No. 1 Florida Gymnastics Opens Southeastern Conference Season Friday with No. 4 Auburn
Thursday, January 15, 2009 | Gymnastics
The No. 1 Florida gymnastics team (1-0, 0-0 SEC) plays host to No. 4 Auburn (1-1, 0-1 SEC) Friday, Jan. 16 for its Southeaster Conference opener. Meet time is set for 7 p.m. in the Stephen C. O'Connell Center. This is the sixth time Florida will compete in front of its home audience as the nation's No. 1 team, with all of the appearances as the nation's top-ranked team coming since 2007.
Friday's Meet Info |
| Meet: No. 1 Florida (1-0, 0-0 SEC) versus No. 4 Auburn (1-1, 0-1 SEC) Date: Friday, Jan. 16 @ 7 p.m. ET Television: None GatorVision: live, streaming video of the meet is available on GatorVision. More information available at www.GatorZone.com WWW: live scoring available at http://www.gatorzone.com Series Records (all-time): UF leads Auburn 52-11 - last meeting, UF defeated AU 197.325-196.10 (3-29-08) Meet Promotions: Gainesville Sun Ad - Present newspaper ad from 1/14/09 paper and receive $2 off adult admission; Gator Booster Night – Gator Booster members receive 2-for-1 admission by showing their Gator Booster membership card and presenting a special admission coupon; Chamber of Commerce Night - Chamber members received a free admission pass through an e-newsletter; Gymnastics Club Night I – Florida Gymnastics clubs invited to the meet. Club directors will need to send a pass list/compliance form (one week prior) for free admission Tickets: $4.00 for adults; children 17 & under and UF students with ID are admitted free. |
Bring the ad from page 6C of Wednesday's Gainesville Sun for half off an adult admission ($2.00) for the Florida-Auburn meet.
This is the second consecutive meet for Florida versus a top-10 opponent. Last Friday, UF opened the season with a 196.50-195.075 win over preseason No. 10 Oklahoma. That score ranks as the nation's top total turned in for this very young season. Florida took each of the event titles versus Oklahoma. All-American Melanie Sinclair opened her junior season just like her past two - by winning the all-around title. Sinclair also won the vault and uneven bars. Junior All-American Amanda Castillo took the beam win while senior All-American Corey Hartung and junior Maranda Smith shared the floor win.
Auburn is 1-1 this season. The Tigers opened the 2009 season with a 196.375-193.85 win at Illinois-Chicago on Jan. 4. Last Friday, Auburn was edged by No. 6 Alabama by the narrowest margin possible, 0.025, in its home opener (195.675-195.650). Last year, the Tigers took fifth in the SEC Championships and placed fourth at the NCAA Northeast Region Championships. Senior Lindsey Puckett shared the 2008 SEC Gymnast of the Year honor with LSU's Ashleigh Clare-Kearney. Jeff Thompson is in his 10th season as Auburn's head coach. He has twice been named the SEC Coach of the Year, including sharing the 2008 honor.
Auburn and Florida last met in the 2008 SEC Championships. The Gators shared second with Alabama at 197.325 behind Georgia's winning total of 197.35. Auburn was fifth in the SEC Championships at 196.10.
Tickets are $4.00 for adults, while children 17 and under plus UF students with identification are admitted free. Live, streaming video can be seen at www.GatorZone.com – just click on the GatorVision icon for more information. Kylee Small and Jared Spears will cover the action Friday.
