 10th (9.675) and 12th (9.45), respectively in the uneven bars final. Georgia's Jenni Beathard won the bars crown with a 9.95.

In the balance beam final, Hines took seventh (9.775) and Van Fleet finished tied for eighth (9.75). Arizona State's Elizabeth Reed shared the beam title with defending beam champion Summer Reid of Utah at 9.90. Georgia's Brown claimed the floor exercise title with a mark of 9.95.

All the Gators that appeared in the NCAA event finals earned All‑America first team honors. The following is a complete list of Gators that earned All‑America accolades at the NCAA Championships:

1997 Gator All-Americans
Jaime Graziano	All-Around	All-American Second Team
Susan Hines	Vault	All-America First Team
	Beam	All-America First Team
	Floor	All-America Second Team
Sybil Stephenson	Uneven Bars	All-America First Team
Chrissy Van Fleet	All-Around	All-America First Team
	Uneven Bars	All-America First Team
	Balance Beam	All-America First Team
	Floor Exercise	All-America Second Team
Chrissy Vogel	Floor Exercise	All-America Second Team