Florida Gators
NC State
No. 3 Florida Gymnastics Opens Season with Win at NC State
Friday, January 6, 2012 | Gymnastics
The preseason No. 3 Florida gymnastics team (1-0, 0-0 SEC) opened the 2012 season Friday with a 196.025-194.675 win at North Carolina State (0-1, 0-0 EAGL). The Gators claimed at least a share of four of the evening's five event titles, including freshman Kytra Hunter taking the all-around win.
Last Five Gator All-Around Winners in First Collegiate Meet | ||
Kytra Hunter is the fourth Gator freshman in the last 25 seasons to claim the all-around win in the season opener. The four have all come since Rhonda Faehn arrived for the 2003 season. The four wins all have come since 2006. Before that win in 2006, the last freshman season-opening all-around win came in 1986 - a 20-year gap. | ||
2012 @ NC St | 39.30 | |
2010 @ OU | 39.35 | |
Melanie Sinclair | 2007 @ Super 6 Challenge | 39.275 |
Corey Hartung | 2006 vs. Illinois | 38.975 |
Melissa Miller | 1986 vs. Oklahoma St | 36.05 |
Of the 2,512 in attendance Friday at the Reynolds Coliseum, more than 60 were from the Triangle Gator Club so the team saw some orange & blue as they performed in the season's first meet.
It was the 2012 opener for both teams so the minor mistakes that appeared in the routines for the teams were expected. And Florida Head Coach Rhonda Faehn saw no red flags in the Gators' performances.
"I think they did a great job. They did exactly what we were looking for. We want to start out a lot slower this year which is a little bit different strategy than last year. We wanted to compete a lot of different athletes tonight. Our freshmen did a really great job and were able to get their feet wet. We were able to rest some of upperclassmen," Faehn said. "Overall, I was very pleased with their performance. It's a starting point. We are working to pace our athletes so that we can peak at the end of the year."
Hunter was one of four Gator freshmen making their collegiate debut tonight and she took home a pair of event titles - all-around (39.30) and floor exercise (9.90). She is now the fourth Gator in the last 25 years to win the all-around in Florida's season opener. All four of those winners have come since Faehn took over the Gator program for the 2003 season.
"I'm really proud of Kytra. She has a tremendous work ethic and is all business. It was really fun to see her get out there tonight and love performing," Faehn said.
For Hunter, a member of the 2009-10 and 2010-11 U.S. Senior National Teams, tonight was a chance to get a feel for the collegiate stage.
"As a freshman, I just wanted to have fun and get my nerves out. It was a great outcome and I'm proud of it," Hunter said. "I know that I need to go back into the gym and work on the little things I messed up here."
Gator event winners Friday included sophomore All-American Alaina Johnson, who claimed her sixth collegiate bars title with a 9.875. Johnson shared sixth in the 2011 NCAA uneven bars final. Two other Gators posted 9.80s on bars, as junior All-Americans Ashan?e Dickerson and Marissa King shared second on the event.
That duo claimed a share of the evening's balance beam title with NC State's Jess Panza at 9.825. It was the ninth beam win for Dickerson and the third for King. The pair shared second in the all-around at 39.25. NC State's Diahanna Ham just edged out Hunter and UF senior Nicole Ellis for the evening's vault title. Ham earned a 9.875 while the Gator pair shared second at 9.85.
King thought the meet went well for the Gators and gives the team definite points to work on in the upcoming training sessions.
"I think as a team we did really well, especially for the first meet of the season. We came here to have a starting point to go back to the gym with. These are the routines we've been practicing all through the preseason and now we had the chance to do them under the pressure of competition," King said. "Great job from the team."
Florida now returns home to play host to a pair of events. Meet the Team is set for 1 p.m. Sunday, Jan. 8 in the Ted Crom Gymnastics Studio. Admission for Meet the Team is free and fans are encouraged to enter at Gate 4 of the Stephen C. O'Connell Center. The Gators will sign autographs following the event.
Then the home season opens on Friday, Jan. 13 at 7 p.m. when Illinois-Chicago visits the O'Connell Center. Tickets are $4.00 for adults, while children 17 and under and UF students with Gator1 cards are admitted free.
Season tickets for the 2012 Gator Gymnastics campaign are available for the low price of $16.00. Find more information at the Gator Ticket Office link or by calling the Gator Ticket Office at 1-800-34-GATOR from 8:30 a.m. - 5 p.m., Monday through Friday.
Florida at NC State - Final Team Totals | |||||
Jan. 6, 2012 Reynolds Coliseum (2,512) | |||||
Team | Vault | Bars | Beam | Floor | Total |
Florida | 48.925 | 49.000 | 48.975 | 49.125 | 196.025 |
NC State | 48.850 | 48.400 | 48.425 | 49.000 | 194.675 |
Players Mentioned
