Florida Gators
NCAA North Central Regional
No. 1 Florida Gymnastics Second at NCAA North Central Regional
Sunday, April 3, 2011 | Gymnastics
Photo gallery by Jack Dempsey
The slenderest of margins gave the No. 1 University of Florida gymnastics team the second qualifying spot for the NCAA Championships. The Gators turned in a 196.425 at the NCAA North Central Regional, just edging another Orange & Blue team - No. 18 Boise State (196.40) - by 0.025 for the second advancing position. No. 12 Arkansas won its second regional title at 196.55.
| Florida Event Winners Saturday | ||
| Event | Name | Score |
| Vault | Ashan?e Dickerson | 9.90 |
| Alaina Johnson | 9.90 | |
| Uneven Bars | Mackenzie Caquatto | 9.95 |
| All-Around | Alaina Johnson | 39.525 |
Other team results Saturday included No. 19 Denver (195.625), No. 20 Arizona (195.40) and No. 27 BYU (194.65). The NCAA North Central Region Championships was held Saturday in front of a Magness Arena crowd of 2,756.
The two Southeastern Conference teams both advance to the NCAA Championships, set for April15-17 in the Wolstein Center in Cleveland, Ohio. It will be Florida's 29th NCAA Championship appearance in the meet's 30-year history.
It wasn't a clean meet for the Gators, but for the most part, the breaks in the first three events didn't overly hurt Florida's score. But on Florida's finishing event, the balance beam, a fall was counted in the team's event total along with several tentative performances.
The Gators finished the meet in the fifth rotation and could simply just watch the final rotation to see if their score was going to be enough for a spot in the NCAA Championships' 12-team field. Arkansas and Boise State entered the final rotation tied at 147.375. The Razorbacks claimed first after their 49.175 on the uneven bars. The Broncos were the only team to tally a beam score of better than 49.00 Saturday, but their total of 49.025 wasn't quite enough to send them to their first NCAA Championships.
“It was ugly. It was a very uncharacteristic performance for us and I really don't have an explanation for it; there are no excuses.” UF Head Coach Rhonda Faehn said. “I thought we did stellar on bars and we had some good vaults, but again had a few miscues on floor. It was just an awful beam rotation. There is no excuse for it. We had trained really well with great pressure sets in the gym and great performances in the intrasquads. I think with Elizabeth (Mahlich) going up first and having a fall - she hasn't fallen all year - it seemed to make the team tight and nervous. I have no explanation for Ashan?e's balance beam tonight – so unusual for her.
“I thought they fought hard but again, this meet is definitely one I'd like to forget,” she continued.
The No. 1 seeds in each of the nation's six regional sites opened competition Saturday on floor exercise. The Gators received strong scores, but a step out of bounds kept Florida's floor score back to 49.225. Florida was led by a pair of 9.90 marks from freshman Alaina Johnson and sophomore Marissa King, which tied for second overall. A pair of 9.85s came from senior Maranda Smith and sophomore Randy Stageberg.
Johnson again shared the Gators' high mark of 9.90 on the next event, vault. Sophomore Ashan?e Dickerson also posted a 9.90 as they shared first on the event with Arkansas' Katherine Grable. For Dickerson, it was her ninth vault mark of 9.90 or better this season, while it was the sixth such mark for Johnson. King and Smith turned in marks of 9.85 to share fifth as UF posted a 49.30 on vault.
Three marks of 9.90 or better helped the Gators post a season-best 49.475 on the uneven bars. Freshman Mackenzie Caquatto picked up her fourth bar win with a collegiate-best 9.95, while Johnson was second in the meet at 9.925. Dickerson equaled her collegiate-best of 9.90 for the second time this season to share third overall.
Johnson picked up Florida's second consecutive NCAA North Central Region all-around title with her total of 39.525. It is her third all-around win of the season and her fourth total of 39.50 or better.
Smith acknowledged this wasn't the performance the Gators wanted or expected, but the senior knows this team has the ability to make the needed corrections.
“I think this team can fix these problems. We all have good mindsets and we are willing to sacrifice anything for the team. This team hasn't lost the will and the drive to win a national championship,” Smith said. “We are glad we made it to nationals, but we aren't happy with our performance – especially at this time of the season. We are going to keep our heads high and continue working hard.”
Faehn agrees and looks forward to getting the Gators back into the practice gym.
“We are extremely thankful that we will get an opportunity to get back into the gym and get refocused. We want to go into the NCAA Championships and prove to each other what we are made of. We want to show what we are capable of on all four events,” Faehn said.
Next up, the Gators await Monday's announcement by the NCAA of its competitive rotation for April 15 semifinal action. The National Qualifying Score (NQS) determines the pairings for day one of the team competition at the NCAA Championships. The NQS is calculated by adding a team's regional qualifying score (RQS) and score from the regional meet. Teams are ranked 1 to 12 based on the NQS. Teams 1, 4, 5, 8, 9 and 12 will be placed in the evening session on April 15 and teams 2, 3, 6, 7, 10 and 11 placed in the afternoon session. Florida enters as the No. 5 seed.
| Florida at NCAA North Central Region Championships Final Team Totals | |||||
| April 2, 2011 ● Magness Arena (2,756) | |||||
| Team | Vault | Bars | Beam | Floor | Total |
| Arkansas | 49.175 | 49.175 | 48.900 | 49.300 | 196.550 |
| Florida | 49.300 | 49.475 | 48.425 | 49.225 | 196.425 |
| Boise State | 49.075 | 49.125 | 49.025 | 49.175 | 196.400 |
| Denver | 48.825 | 48.725 | 48.950 | 49.125 | 195.625 |
| Arizona | 49.075 | 48.850 | 48.350 | 49.125 | 195.400 |
| BYU | 48.950 | 48.700 | 48.150 | 48.850 | 195.650 |
| 2011NCAA Championship Field | |||||
| Seed | School | Region Score | RQS | NQS | Regional Champ |
| 1 | Alabama | 197.275 | 197.120 | 394.395 | X |
| 2 | UCLA | 197.425 | 196.685 | 394.11 | X |
| 3 | Oklahoma | 197.350 | 196.695 | 394.045 | X |
| 4 | Oregon State | 197.025 | 196.770 | 393.795 | X |
| 5 | Florida | 196.425 | 197.190 | 393.615 | |
| 6 | Michigan | 197.075 | 196.500 | 393.575 | X |
| 7 | Georgia | 196.750 | 196.535 | 393.285 | |
| 8 | Utah | 196.475 | 196.570 | 393.045 | |
| 9 | Nebraska | 196.550 | 196.275 | 392.825 | |
| 10 | Arkansas | 196.550 | 196.060 | 392.61 | X |
| 11 | Illinois | 195.925 | 195.925 | 391.85 | |
| 12 | Kent State | 195.450 | 195.245 | 390.695 | |
| Shading denotes teams in April 15 Semifinal II | |||||
