Florida Gators
SEC Championship
Rhonda Faehn and her NCAA runner-up (barely) gymnasts will keep on rolling
Monday, April 23, 2012 | Gymnastics, Cross Country, Chris Harry
GAINESVILLE, Fla. -- Take another look at the number. The one that needs three decimal points to put in the proper perspective.
0.075
That was the margin by which Alabama edged Florida to capture the 2012 NCAA Women's Gymnastics championship Saturday night in Duluth, Ga. The win for the Crimson Tide – by a score of 197.85 to 197.775 – gave 'Bama its second straight team title, but also equaled UF's highest finish in program history, joining the 1998 runner-up team.
Perspective: The differential of .075 was the third narrowest in the meet's history, ranking behind the .005 set in the 1989 and '94 championships.
Coach Rhonda Faehn, with a day to decompress from a whirlwind weekend, found only positives in her Gators coming oh so close to winning it all.
“This is the best, gymnastically, the University of Florida has ever done,” Faehn said Monday. “I know we finished second in '98, but this one was a nail-biter. Just a really incredible accomplishment for this program and this team, and to really use as a launching pad for next season.”
Make that seven advances to the Super Six in Faehn's 10 seasons.
“It's been an incredible journey in the last 10 years at Florida,” she said. “The first five years were trying to establish putting Florida on the map. There was no reason this team could not win an SEC championship or challenge to win the national championship and be in there every single time.”
Maybe the 2012 meet will be the one the Gators are talking of in years to come. The one that started it all.
The UF star, of course, was freshman Kytra Hunter, who won the vault competition Sunday two days after becoming the first Gator gymnast to win the NCAA all-around event. In doing so, Hunter became just the fifth gymnast in NCAA history to capture multiple titles as a freshman.
Hunter was part of a recruiting class ranked No. 1 in the nation, the third straight year the Gators have hauled the country's top crop of freshman. The incoming class will make a case for a fourth straight and be led by Bridget Sloan, a 2008 U.S. Olympian and winner of the all-around event at the 2009 World Championships. Sloan will become the first World all-around gold-medalist ever to compete at the NCAA level.
To think, the view of Florida gymnastics has never looked better – and things are only looking up.
“Each year, you have a different team, a different group of core athletes. And each year, we've been building, been just chipping away, little by little,” Faehn said. “Florida is a powerhouse. We have joined the elite ranks. Our time will come. We just have to keep focused and doing what we're doing. The key is to keep bringing in the tremendous athletes who are willing to get better, willing to work hard and continue to be a team player that represents Florida.”
