Florida Gators
Southeastern Conference Championships
Florida Gymnasts Win Southeastern Conference Title
Sunday, March 28, 2010 | Gymnastics
The No. 4 University of Florida gymnastics team (15-2, 5-1 SEC) claimed the team crown at the 30th edition of the Southeastern Conference Championships held Saturday in front of a Veterans Memorial Arena crowd of 5,628. The title is the seventh for the Gator program and the first since 2007.
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| Tonight's meet airs on ESPN2 Sunday, April 4 at 11 a.m. |
The Gators won the meet with a team total of 197.05 while Alabama, the nation's top-ranked team and defending SEC champion team, was runner-up at 196.875. Five-time defending NCAA champion Georgia was third at 196.825, followed by LSU (195.75), Auburn (195.575), Arkansas (195.275) and Kentucky (194.80).
There was no question that this meet was going to be competitive, as five of the nation's current top-10 teams come from the SEC. The Gators drew the preferred rotation in Friday's draw, as they competed in the Olympic rotation. But the Gators' opening event, the vault, was not what the team had hoped for. UF Head Coach Rhonda Faehn liked the way her team put their difficulties behind them when they went to the uneven bars.
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“Starting out, those were some of our worst performances of the year,” Faehn said. “Instead of our athletes looking at them and thinking, 'Oh my goodness. We have already lost and have no chance,' they dug deeper. They came out for bars on fire. I told them not to hold back, go for your handstands and go for your sticks.”
And the sticks came. Many of the Gators punctuated their routines with a stuck dismount and Florida finished the meet with the highest bar total of the evening, 49.125. Sophomore All-American Elizabeth Mahlich led the Gators on the event and tied for third overall as she equaled her collegiate-best bar mark of 9.875.
The drama wasn't over for the Gators yet, though. Several Gators turned in stellar balance beam routines Saturday. Senior Courtney Gladys opened the beam set as she turned in her collegiate-best beam mark of 9.90 and freshman Marissa King matched her top beam mark for the second consecutive week with her 9.90. But Liz Green had two falls – the first of her collegiate career on the event- as the Gators' fifth competitor. It was up to fellow freshman Ashan?e Dickerson to anchor the Gators' beam set. She responded to the challenge in front of her hometown crowd with a mark of 9.925, which tied for second overall in the final beam standings.
“They carried that momentum into the beam,” Faehn said. “They were so aggressive, sticking their landing and I could just see the passion each and every one of them put forth in their routine.”
For Dickerson, she was aware something was amiss from the crowd's reaction, but she just concentrated on the job ahead of her.
“I never watch the routines before I go,” Dickerson said. “I just go through my routine in my head and I just talk to myself while I am doing my routine. I knew I had to stick the dismount.”
The final rotation had three teams in contention for the team title. Alabama finished their competition the rotation before and Georgia was on beam while Florida moved to floor. Florida needed to average a 9.85 on floor to finish ahead of the Tide and needed to score better than Georgia, as UF led the GymDogs by only 0.05.
The Gators matched their third-best floor total of the season, 49.40, to close out the win. Florida used marks of 9.875 from Green, Amy Ferguson, Dickerson and King plus a 9.90 from senior All-American Maranda Smith toward their total which was the highest of the evening. Smith tied for second in the final floor standings.
Smith said the team focused on what was ahead and left the miscues behind.
“We are always told that it is never over until it is over, and we have to keep fighting and that is exactly what we did. Mistakes happen and we're taught to keep pushing through them,” Smith said. “So, it does get a little nerve wrecking when that happens, but we pulled it together as a team and came back with a great floor exercise performance from everyone. It was amazing.”
For Faehn, she knew the Gators could take the win.
There was never a moment in mind I doubted us,” Faehn said. “I was shocked a little with Liz [Green], because it was so uncharacteristic of her. I told her, 'You throw that away. Ignore it. You're going to go out and do the best floor routine you've ever done before,' and she said, 'Yes, I will.' Then she did. Those are signs of a true competitor, not carrying mistakes on to the next event.”
