Gator Gymnastics Team Unveils 2009 Schedule
Monday, July 14, 2008 | Gymnastics
The University of Florida gymnastics team released its 2009 schedule today. Seven of the 12 teams among the 2008 NCAA Championship field, including four that advanced to the NCAA Super Six team final, appear on the challenging schedule. The Gators' five home dates includes three dual meets versus teams that advanced to the last season's NCAA Championships.
"This schedule will test our team throughout the 2009 season. Our home schedule features some great dual meets against some of the nation's best competition." UF Head Coach Rhonda Faehn said. "Our fans will see some great meets throughout the season."
The 2009 home schedule opens with meets on consecutive Friday nights. Action begins at the O'Connell Center Jan. 9 with a dual versus 2008 NCAA Championship participant Oklahoma. The Sooners took eighth in 2008 NCAA Championships' competition. Then Southeastern Conference rival Auburn comes to town for a Jan. 16 dual meet. The opening month of the 2009 season ends with the Florida-Kentucky dual meet. The UF-UK dual is the Gators' third breast cancer awareness meet, an evening when pink will be prevalent among the teams and fans with the goal to raise understanding about the fight against breast cancer.
Only one home meet is scheduled for the month of February, but it promises to be one of the nation's top duals of the season as perennial power Alabama visits for the Feb. 20 dual. Last season, Alabama edged Florida by a tenth in the dual meet in Tuscaloosa. The two teams tied for second at the SEC Championships, as Georgia took the meet title by the smallest margin in the meet's history. Both teams also advanced to the NCAA Super Six team final, with the Gators taking fourth and Alabama finishing sixth.
| Did You Know… | |
| Florida's average attendance has grown each year since Rhonda Faehn took over for the 2003 season. Last year's average attendance of 6,358 per meet is the second largest in the program's history. | |
| Year | Avg. Attendance |
| 2008 | 6,358 |
| 2007 | 4,562 |
| 2006 | 4,147 |
| 2005 | 3,814 |
| 2004 | 3,253 |
| 2003 | 2,791 |
The regular-season home slate closes in March with a dual meet versus traditional power Michigan on March 6. UM took ninth in 2008 NCAA Championships' competition. This will be the Wolverines' first visit to Gainesville since 2001.
"We are excited that Oklahoma is coming here for the season opener. The Sooners have advanced to the last three NCAA Championships and should be a great early test. Last year at Auburn, we took a narrow win, so we know that we will need to be ready for the Tigers," Faehn said. "We are honored to play host to Kentucky on Jan. 30 for our third annual Breast Cancer Awareness event. We want to do whatever we can to help raise awareness about breast cancer because it still strikes too many lives."
"The Alabama dual promises to be a great meet as our competitions have been quite close in recent years. We are excited that Michigan, a traditional power in collegiate gymnastics, is returning to Gainesville."
Road action for the Gators begins with two SEC opponents that advanced to 2008 NCAA Championship competition. Florida meets Arkansas in Fayetteville, Ark., on Jan. 23 and LSU in Baton Rouge, La., on Feb. 6. Arkansas took 10th in their second NCAA Championship appearance last season and the Tigers advanced to their first NCAA Super Six team final in 2009, taking fifth overall. The Gators make their first trip to East Lansing, Mich., to meet Michigan State for a Feb. 14 dual. February's competition dates ends with a dual at four-time defending NCAA champion Georgia. The last two duals between these two teams have been extraordinarily close. In 2007, the two teams tied in their dual held in UGA's Stegeman Coliseum and the GymDogs edged Florida by the smallest margin possible (0.025) in the 2008 dual held in front of an O'Connell Center record crowd of 10,855.
The regular season ends with a trip to Salt Lake City to meet collegiate powerhouse Utah, runner-up in the last three NCAA Championships. Florida has taken the last two duals between these two teams, collecting its first-ever win in Salt Lake City in 2007 and taking the win to end the 2008 regular-season home slate.
The championship portion of the season begins March 21 when the SEC Championships come to the Sommet Center for its first visit to Nashville, Tenn. NCAA Regional competition will take place April 4 in six campus sites. The top two teams at each regional site advance to the NCAA Championships. Nebraska will play host to its second national championship April 16-18.
2009 Gator Gymnastics Schedule | |||
Date | Opponent | Location | Time |
| 1/9 | Oklahoma | GAINESVILLE, Fla. | 7 p.m. |
| 1/16 | Auburn | GAINESVILLE, Fla. | 7 p.m. |
| 1/23 | Arkansas | Fayetteville, Ark. | 8 p.m. |
| 1/30 | Gators Link to Pink versus Kentucky | GAINESVILLE, Fla. | 7 p.m. |
| 2/6 | LSU | Baton Rouge, La. | 8 p.m. |
| 2/14 | Michigan State | East Lansing, Mich. | 7 p.m. |
| 2/20 | Alabama | GAINESVILLE, Fla. | 7 p.m. |
| 2/28 | Georgia | Athens, Ga. | 4 p.m. |
| 3/6 | Michigan | GAINESVILLE, Fla. | 7 p.m. |
| 3/13 | Utah | Salt Lake City, Utah | 9 p.m. |
| 3/21 | SEC Championships | Nashville, Tenn. | 5 p.m. |
| 4/4 | NCAA Southeast Regional | TBA - Campus sites^ | |
| 4/16-18 | NCAA Championships | Lincoln, Neb. | |
| All times listed are ET | |||
| ^ - 2009 NCAA Regional sites: Central - Columbus, Ohio; North Central - Iowa City, Iowa; Northeast - Tuscaloosa, Ala.; South Central - Fayetteville, Ark.; Southeast - Raleigh, N.C.; West - Seattle, Wash. | |||
