No. 3 Florida Gymnasts Opens SEC Championships on Bye Before Floor
Friday, March 28, 2008 | Gymnastics
The No. 3 University of Florida gymnastics team (8-2, 4-2 SEC) will start on the bye before floor exercise at the 28th annual Southeastern Conference Gymnastics Championships.
All the teams gathered on the floor exercise mat between Friday's two practice sessions at the Gwinnett Center to hold the official draw for the meet. The Gators are the defending league champions and seek their first back-to-back title since the program won four straight beginning in 1982. The SEC Championships begin at 4 p.m. (ET) Saturday, March 29 in the Gwinnett Center.
“I think practice went quite well. The team got used to the equipment and I thought it went really smoothly,” UF Head Coach Rhonda Faehn said. “It is important that all of our gymnasts performing the routines that we are going to compete tomorrow had some time to get used to the equipment and the podium. I think we are ready to go.”
The Gators' competition draw was not as fortunate as in 2007, when UF started on vault, but Faehn could find some benefits.
“Definitely not ideal, to be honest about it,” Faehn said. “The thing about it that is great is that we start on a bye and can let the first rotation get worked out as is. We are extremely strong on floor and for us to sit out on a bye and to come in on one of our strongest events should fare well for us as we look to gain momentum for the rest of the meet.
Four of the top six teams in the latest national rankings (No. 1 Georgia, No. 3 Florida, No. 5 LSU, No. 6 Alabama) are among the seven-team SEC field. It is the 11th time a league team has brought the No. 1 ranking into the SEC meet. This is the fifth consecutive season that four league teams enter the SEC Championships ranked among the nation's top 10 (also happened in 2007, 2006, 2005, 2004, 1998 and 1997). All seven league teams are ranked among the nation's top 25 (No. 1 Georgia, No. 3 Florida, No. 5 LSU, No. 6 Alabama, No. 11 Arkansas, No. 13 Auburn, No. 20 Kentucky).
Florida claimed its sixth team title at the 2007 SEC meet and first since 1989. Amanda Castillo, the 2007 SEC Freshman of the Year, claimed the 2007 SEC floor exercise title. She was one of three Gators to earn 2007 All-SEC honors (Castillo, Corey Hartung, Melanie Sinclair, Ashley Reed). Florida returns 15 of its 24 competitive routines from the 2007 SEC Championship team. In between UF's sixth and fifth SEC titles, Georgia (2006, '05, '04, '02, '01, '99, '98, '97, '96, '94, '93, '92, '91) and Alabama (2003, '00, '95, '90) claimed the league crowns.
This is the third time the SEC Gymnastics Championships appear in the Gwinnett Center. Georgia claimed both of those titles (2004 and 2005).
The meet airs tape-delayed on Sun Sports April 7 @ noon (ET).
| Southeastern Conference Gymnastics Championships | |||||||
| Competitive Draw | |||||||
| March 29, 2008 * Gwinnett Center * Duluth, Ga. | |||||||
| Bye | Vault | Bye | Bars | Beam | Bye | Floor | |
| I | UK | ARK | UA | LSU | AU | UF | UGA |
| II | UGA | UK | ARK | UA | LSU | AU | UF |
| III | UF | UGA | UK | ARK | UA | LSU | AU |
| IV | AU | UF | UGA | UK | ARK | UA | LSU |
| V | LSU | AU | UF | UGA | UK | ARK | UA |
| VI | UA | LSU | AU | UF | UGA | UK | ARK |
| VII | ARK | UA | LSU | AU | UF | UGA | UK |