“It is a huge sense of accomplishment. Look at what makes up our routines. The majority of our routines were done by freshmen, who have never taken part in an SEC Championship. They don't even know what it is like. For them to come up here and compete the way they did, with the guidance of our upper classmen, gives them a huge sense of accomplishment,” she continued. “Look what we can do and what our future holds. It's really exciting for them.
Two Gators finished among the top four all-arounders Saturday. Dickerson, who was named the SEC Freshman of the Year, was runner-up at 39.45 and King tied for fourth at 39.325.
Faehn shared the SEC Coach of the Year honor with Alabama's Sarah Patterson. It is her third such honor since 2006.
The evening's all-around (39.50) and balance beam (9.95) titles went to Alabama's Ashley Priess (39.50). Georgia's Kat Ding claimed the uneven bars title (9.925) while teammate Courtney McCool was the floor exercise winner (9.95). Three shared the vault title at 9.90 – Alabama's Morgan Dennis, LSU's Susan Jackson and Georgia's Hilary Mauro.
Next up, the Gators await Monday's announcement by the NCAA of team assignments for the six NCAA Regional sites. The NCAA Regional Championships are set for April 10. The top two teams at each of the six sites will advance to the NCAA Championships, set for April 22-24 at the University of Florida's Stephen C. O'Connell Center.
| Final Team Standings | ||||||
| No. 4 Florida at Southeastern Conference Championships – March 27, 2010 – Veterans Memorial Arena (5,628) | ||||||
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| Team | Vault | Bars | Beam | Floor | Total |
| 1. | Florida | 49.125 | 49.125 | 49.400 | 49.400 | 197.05 |
| 2. | Alabama | 49.300 | 48.950 | 49.250 | 49.375 | 196.875 |
| 3. | Georgia | 49.275 | 49.025 | 49.225 | 49.300 | 196.825 |
| 4. | LSU | 49.300 | 48.850 | 49.150 | 48.450 | 195.750 |
| 5. | Auburn | 49.025 | 48.600 | 49.050 | 48.900 | 195.575 |
| 6. | Arkansas | 49.000 | 48.400 | 49.050 | 48.825 | 195.275 |
| 7. | Kentucky | 49.050 | 48.325 | 48.625 | 48.800 | 194.800 |
| 2010 SEC Gymnastics Awards | |
| SEC Gymnast of the Year | Susan Jackson, LSU |
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| SEC Freshman of the Year | Ashan?e Dickerson, Florida |
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| SEC Scholar-Athlete of the Year | Kristina Voss, Auburn |
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| SEC Coach of the Year | Rhonda Faehn, Florida |
| Sarah Patterson, Alabama | |
| Florida Notes: |
| ● This is Florida's seventh SEC title (2010, 2007, 1989, 1985, 1984, 1983, 1982). |
| ● Four of Florida's SEC titles have come in the state of Florida, with three coming in Gainesville (2010, 1989, 1984, 1983). |
| ● Seven of the 10 narrowest winning margins have been recorded in the last nine Southeastern Conference Championships. Florida's winning margin of 0.175 Saturday is the seventh smallest. The 10 smallest winning margins in the 30-year history of the league championships are – No. 1 – 0.025/2008; No. 2 – 0.05/2003, 1995, 1991; No. 5 – 0.1/2002; No. 6 – 0.15/2007; No. 7 – 0.175/2010; No. 8 – 0.2/1983, No. 9 – 0.225/2004 and No. 10 – 0.275/2005 |
| ● Ashan?e Dickerson is the fourth Gator to be named the SEC Freshman of the Year – joining Amanda Castillo (2007), Orley Szmuch (2002) and Betsy Hamm (1998). |
| ● Rhonda Faehn shared the SEC Coach of the Year award with Alabama's Sarah Patterson. The honor is the third for Faehn, with all coming since 2006 (2010, 2007, 2006). |
| ● Four Gators set or matched five collegiate-best marks Saturday night. Courtney Gladys set her beam best (9.90) and three matched their top marks – Elizabeth Mahlich (uneven bars/9.875), Marissa King (beam/9.90 & floor/9.875) and Liz Green (floor exercise/9.875). |
| ● Florida and the 1988 Alabama team are the only programs in the 30 year history of the Southeastern Conference Gymnastics Championships to win the team title and have no individuals claim event titles. |
