Florida Gators
NCAA Championships (Session I)
UF Gymnasts Advance to NCAA Super 6
Friday, April 16, 2004 | Gymnastics
The No. 6 seeded University of Florida gymnastics team advances to Friday's NCAA Super Six competition after sharing the Session I team title with Stanford in Thursday's team qualifying round. This will be the Gators' fourth NCAA Super Six appearance in the 12-year history of the two-day team format (1994, '97, '98). The last time Florida advanced to the NCAA Super Six came in 1998, when the meet was also held in UCLA's Pauley Pavilion.
The 12-team NCAA Championships' field is split into two sessions for Thursday's team qualifying competition. The top three teams in each of Thursday's two sessions advance to the NCAA Super Six on Friday, April 16 where the NCAA team champion is determined. On Saturday, April 17, the NCAA Individual Event finals will be held. Florida will send Chantelle Tousek and Erinn Dooley to the vault final and Orley Szmuch, Samantha Lutz and Dooley to the balance beam final. All gymnasts that advance to the NCAA Event Finals earn All-America first-team honors.
Florida turned in its highest score ever in NCAA Championships' competition, 196.85, to share the Session I team title with Stanford. Georgia took the final team qualifying spot at 196.775. Nebraska finished fourth (196.15), followed by Oklahoma (195.75) and Iowa (194.775).
In Session II action, defending NCAA champion UCLA took the top spot at 197.675. Alabama (197.325) and Utah (196.925) also advanced. LSU (196.65), Michigan (196.50) and Arizona State (196.325) rounded out Session II results. The draw for Friday's Super Six competition can be found at the end of this story.
Florida came off of bye to open the meet with a 49.00. Senior Erin Pendleton posted the Gators' top bars mark of 9.85, which placed her in a tied for 10th overall in the opening session. Dooley, Sherie Owens and Szmuch also turned in marks of 9.80.
The Gators looked solid on beam, although their total of 49.125 was the third-lowest for the team this season. But that total was the highest of the opening session and UF was the only team to turn in a beam total above 49.00. Three consecutive Gators –Szmuch, Dooley and Lutz – shared team-high honors on the event as each turned in marks of 9.85. Freshman Katie Rue also turned in a 9.80 Thursday afternoon to tie for eighth overall.
The UF scoring punch accelerated as the team came off of bye for its final two events. Florida's floor exercise team total of 49.35 was the fourth highest for the team in 2004 and ranked second in Thursday's afternoon session. Freshman Savannah Evans, Breanne King and Dooley shared fifth place in the session at 9.90, while Rue posted a 9.85.
"Savannah is an amazing floor worker and it was exciting to see her rewarded for that performance. She has some of the most difficult and unique tumbling in the competition. I believe there is only one other gymnast in this entire competition that is doing Savannah's first pass," UF Head Coach Rhonda Faehn said. "It was also exciting to see Breanne rewarded as well. She has hit every routine this season – that is an amazing accomplishment.
Heading into the final rotation, Florida knew it needed to hit vault to claim a spot in the Super Six. Every team competing in the final rotation (Florida, Oklahoma, Georgia and Stanford) was in contention for a critical top-three finish. If the Gators felt pressured, it didn't show as the team performed quickly and confidently as UF led all teams in the afternoon session with a vault total of 49.375. Dooley and Tousek shared the team-high mark of 9.90 to tie for third overall in the afternoon session. Florida also received a 9.875 from Szmuch.
"I knew not only just after the second bye, but coming into the competition that every team here was very talented and that our team would have to hit everything to advance to the Super Six. In our first two events, we didn't have any mistakes so it didn't concern me that we were down a little bit (Florida was in fourth at the midway point of the meet), because I knew we still had floor and vault to go and those are strong events for us as well. As long as we hit those events and focused all the way through, we would advance," Faehn said. "I just wanted to keep the athletes calm and relaxed, so we joked around with them a little bit. That was their demeanor all day. Mentally they were so confident that they knew we were going to advance and I think that played a part in their performance today.
