Florida Gators
NCAA Championships - Individual Event Finals
Florida Gymnasts Alaina Johnson & Bridget Sloan Win NCAA Event Titles
Monday, April 22, 2013 | Gymnastics
A pair of Gators claimed apparatus titles Sunday in the final day of NCAA Gymnastics Championships competition held in front of 2,825 at UCLA's Pauley Pavilion. Junior Alaina Johnson is the first Gator to claim the NCAA uneven bars title and freshman Bridget Sloan added the balance beam crown to her all-around win she collected on Friday.
| Welcome Your 2013 NCAA Champion Gators Home |
| Be at the Stephen C. O'Connell Center Monday at 7 p.m. to welcome home your 2013 NCAA Champion Gator Gymnastics team. Here's the info about Monday's National Championship Celebration. When: Monday, April 22 at 7 p.m. Where: Stephen C. O'Connell Center main arena (gates open at 6 p.m.)
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This is the second time a pair of Gators stepped to the top of the NCAA individual event finals podium for two different titles. The last time also was in Pauley Pavilion in 1998 when Susan Hines successfully defended her vault title and then freshman Betsy Hamm shared the balance beam crown.
Sunday, Johnson used a 9.9125 to take the uneven bars win. The Gators were well represented on the bars award podium, as Sloan shared second at 9.90 and junior teammate Mackenzie Caquatto shared fourth at 9.8875.
Sloan's 9.90 gave her the beam win. It was her third 9.90 or better beam mark of the weekend, as she advanced to the final with her 9.90 in Friday's semifinal competition and she shared the beam lead in Saturday's Super Six at 9.95. Two other Gators joined Sloan on the beam award's podium. Mackenzie Caquatto was fourth at 9.85 and senior Marissa King took seventh with her 9.7875.
For the first time since 2007, Florida was represented in each of the four apparatus finals. In the vault final, senior Ashan?e Dickerson shared fifth (9.90) while sophomore Kytra Hunter took 16th (9.85) and Johnson tied for 17th (9.825). Two Gators also appeared in the floor exercise final. Sloan shared fourth at 9.90 and King tied for sixth at 9.8875.
The third time was the charm for Johnson, who has appeared in the NCAA uneven bars final each year of her collegiate career. Johnson glided fluidly through her winning routine, punctuated by a stuck double layout dismount, showing no effects of her eight-meet layoff from competition after she was diagnosed with a lower back stress reaction and stress fracture after the third meet of the season.
| Florida's NCAA Event Champions | |||
| Name | Event | Year | Score |
| Alaina Johnson | Uneven Bars | 2013 | 9.9125 |
| Bridget Sloan | All-Around | 2013 | 39.600 |
|
| Balance Beam | 2013 | 9.9000 |
| Kytra Hunter | All-Around | 2012 | 39.725 |
| Vault | 2012 | 9.8750 | |
| Marissa King | Vault | 2011 | 9.8750 |
| Betsy Hamm | Balance Beam | 1998 | 9.8750 |
| Susan Hines | Vault | 1998 | 9.8625 |
| Vault | 1997 | 9.8875 | |
| Maria Anz | Floor Exercise | 1984 | 9.7000 |
Rest played a big part in her recovery course and Johnson did not train gymnastics from the final week in January to the week of March 16. It was the routines she performed over and over in her mind which helped her make a successful return to the Gators' competitive lineup for the April 6 NCAA Regionals.
“A lot of it comes through visualizing for me. In some free time I'll visualize my routine and feel it through my body. That's the number one thing,” Johnson said. “And I kept in shape doing cardio and what I could, and that helped also.”
Johnson earned her spot in the NCAA bar final with a 9.925 in Friday's semifinal round. Florida's final competitor of Saturday's NCAA Super Six team final, Johnson's bar mark of 9.95 helped finish the Gators' championship effort.
Sloan admitted post-competition her energy tank was ebbing after the Gators' dramatic performance Saturday to claim the program's first NCAA team title. But she was ready to enjoy her final competition of what has been a spectacular freshman season.
“We won the national team championship, but the six of us wanted to finish it off strong. It was awesome to be on the podium again. As soon as you saluted, the adreneline started to pick up and you were ready to go again. It was just such an awesome experience to share with the team.
Sloan is the sixth in the 32-year history of the NCAA Gymnastics Championships to win multiple NCAA event titles as a freshman. Joining her on that select list is Hunter, who won the 2012 NCAA all-around and vault titles.
