No. 4 Florida Takes On No. 13 LSU in Gators Link to Pink Meet on Friday
Wednesday, January 27, 2010 | Gymnastics
The No. 4 University of Florida gymnastics team (2-1, 2-0 SEC) returns home to play host to No. 13 Louisiana State (3-2, 1-1 SEC) on Friday, Jan. 29 for the fourth annual Gators Link to Pink meet. Meet time is set for 7 p.m. in the Stephen C. O'Connell Center.
| Click here to see Gators Link to Pink promo video. |
This meet is part of a Southeastern Conference initiative to raise awareness about breast cancer and all of the league's teams will participate in a “pink” meet this season. Team colors are set aside as each team will wear pink (but in different shades). Information aimed to raise awareness about breast cancer prevention and treatment will be included at Friday's meet.
Stop by a Gainesville Chick-Fil-A store to pick up free admission passes to Friday's meet. The first 500 fans at the meet will receive a 2010 Gators Link to Pink poster, and the first 1,000 fans will receive a free pink “Link to Pink” t-shirt, compliments of Sun Sports.
| Gators Link to Pink Meet Info: |
| Meet: No. 4 Florida (2-1, 2-0 SEC) versus No. 13 LSU (3-2, 1-1 SEC) Date: Friday, Jan. 29 @ 7 p.m. (ET) Site: Stephen C. O'Connell Center (11,120) Parking: In addition to parking in O'Connell Center lot, there is a parking shuttle running from commuter lot on Gale Lemerand Drive to O'Connell Center. More information can be found here. Television: meet airs tape-delayed on Sun Sports on Feb. 9 at 5:30 p.m. Streaming Video: live streaming video of the meet is available on GatorVision. WWW: live scoring available at www.GatorZone.com Series Records (all-time): UF leads LSU 55-30 – last meeting, UF took fourth in 2009 NCAA Super Six competition with a 196.725 and LSU was sixth at 196.375. Tickets: $4.00 for adults; children 17 & under and UF students with ID are admitted free. Contact UAA Ticket Office for further info. Meet Promotions: Pink t-shirt giveaway: first 1,000 fans receive free pink “Link to Pink” t-shirts courtesy of Sun Sports; Gators Link to Pink poster: first 500 fans receive the 2010 edition of the Gators Link to Pink poster; Chick-Fil-A Ticket Promotion: visit a Gainesville Chick-Fil-A store to pick up free admission passes for the meet; UF Junior Cheerleading Clinic: UF Cheerleaders will host a clinic for girls 8th grade and under to perform prior to the meet. For more information call the Spirit Office at ext. 6692 or sign-up online; Girl Scouts Night: scouts are invited to attend the meet and participate in a banner contest! The troop with the most spirited banner will win a prize! To register a troop, call ext. 6600; Santa Fe Faculty, Staff and Student Night: Santa Fe employees and students receive free admission to the meet with their valid admission pass. To get your free admission pass, call 800-34-GATOR ext. 6600. For a complete list of promotions for Friday's meet, please check out the promotion schedule here. |
Fans are encouraged to take the parking shuttle from the Lemerand Drive Commuter Lot Friday. The bus will drop fans off at O'Connell Center gate 2 for easy access to the gymnastics meet. The shuttle starts at 5:30 p.m. and will run until a half hour after the conclusion of the meet.
LSU is the fourth straight top-15 team faced by Florida to start the season (Jan. 8 – then No. 9 Oklahoma, 196.25-195.275 loss; Jan. 15 - then No. 7 Arkansas, 196.575-195.925 win; Jan. 22 - then No. 12 Kentucky, 196.05-195.35 win). LSU is UF's third 2010 opponent that advanced to the 2009 NCAA Championships and the second that reached the 2009 NCAA Super Six. Meets between these two teams are traditionally close contests. Since 1995, 22 of the UF-LSU meetings have been decided by less than half a point. This includes three of the four meetings between UF and LSU in 2009, with UF finishing ahead of LSU in 2009 SEC Championship (0.20 margin), NCAA Team Qualifying (0.075 margin), and NCAA Super Six competitions (0.35 margin).
Last Friday, Florida won their first road meet of the year, posting a 196.05-195.35 victory over then No. 12 Kentucky. For the third straight week, at least half of the competitive routines came from Gator freshmen (12 of 24 total routines). Ashan?e Dickerson, who picked up her second consecutive SEC Freshman of the Week honor on Tuesday, collected up her third straight all-around win (39.25) at UK. She is the first Gator since Melissa Miller in 1988 to open a season with three consecutive all-around victories. Seven different Gators claimed at least a share of four of the five event titles. Senior Courtney Gladys led UF with two event titles, sharing the vault title with sophomore Nicole Ellis at 9.875. Gladys also shared the balance beam title with freshman Liz Green at 9.825. The wins for Ellis and Green were the first of their collegiate careers. Elizabeth Mahlich, Alicia Goodwin and Maranda Smith shared first in the uneven bars standings.
LSU turned in its season-high last Friday with its 195.65-193.90 win over then No. 11 Auburn in Baton Rouge, La. LSU senior Susan Jackson, who leads the nation with her season all-around average of 39.625, won at least a share of each of the five event titles versus Auburn. Her 39.525 in the all-around was enough to take her third-consecutive all-around victory of the year. LSU is lead by their Head Coach, D-D Breaux, who is in her 33rd season with the Tigers.
Tickets are $4.00 for adults, while children 17 and under plus UF students with Gator1 cards are admitted free. Live streaming video and scoring can be found at www.GatorZone.com. Friday's meet airs tape-delayed on SUN Sports on February 9 at 5:30 p.m.
