No. 1 Gator Gymnasts Open SEC Championships on Balance Beam
Friday, March 23, 2012 | Gymnastics
Balance beam is the No. 1 University of Florida gymnastics team's (11-1, 5-1 SEC) opening event at the 32nd annual Southeastern Conference Championships. The meet starts at 4 p.m. ET on Saturday, March 24 at The Arena at Gwinnett Center.
All the teams gathered on the floor exercise mat between Friday's two practice sessions at The Arena to hold the official draw for the meet. Senior All-SEC performer Nicole Ellis represented UF at the draw. The complete draw can be found below.
Five of the nation's top-10 teams (No. 1 Florida, No. 3 Alabama, No. 5 Georgia, No. T8 LSU and No. 10 Arkansas) are among the seven-team SEC field. Saturday's meet is sure to be a tight contest, as of the nation's top 25 team scores posted this season, 12 came from SEC programs, including seven of the top 10. Florida holds the No. 1 ranking for two events – its opening (beam) and ending (uneven bars) events at Saturday's SECs.
“The whole purpose of practice is just really to get the visuals so the athletes feel comfortable with the equipment. We're not expecting competition-type routines today. It's just getting a feel for everything. I think our athletes adjusted very well and the set-up in here is absolutely gorgeous. It was a good day today,” UF Head Coach Rhonda Faehn said. “I think it's a good draw. For us, it really doesn't matter because I think we are strong on all four events. I think it was a benefit that our first event for today's practice was also beam. That got our athletes a little bit used to that and to be ready to step out. I like that we finish on the competition floor and not on a bye. We just want to start off aggressive and then carry it all the way through and finish on what I consider one of our best events.”
In Florida's last regular season meet, the Gators used the nation's second-highest score of the season to defeat No. 7 Utah 197.90-196.475 at the Stephen C. O'Connell Center. A trio of Gators swept the all-around, all with totals among the nation's top four posted this season – Alaina Johnson (39.675), Marissa King (39.65) and Ashan?e Dickerson (39.625).
At the 2011 SEC meet in Birmingham, Ala., Florida was second to Alabama, 197.225-196.975. Dickerson claimed a share of the league's floor exercise title with her mark of 9.925. Florida's Rhonda Faehn picked up her fourth SEC Coach of the Year honor and Johnson was named the SEC Freshman of the Year. Dickerson and Johnson both earned spots on the All-SEC first team and teammates Ellis, Alicia Goodwin, King and Maranda Smith were part of the All-SEC second team.
Live scoring can be found at www.GatorZone.com and live meet updates can be viewed at www.Twitter.com/GatorZoneGym. The meet airs tape-delayed on ESPN2 on March 29 at 8 p.m. ET and it airs again on ESPNU on April 2 at 8 p.m. ET.
| Southeastern Conference Gymnastics Championships | |||||||
| Competitive Draw | |||||||
| March 24, 2012 ● The Arena at Gwinnett Center ● Duluth, Ga. | |||||||
| Bye | Vault | Bye | Bars | Beam | Bye | Floor | |
| I | Auburn | Georgia | Kentucky | Alabama | Florida | LSU | Arkansas |
| II | Arkansas | Auburn | Georgia | Kentucky | Alabama | Florida | LSU |
| III | LSU | Arkansas | Auburn | Georgia | Kentucky | Alabama | Florida |
| IV | Florida | LSU | Arkansas | Auburn | Georgia | Kentucky | Alabama |
| V | Alabama | Florida | LSU | Arkansas | Auburn | Georgia | Kentucky |
| VI | Kentucky | Alabama | Florida | LSU | Arkansas | Auburn | Georgia |
| VII | Georgia | Kentucky | Alabama | Florida | LSU | Arkansas | Auburn |
Photos by Mike Erdelyi
