Florida Gators

The No. 1 Georgia gymnastics team (10-0, 6-0 SEC) posted the nation's high score of 2009 to take a 198.20-196.65 win over No. 7 Florida (5-3, 3-3 SEC) Saturday afternoon in front of a sold-out Stegeman Coliseum crowd of 10,224.

Georgia senior Courtney Kupets, the nation's top-ranked all-arounder, won that event title Saturday at 39.85 - the nation's top total of 2009. She collected at least a share of every apparatus title Saturday, including posting a 10.0 floor mark. She used a 9.975 to win the uneven bars, a 9.925 for the vault title and shared the day's balance beam crown with teammate Courtney McCool at 9.95.

Florida's Melanie Sinclair upped her Florida season-high all-around total to 39.575 Saturday to tie UGA senior Tiffany Tolnay for second overall. UF junior Amanda Castillo, making her first all-around appearance of the season, was fourth at 39.425.

Florida was without the full services of senior All-American Corey Hartung Saturday. A muscle strain in her left calf kept her out of the vault and floor exercise lineups. It ended her stretch of consecutive all-around performances at 18, which began Feb. 1, 2008 in the home dual versus Arkansas.

The Gators opened the meet on the uneven bars, posting a 49.275. Three tied for the Gators' high mark of 9.875 on the event – Alicia Goodwin, Maranda Smith and Sinclair.

The impact of the team's injuries hit the Gators on vault. The Gators left themselves with no cushion in the vault lineup as only five competed Saturday. Courtney Gladys sat down on her landing, forcing UF to include a fall in its vault total for the first time since 1999. UF posted a season-low 48.625 on the event. Smith anchored the UF lineup with her mark of 9.90, which tied her for second overall with UGA's Tiffany Tolnay and Hilary Mauro.

“Gosh darn on vault - we were just so short handed. Courtney's fall – that was just a fluke. She was trying so hard for the stick. And this just happened to be the meet that we didn't have any extra bodies,” UF Head Coach Rhonda Faehn said. “But the best thing was how this team responded. They could have given up knowing that it would be really difficult for us to win. But instead they fought for every little thing and every tenth. It showed their strength of character and their strength of will.”

Florida elevated its performances on its final two events, matching or tallying season-high totals for both. The Gators matched its season-high of 49.45 on the floor exercise. That total was boosted by a pair of 9.925s from Sinclair and Smith. The mark set Sinclair's season-best for floor and equaled Smith's collegiate-best. They shared second overall in the final floor standings with UGA's Grace Taylor, Marcia Newby and Tolnay.

Florida finished the meet with a season-best 49.30 on the balance beam. Sinclair led UF on the event with her season-high mark of 9.90. She shared third in the final beam standings with UGA's Grace Taylor and Mauro.

Sinclair like how the team upped their performance after the problem on vault.

“We had a little mistake on vault, but we overcame that on floor. Everyone did very well. It was a good away meet for us,” Sinclair said. “I think we did really, really well.”

Faehn is looking forward to when the Gators will have more options for competitors, but she did see a step in that direction with Castillo's first all-around performance of 2009.

“We still need to get our athletes healthy, but it shows that we are getting more consistent. It was great to have Amanda (Castillo) out there in the all-around for the first time. She hit that beam routine which had a new series and also her double-pike dismount. She coming back,” Faehn said. “I'm really proud of them. I thought they did a great job.”

Next up, Florida plays host to No. 14 Michigan (13-3, 4-0 Big Ten) on Friday, March 6 for its final home appearance this season. Meet time is set for 7 p.m. in the in the Stephen C. O'Connell Center. It is Senior Night and UF's only senior, All-American Corey Hartung, will be honored. The first 500 kids at Friday's meet receive a lunch bag courtesy of Dodge. It is also Dollar Night and select concession items are only $1.00. For a complete list of promotions surrounding Friday's meet, please check out the Gator Outlook.

There will be a parking shuttle available for Friday's meet. It will begin at 5:30 p.m. and will run until a half hour after the conclusion of the meet. A map of the shuttle's pick-up and drop-off locations can be found here.