Gator Gymnasts Move to NCAA Super Six with Session I Win

Thursday, April 24

Athens, GA

1:00 p.m.

Florida Gators

NCAA Championships (Team Qualifying)

Gator Gymnasts Move to NCAA Super Six with Session I Win

Thursday, April 24, 2008 | Gymnastics

The No. 2 seeded University of Florida gymnastics team (12-3-1, 4-2 SEC) topped Session I competition of the NCAA Championships team qualifying round to advance to its third-consecutive NCAA Super Six team final. Florida used a 196.90 to lead the teams in Session I, which was held Thursday afternoon in the University of Georgia's Stegeman Coliseum. The Gators now have advanced seven times in the 16-year history of the Super Six format. Thursday's result marks the second time UF advanced after winning its session.

Thursday's opening session certainly had a familiar feel, as four of the six teams came from the Southeastern Conference. The other two teams advancing to Friday's NCAA Super Six are also from the SEC - Alabama (196.65) and Louisiana State (196.575). Other Session I team results included Oklahoma (196.075), Arkansas (195.825) and Oregon State (195.475).

Sophomore Melanie Sinclair led the Session I all-arounders with her total of 39.525, which placed her in a tie for third overall in the NCAA all-around standings. UCLA senior Tasha Schwikert collected her second NCAA all-around title and first since 2005 with her total of 39.60. The all--around champion is determined by ranking the results from both of Thursday's sessions. Sinclair is the first Gator ever to top her session's all-around competition.

Sinclair's all-around contributions were limited during her freshman season as she continued to recover from a torn right anterior cruciate ligament suffered late in 2005 while with the U.S. National Team.

"It's exciting (to be competing in the all-around). I haven't been on top in all-around in a long time," Sinclair said. "To be able to compete in all events this year is an incredible feeling. It's great to be healthy enough to get out there and compete in all four events."

Florida's three other all-arounders also performed well Thursday. Joining Sinclair on the All-America first team were sophomore Amanda Castillo and junior Ashley Reed, who tied at 39.425. Junior Corey Hartung earned her third consecutive All-America second-team honor with her total of 39.40.

Did You Know...

Florida four all-arounders (Amanda Castillo, Corey Hartung, Ashley Reed and Melanie Sinclair) each earned All-America honors Thursday. The previous high number of Gator all-around All-Americans was three set in 1994 and equaled in 2007.

Although Florida won the day's opening session, UF Head Coach Rhonda Faehn saw room for improvement on Friday when the Gators seek to become the fifth team to claim a NCAA Championship title. Two of Thursday's event totals for Florida – vault (49.10) and balance beam (48.975) – were its second-lowest of the 2008 campaign.

"This afternoon was very competitive. As a team, we did a very good job. They all hung in there together," Faehn said. "There are a few areas we want to work on for tomorrow. We missed quite a few landings on vault and on the beam today. We'll need to make those adjustments for us to be successful tomorrow."

The beam set began with scores of 9.60 and 9.675. Faehn mentioned the performance of Sinclair as Florida's third competitor who helped the Gators sharpen their remaining beam routines.

"We started out a little bit shaky (on beam) but we didn't let that affect us. They really dug deeper. Melanie, who went third, pulled us out and did a tremendous job. She brought the focus and intensity to the rest of the lineup. That's something we've really worked hard on, not letting little things that you can't control affect you."

A pair of 9.85 beam scores from Sinclair and Reed led Florida on the event.

The Gators looked sharp on the floor exercise, turning in Session I's highest total for that event at 49.525. Four Gators turned in floor marks of 9.90 or better. Castillo and Hartung tied at 9.925, while Reed and senior Nicola Willis posted marks of 9.90.

Steps on landings hurt Florida's vault score. Three Gators shared the team's high mark of 9.85 on the event – Castillo, Sinclair and Reed.

Florida opened the meet on the uneven bars and saw its scores improve as they progressed through the lineup, finishing with a total of 49.30. Sinclair anchored the bars set with a mark of 9.95, which matched LSU's Ashleigh Clare-Kearney as the high mark on any event posted by a Session I competitor.

Five Gators matched the school-record number of All-America honors (15) for the second consecutive year. The five also will represent Florida in Saturday's individual event finals. Floor finals will have the largest Florida contingent, as four advance to the final. A chart of Florida's All-Americans can be found farther down this release.

As one of the top three teams in the NCAA Championships' opening session of the team qualifying competition, Florida advances to the NCAA Super Six where the NCAA team champion is determined. Competition for the NCAA Super Six is set for Friday, April 25 at 6 p.m. (ET). This is the seventh NCAA Super Six appearance for the Gators (1994, 1997, 1998, 2004, 2006, 2007, 2008). The highest NCAA finish for the Gators was second in the 1998 event held in Los Angeles, Calif. Last year, Florida took third.