Alabama's Diandra Milliner and LSU's Rheagan Courville shared the NCAA vault title at 9.925. Michigan's Joanna Sampson took the floor exercise crown at 9.9375.
The NCAA Individual Event Finals signaled the end of the 2013 NCAA Gymnastics Championships. The 2014 NCAA Championships are set for April 18 - 20 at the Birmingham - Jefferson Convention Complex (BJCC).
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| Vault Results | |||||
| Place | Gymnast | Team | Score | ||
| 1 | Diandra Milliner | Alabama | 9.9250 | ||
| 1 | Rheagan Courville | LSU | 9.9250 | ||
| 3 | Olivia Courtney | UCLA | 9.9167 | ||
| 4 | Kaelie Baer | UCLA | 9.9083 | ||
| 5 | Ashanee Dickerson | Florida | 9.9000 | ||
| 5 | Lindsay Mable | Minnesota | 9.9000 | ||
| 5 | Vanessa Zamarripa | UCLA | 9.9000 | ||
| 8 | Sarie Morrison | LSU | 9.8917 | ||
| 8 | Tory Wilson | Utah | 9.8917 | ||
| 10 | Emily Wong | Nebraska | 9.8833 | ||
| 11 | Kaitlyn Clark | Alabama | 9.8750 | ||
| 11 | Lauren Beers | Alabama | 9.8750 | ||
| 13 | Maliah Mathis | LSU | 9.8667 | ||
| 14 | Joanna Sampson | Michigan | 9.8583 | ||
| 14 | Nicole Dayton | Stanford | 9.8583 | ||
| 16 | Kytra Hunter | Florida | 9.8500 | ||
| 17 | Moriah Martin | Denver | 9.8250 | ||
| 17 | Alaina Johnson | Florida | 9.8250 | ||
| 17 | Lindsey Cheek | Georgia | 9.8250 | ||
| 20 | Brandie Jay | Georgia | 9.8083 | ||
| 21 | Madison Mooring | Oklahoma | 9.7917 | ||
| 22 | Lichelle Wong | UCLA | 9.7833 | ||
| 23 | Chelsea Davis | Georgia | 9.7500 | ||
| Uneven Parallel Bars Results | |||
| Place | Gymnast | Team | Score |
| 1 | Alaina Johnson | Florida | 9.9125 |
| 2 | Bridget Sloan | Florida | 9.9000 |
| 2 | Georgia Dabritz | Utah | 9.9000 |
| 4 | Mackenzie Caquatto | Florida | 9.8875 |
| 4 | Erica Brewer | Oklahoma | 9.8875 |
| 6 | Chelsea Davis | Georgia | 9.8500 |
| 7 | Sarie Morrison | LSU | 9.8250 |
| 7 | Rebecca Clark | Oklahoma | 9.8250 |
| 9 | Nansy Damianova | Utah | 9.8125 |
| 10 | Randii Wyrick | LSU | 9.8000 |
| Balance Beam Results | |||
| Place | Gymnast | Team | Score |
| 1 | Bridget Sloan | Florida | 9.9000 |
| 2 | Katie Zurales | Michigan | 9.8875 |
| 2 | Hanna Nordquist | Minnesota | 9.8875 |
| 4 | Mackenzie Caquatto | Florida | 9.8500 |
| 5 | Kayla Williams | Alabama | 9.8375 |
| 5 | Michelle Shealy | Iowa State | 9.8375 |
| 7 | Marissa King | Florida | 9.7875 |
| 8 | Danusia Francis | UCLA | 9.3250 |
| 9 | Erica Brewer | Oklahoma | 9.2750 |
| Floor Exercise Results | |||
| Place | Gymnast | Team | Score |
| 1 | Joanna Sampson | Michigan | 9.9375 |
| 2 | Diandra Milliner | Alabama | 9.9250 |
| 3 | Emily Wong | Nebraska | 9.9125 |
| 4 | Bridget Sloan | Florida | 9.9000 |
| 4 | Lindsay Mable | Minnesota | 9.9000 |
| 6 | Katherine Grable | Arkansas | 9.8875 |
| 6 | Marissa King | Florida | 9.8875 |
| 8 | Nansy Damianova | Utah | 9.8750 |
| 9 | Rheagan Courville | LSU | 9.8125 |
| 10 | Kim Jacob | Alabama | 9.8000 |
| 11 | Olivia Courtney | UCLA | 9.7750 |
| 12 | Alina Weinstein | Illinois | 9.7500 |
