Gator Gymnasts Third at SEC Championships * Van Fleet Wins SEC Balance Beam Crown

Saturday, March 27

Tuscaloosa, AL

8:00 PM

Florida Gators

SEC Championships

Gator Gymnasts Third at SEC Championships * Van Fleet Wins SEC Balance Beam Crown

Saturday, March 27, 1999 | Gymnastics

By: UF Communications

TUSCALOOSA, Ala. – The No. 11 University of Florida gymnastics team used its second-highest score of the season to take third overall at the Southeastern Conference Championships, held Saturday evening in front of a Coleman Coliseum crowd of 7,787. Georgia, the nation's top-ranked team, claimed its fourth consecutive SEC team title at 197.475. Alabama, ranked No. 2 in the nation, was runner-up at 196.775, while No. 11 Florida posted a 195.875 to take third. No. 5 LSU finished fourth at 195.375, followed by Kentucky (194.875) and Auburn (194.00).

UF junior Chrissy Van Fleet led the Gators Saturday evening by winning the balance beam title with a collegiate-best mark of 9.925 and posting top-four individual finishes in three other events. Van Fleet is the first Gator to win the SEC beam crown since Melissa Miller claimed the 1988 title, also in the University of Alabama's Coleman Coliseum. She is also the first UF gymnast to win a SEC event title since Kristen Guise claimed the 1995 all-around and uneven bars crowns. UF teammate Betsy Hamm was runner-up in the beam competition at 9.90.

Van Fleet was also runner-up in the SEC all-around competition, sharing the position with Georgia's Kristi Lichey at 39.525. That all-around total is just .025 away from her collegiate-best total of 39.55 set earlier this month with Van Fleet's win at the SunTrust Invitational. Georgia's Karin Lichey, the nation's top-ranked all-arounder, won the evening's title with a total of 39.675. She also won the floor exercise (9.95) and shared the vault title at 9.95 with teammate Suzanne Sears. UGA's Jenni Beathard claimed the uneven bars crown at 9.95.

Van Fleet led UF on vault, taking fourth at 9.90. She also posted UF's top bars mark of 9.90 to tie for third overall. UF freshman Hilary Thompson led the Gators on the floor exercise, tying for eighth at 9.85.

"I am happy with our performance," UF Head Coach Judi Markell said. "We were a little sloppy on floor, but looked great on bars and beam. There was some pressure since this conference is so competitive, but they came through. This was our second-highest score of the season and that should help keep us among the top 12 teams in the nation, which is important for the regional seeding."

Next up, the Gators will compete in the NCAA Regionals, set for April 10. Two of the nation's top 12 teams will compete in each of the six NCAA Regional sites, joining four other teams from the region. The top two teams in each regional meet will advance to the NCAA Championships, set for April 22-24 in Salt Lake City, Utah. The regional pairings will be announced by the NCAA on Monday, March 29.