NCAA Championships – Session I Team Results – April 24, 2008 – Stegeman Coliseum
	Team	Vault	Bars	Beam	Floor	Total
1.	Florida	49.100	49.300	48.975	49.525	196.900
2.	Alabama	49.125	49.375	48.850	49.300	196.650
3.	LSU	49.050	49.450	48.825	49.250	196.575
4.	Oklahoma	48.775	49.125	48.950	49.225	196.075
5.	Arkansas	49.150	49.125	48.575	48.975	195.825
6.	Oregon State	48.725	49.150	48.750	48.850	195.475
NCAA Championships – Session II Team Results – April 24, 2008 – Stegeman Coliseum
1.	Georgia	49.375	49.500	49.350	49.400	197.625
2.	Utah	49.400	49.300	49.050	49.200	196.950
3.	Stanford	49.200	49.325	49.200	49.175	196.900
4.	UCLA	49.250	49.475	48.800	49.200	196.725
5.	Michigan	48.950	49.375	48.650	49.100	196.075
6.	Denver	48.625	48.850	47.950	48.775	194.200
Shading denotes teams advancing to April 25 NCAA Super Six team final

NCAA Super Six Draw Championships –April 25, 2008 – Stegeman Coliseum
Rot.	V	Bye	Bars	Beam	Bye	Floor
I	Alabama	Stanford	Florida	Utah	LSU	Georgia
II	Georgia	Alabama	Stanford	Florida	Utah	LSU
III	LSU	Georgia	Alabama	Stanford	Florida	Utah
IV	Utah	LSU	Georgia	Alabama	Stanford	Florida
V	Florida	Utah	LSU	Georgia	Alabama	Stanford
VI	Stanford	Florida	Utah	LSU	Georgia	Alabama

2008 Gator All-Americans
Name	Event	Session I Score	All-America team
Amanda Castillo	All-Around	39.425	First Team
	Vault	9.850	Second Team
	Floor Exercise	9.925	First Team
Corey Hartung	All-Around	39.400	Second Team
	Balance Beam	9.825	Second Team
	Floor Exercise	9.925	First Team
Ashley Reed	All-Around	39.425	First Team
	Vault	9.850	Second Team
	Balance Beam	9.850	First Team
	Floor Exercise	9.900	First Team
Melanie Sinclair	All-Around	39.525	First Team
	Vault	9.850	Second Team
	Uneven Bars	9.950	First Team
	Balance Beam	9.850	First Team
Nicola Willis	Floor Exercise	9.900	First Team
Blue denotes gymnasts advancing to April 26 NCAA Individual Event Finals

Top 10 All-Around Results Session I & Session II Combined
	Name	School	All-Around Total
1	Schwikert, Tasha	UCLA	39.600
2	Postell, Ashley	Utah	39.550
3	Sinclair, Melanie	Florida	39.525
3	Heenan, Katie	Georgia	39.525
3	Tolnay, Tiffany	Georgia	39.525
3	Baskett, Kristina	Utah	39.525
7	Yim, Tabitha	Stanford	39.500
7	Jackson, Susan	LSU	39.500
9	Castillo, Amanda	Florida	39.425
9	Reed, Ashley	Florida	39.425
9	Ourada, Nicole	Stanford	39.425

NCAA Individual Event Finals Draw – April 26, 2008 @ 6 p.m.
Vault				Uneven Bars
1	Kristina	Baskett	Utah	1	Ashleigh	Clare-Kearney	LSU
2	Michelle	Stout	Arkansas	2	Tiffany	Tolnay	Georgia
3	Kyndal	Robarts	Utah	3	Kassi	Price	Alabama
4	Kristina	Comforte	UCLA	4	Katie	Heenan	Georgia
5	Tasha	Schwikert	UCLA	5	Elizabeth	Tricase	Stanford
6	Susan	Jackson	LSU	6	Desire'	Sniatynski	Nebraska
7	Marcia	Newby	Georgia	7	Kylee	Botterman	Michigan
8	Katie	Heenan	Georgia	8	Tasha	Schwikert	UCLA
9	Yuki	Lamb	Oregon State	9	Ashley	Postell	Utah
10	Kayla	Hoffman	Alabama	10	Nikki	Childs	Georgia
11	Julie	Dwyer	Auburn	11	Kristina	Baskett	Utah
				12	Kristina	Comforte	UCLA
				13	Becky	Bernard	Michigan
				14	Grace	Taylor	Georgia
				15	Summer	Hubbard	LSU
				16	Anna	Li	UCLA
				17	Melanie	Sinclair	Florida
				18	Tabitha	Yim	Stanford

Balance Beam				Floor Exercise
1	Melanie	Sinclair	Florida	1	Tiffany	Tolnay	Georgia
2	Tabitha	Yim	Stanford	2	Morgan	Dennis	Alabama
3	Nicole	Ourada	Stanford	3	Ashleigh	Clare-Kearney	LSU
4	Katie	Heenan	Georgia	4	Courtney	McCool	Georgia
5	Grace	Taylor	Georgia	5	Susan	Jackson	LSU
6	Ashley	Postell	Utah	6	Ashley	Reed	Florida
7	Susan	Jackson	LSU	7	Kiara	Sturms	Oklahoma
8	Brandi	Personett	Penn State	8	Kristina	Baskett	Utah
9	Tiffany	Tolnay	Georgia	9	Amanda	Castillo	Florida
10	Emily	Parsons	Nebraska	10	Tasha	Schwikert	UCLA
11	Ashley	Reed	Florida	11	Corey	Hartung	Florida
				12	Nicola	Willis	Florida
				13	Cassidy	McComb	Georgia
				14	Ashley	Postell	Utah
Shading denotes different flights