"Having Erinn Dooley back in the all-around was a tremendous boost. We were without her at regionals on two events She has recovered fully from the concussion. That was just huge for us as well and really helped the team with her leadership as well," Faehn continued. "The freshmen really stepped up and did an amazing job again. Orley did a phenomenal job – again. She did so well at Regionals and to hit like she did today was key. She did a great job on floor, although her score does not reflect it. But she went up first and set the pace for us (on floor), which is a crucial role for us.
In the all-around, Dooley tied for fourth in the afternoon session at 39.45 to earn a spot on the All-America first team. Szmuch claimed All-America second team honors by sharing seventh at 39.325. Florida's final all-around, Breanne King, tied for 12th at 39.25. King has "hit" every performance of her collegiate career – that streak now stands at 50 "hits".
"Our goal for this meet was to make the Super Six and we met that goal. We also wanted to go 24-for-24 and I think we did a great job in all our routines. It was just amazing how everyone stepped up and competed so well. Hopefully we can build upon this performance tomorrow," Szmuch said.
Seven Gator gymnasts earned a total of 12 All-America honors – the top total of All-America honors in school history. A complete list of Florida's All-Americans can be found at the end of this story.
The NCAA Super Six competition is set for Friday, April 16 at 10:00 (EDT) in UCLA's Pauley Pavilion. Florida's top NCAA finish of second came in 1998 in Pauley Pavilion.
| No. 6 seed Florida at the NCAA Championships | ||||||
| Pauley Pavilion – Los Angeles, Calif. – April 15, 2004 | ||||||
| Vault | Bars | Beam | Floor | Rank | Total | |
| Florida | 49.375 | 49.000 | 49.125 | 49.350 | 1 | 196.850 |
| Stanford | 49.050 | 49.350 | 48.975 | 49.475 | 1 | 196.850 |
| Georgia | 49.225 | 49.350 | 48.975 | 49.225 | 3 | 196.775 |
| Nebraska | 49.250 | 49.125 | 48.875 | 48.900 | 4 | 196.150 |
| Oklahoma | 49.200 | 48.725 | 48.600 | 49.225 | 5 | 195.750 |
| Iowa | 48.950 | 48.725 | 47.800 | 49.300 | 6 | 194.775 |
| Florida 2004 Gymnastics All-Americans | ||||
| Name | Event | Score | Finish | First/Second |
| Erinn Dooley | All-Around | 39.45 | T4th | First Team |
| Vault | 9.90 | T3rd | First Team | |
| Balance Beam | 9.85 | T2nd | First Team | |
| Floor Exercise | 9.90 | T5th | Second Team | |
| Savannah Evans | Floor Exercise | 9.90 | T5th | Second Team |
| Breanne King | Floor Exercise | 9.90 | T5th | Second Team |
| Samantha Lutz | Balance Beam | 9.85 | T2nd | First Team |
| Katie Rue | Balance Beam | 9.80 | T8th | Second Team |
| Orley Szmuch | All-Around | 39.325 | T7th | Second Team |
| Vault | 9.875 | T7th | Second Team | |
| Balance Beam | 9.85 | T2nd | First Team | |
| Chantelle Tousek | Vault | 9.90 | T3rd | First Team |
| NCAA Super Six Draw | ||||||
| Friday, April 16, 2004 – Pauley Pavilion – Los Angeles, Calif. | ||||||
| Rot. | V | Bye | UB | BB | Bye | FX |
| I | Alabama | Florida | Utah | Stanford | Georgia | UCLA |
| II | UCLA | Alabama | Florida | Utah | Stanford | Georgia |
| III | Georgia | UCLA | Alabama | Florida | Utah | Stanford |
| IV | Stanford | Georgia | UCLA | Alabama | Florida | Utah |
| V | Utah | Stanford | Georgia | UCLA | Alabama | Florida |
| VI | Florida | Utah | Stanford | Georgia | UCLA | Alabama |
