Florida Gators
Georgia
Queen of the vault a year ago, a national team title tops Gators gymnast King's wish list
Friday, April 20, 2012 | Gymnastics, Men's Swimming & Diving, Scott Carter
Photo: Gators gymnast Marissa King won the NCAA vault title a year ago in Cleveland.
DULUTH, Ga. – The list of Florida's individual NCAA gymnastics champions is a short one.
Maria Anz was the first Gator to reach the personal pinnacle, winning the floor exercise national title 28 years ago.
It took 13 years for another UF gymnast to win a national crown when Susan Hines won the vault title in 1997. Hines repeated as national vault champion in '98.
That same year, Betsy Hamm won the balance beam national title.
That was it until Marissa King vaulted to new heights a year ago in Cleveland, winning the national championship in the vault.
King's performance helped ease some of the disappointment in the Gators' failure to advance to the Super Six and compete for the national team title.
The top four gymnasts in each event during each session – there are two sessions today – advance to Sunday's individual championships.
A junior, King enters the NCAA Finals healthy and competing at a high level.
Still, defending her national vault championship isn't something King is focused on.
"I've seen some great vaulters out there this year,'' King said. "It's kind of out there for anyone. I think about it, but more than anything I want the team result. It's not on my priority list right now."
In last year's NCAA Championships, King scored 9.8750 to edge Oklahoma's Madison Mooring (9.8250) for the title.
"It's a great feeling individually coming away from nationals with that,'' King said. "But it made me more hungry to come back and have that feeling with my team.
"It was kind of a bittersweet feeling."
