Florida Gators

After runner-up finishes in its previous two Super Six Challenge appearances, the No. 3 University of Florida gymnastics team moved up to the top position Friday, claiming its first team title for the event Friday evening in front of a Barnhill Arena crowd of 2,066. Florida, making its seventh appearance in the event, becomes the third program (Georgia - titles in 2002, '01, '03, '05 and Alabama - 2000, '01, '04, '06) to take the Super Six Challenge crown.

Florida finished the meet with a team total of 196.55 – just a fraction away from UF's all-time best season-opening score set in the 2003 Super Six Challenge (196.575). No. 7 Nebraska (195.20) was second, followed by No. 14 Penn State (194.575), No. 9 LSU (194.075), No. 17 Denver (192.975) and No. 15 Arkansas (192.80). The meet will air tape-delayed on ESPN2 Jan. 14 at 3:30 p.m. (ET).

A Gator claimed at least a share of four of the individual event titles Friday. Red-shirt freshman Melanie Sinclair won the all-around at 39.275 and shared the uneven bars title by matching the meet-record mark of 9.975.Junior Ashley Reed won the balance beam (9.90) and shared the floor exercise title (9.85).

To take the meet title, Florida needed to overcome a .40 deficit to LSU at the midpoint of the meet. Florida came off of bye to the uneven bars for the fourth rotation and quickly made up ground on the Tigers. The Gators posted a 49.575 – matching the third-highest team total ever for UF on the event. Sinclair, making her first competitive appearance since the U.S. Classic in July of 2005, lived up to her reputation as a top bars performer. Her mark of 9.975 shared top honors on the event with Denver's Jessica Lopez and is the second-highest score ever for UF on the event (three share the UF bar record of 10.0). The mark also matched the meet record set by UCLA's Jamie Dantzscher in 2002.

Sinclair, who sat out last season recovering from a knee injury, truly enjoyed making her collegiate competitive debut Friday evening.

“It was amazing. I missed that feeling of competing, the crowd, the team – I just loved all of it. It was so exciting to be competing for the team,” Sinclair said. “Last year sitting on the sideline was exciting, but now to be out there was amazing.”

Every Gator in the lineup posted a bars mark of 9.875 or higher. Sophomore All-American Corey Hartung posted a collegiate-best of 9.925 to tie for third overall, while UF also got marks of 9.90 from junior Nicola Willis and freshman Amanda Castillo. Freshman Rebekah Zaiser and senior All-American Samantha Lutz both posted marks of 9.875.

UF turned in the evening's highest balance beam team total of 49.075, as the first five Gators all turned in hit routines. Reed, who had matched her previous collegiate beam best of 9.85 seven times, upped that mark to 9.90 Friday to take the event title. Sinclair was runner-up on the event at 9.85. Hartung also posted a 9.825 to finish fourth.

Florida opened the season and the meet with the floor exercise, totaling a 48.85. An out-of-bounds deduction and extra steps on some landings hurt UF's score. Reed, debuting her floor routine set to “The Mile High Jump”, shared the meet title with Denver's Lopez with her mark of 9.85. Willis also turned in a 9.825 Friday for her new routine, tying for third overall.

The vault also provided some solid scores for Florida, with three marks above 9.825. Reed and freshman Castillo anchored the Gator vault set with identical marks of 9.85 to tie for fifth overall. Willis also posted a 9.825 on the event.

“I was really proud of the athletes. They came out really aggressive. We started off on floor where we had several new skills and competitors, including Melanie (Sinclair), who hasn't competed in such a long time. Amanda Castillo also was making her first collegiate appearance and Katie Rue was debuting a double layout for her opening pass. We had a few mistakes, but they did a nice job of staying focused throughout the rest of competition and not relaxing. The team was very positive,” UF Head Coach Rhonda Faehn said. “We accomplished our goals that we set coming into this competition. We just wanted to focus on ourselves. There are definitely some things that we need to work on to get better, but I am very happy with our start. This is exactly where we want to be at this point of the season.”

The Super Six Challenge, considered one of the premier competitions of the collegiate gymnastics regular season, was started eight years ago. Former Southeastern Conference Commissioner Roy Kramer initiated the competition to create a showcase event for the league's gymnastics program.

Florida returns home to play host to a Meet the Team event in the Ted Crom Gymnastics Studio on Sunday, Jan. 7 at 2 p.m. Fans planning to attend should enter at Gate 4 of the Stephen C. O'Connell Center. Admission is free and 2007 Gator Gymnastics squad will sign autographs immediately following the event.

The 2007 home season begins Friday, Jan. 12 when No. 12 Oregon State visits for a dual meet. Admission is $4.00 for adults, while youth 17 and under and UF students with identification are admitted free.