Florida's Bridget Sloan is SEC Freshman Gymnast of the Year and Rhonda Faehn Coach of Year
Friday, March 22, 2013 | Gymnastics
Florida made it four in a row for Southeastern Conference Freshman of the Year and Coach of the Year honors as the league announced its annual individual awards on the eve of Saturday's SEC Championships. Bridget Sloan (Pittsboro, Ind.) is the league's pick as SEC Freshman of the Year and Rhonda Faehn was voted Coach of the Year – both marking fourth consecutive honors for the Gator program.
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| The 2013 Florida roster contains four who have earned the SEC Freshman Gymnast of the Year. From left: Kytra Hunter (2012), Bridget Sloan (2013), Ashan?e Dickerson (2010), Alaina Johnson (2011) with SEC Coach of the Year Rhonda Faehn. | |
| Florida All-Time SEC Freshman of the Year | |
| 2013 | Bridget Sloan |
| 2012 | Kytra Hunter |
| 2011 | Alaina Johnson |
| 2010 | Ashan?e Dickerson |
| 2007 | Amanda Castillo |
| 2002 | Orley Szmuch |
| 1998 | Betsy Hamm |
| Florida's SEC Coach of the Year | |
| 2013 | Rhonda Faehn |
| 2012 | Rhonda Faehn |
| 2011 | Rhonda Faehn |
| 2010 | Rhonda Faehn |
| 2007 | Rhonda Faehn |
| 2006 | Rhonda Faehn |
| 1997 | Judi Markell |
| 1994 | Judi Markell |
| 1992 | Ernestine Weaver |
| 1989 | Ernestine Weaver |
LSU sophomore Rheagan Courville is the SEC Gymnast of the Year and Alabama junior Kim Jacob is the SEC Scholar-Athlete in the other awards announced Friday afternoon.
Sloan is the seventh overall Gator to claim the SEC Freshman of the Year honor. A six-time honoree by the league this season, Sloan is the only freshman to be a two-time SEC Gymnast of the Week recipient. She also picked up four SEC Freshman of the Week awards in 2013.
Sloan, the only World Championships all-around titlist (2009) ever to compete as a collegiate, is a four-time all-around winner for the Gators. Her total of 39.75 on March 1 is the nation's second-highest of 2013 and the second-highest earned since 2009. Two other all-around totals also rank among the nation's 2013 leaders. Sloan's 39.70 set last Saturday at Utah shares the nation's third-highest of season and the 39.675 versus Alabama shares the No. 7 spot.
Each of Sloan's apparatus best marks are a 9.925 or above, including 9.975 for bars & beam.
For the sixth time of her 11-year Gator career, Faehn is the league's vote for SEC Coach of the Year. The 2013 Gators are the nation's top-ranked team and enter Saturday's SEC meet as the top seed. Four of the nation's current top-10 team totals belong to the Gators. Florida's school-record of 198.425 on March 1 is the nation's top total since 2004 and shares eighth all-time.
She is the seventh Gator coach to pick up SEC Coach of the Year honors this season, joining Becky Burleigh (soccer), Billy Donovan (men's basketball), Will Muschamp (football), Paul Spangler (women's cross country), Gregg Troy (men's swimming) and Mary Wise (volleyball).
| 2013 Southeastern Conference Gymnastics Awards | |
| Gymnast of the Year | Rheagan Courville, LSU |
| Freshman of the Year | Bridget Sloan, Florida |
| Scholar-Athlete of the Year | Kim Jacob, Alabama |
| Coach of the Year | Rhonda Faehn, Florida |
Florida looks to defend its league title tomorrow at the 2013 edition of the SEC Championships. This year's championship meet will be contested in two sessions. Teams were seeded based on regional qualifying score (RQS). Seeds 5-8 compete (Arkansas, Auburn, Kentucky, Missouri) in the session beginning at 3 p.m. ET in the Verizon Arena. Florida joins Alabama, Georgia and LSU among the top four seeds and will compete in the second session which begins at 7 p.m. ET. Among the current national rankings, four league teams are among the nation's top 10 – No. 1 Florida, No. 3 Alabama, No. 5 Georgia and No. 6 LSU.
Ticket prices range from $4 to $25. Visit the SEC Championships Ticket site for further information.
