Gymnasts Honored at Team's Annual Awards Banquet
Tuesday, April 24, 2012 | Gymnastics
Standout Gator freshman Kytra Hunter, this year's NCAA all-around and vault champion, was honored as the Gator gymnastics team's “Most Outstanding” gymnast at the team's annual award banquet in the Gator Room in the Ben Hill Griffin Stadium. It was a flashlight illuminated event for most of the banquet as a temporary power outage hit that portion of campus Monday evening.
Hunter also received the “Newcomer of the Year” award following her impressive debut season. Along with earning her vault and all-around titles in last weekend's NCAA Gymnastics Championship, she earned the maximum of five All-America honors and claimed 22 event titles in 2012 team competition. The freshman is the first Gator in program history to take the NCAA all-around crown, and the fifth gymnast in the 31-year history of the NCAA Gymnastics Championships to win multiple NCAA event titles as a freshman. She was also the first Gator to win the Southeastern Conference all-around title since Kristen Guise earned the crown in 1995.
| 2012 University of Florida Gymnastics Team Awards | |
| Outstanding Gymnast: | Kytra Hunter |
| Newcomer of the Year: | Kytra Hunter |
| Most Improved: | Randy Stageberg |
| Most Consistent: | Randy Stageberg |
| Gator Heart & Soul Award: | Ashan?e Dickerson Alaina Johnson |
| Scholar Award: | Lauren Rose |
| Communigator: | Elizabeth Mahlich |
| Charlie's Angel: | Amy Ferguson |
Junior Ashan?e Dickerson and sophomore Alaina Johnson shared this year's “Gator Heart & Soul” honor. Dickerson claimed 13 titles this season and earned three All-America honors last weekend. Johnson claimed 15 titles this season and picked up the maximum of five All-America honors in 2012, including tying for fourth in NCAA all-around action.
“Most Improved” and “Most Consistent” went to junior Randy Stageberg, who finished in the top three in beam or floor in four competitions this season. She set her collegiate-best of 9.90 on the balance beam to lead off the Gators' set in the NCAA Super Six team final. She also equaled her collegiate floor best of 9.90 in NCAA Super Six competition.
Senior Amy Ferguson is this year's “Charlie's Angel,” an award given in memory of former Gator Gymnastics Gang president Charlie Eggleston. Ferguson competed in every single floor lineup of the season, earning a second-team All-America honor for her 9.85 performance in the NCAA Championship semifinals. Fellow senior Elizabeth Mahlich is the team's “Communigator” recipient for her efforts as an ambassador for the team. Since the fall of 2010, Mahlich has turned in more than 104 hours of community service.
The “Scholar Athlete” award went to sophomore Lauren Rose, who owns a 4.0 grade point average at UF. A member of this year's SEC Academic Honor Roll, Rose also was named to the National Association of Collegiate Gymnastics Coaches Scholastic All-America team as a freshman.
The Gators finished the 2012 season as SEC and NCAA Raleigh Regional champions, and were runner-ups in the NCAA Championships' Super Six team final. Six Gators picked up a school record total of 16 All-America honors.
