2014 NCAA gymnastics co-champions No. 3 Florida and No. 1 Oklahoma meet Friday
Wednesday, March 4, 2015 | Gymnastics
GAINESVILLE, Fla. – It is the most anticipated dual meet of the 2015 women's collegiate gymnastics season. Both defending NCAA champions - No. 3 Florida and No. 1 Oklahoma – meet Friday in OU's Lloyd Noble Center. The meet is set for 7:45 p.m. (ET) on Friday, March 6.
| Friday's Meet Info: | |
| No. 3 Florida (6-2, 5-2 SEC) at No. 1 Oklahoma (11-0)
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| @UFCoachRhonda (Rhonda Faehn) | |
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Friday's meet will air live on the Sooner Network and airs tape-delayed March 7 at midnight and at 4 a.m. on Fox College Sports Central (Gainesville/Ocala Cox Cable channel 272).
Fox Sports Southwest (FSSW) subscribers can view the meet live on the FOX Sports Go app.
Last Florida-OU dual meet:
Last year, these two teams met twice. Prior to sharing the 2014 NCAA title at a NCAA Super Six record score of 198.175 in April, the two teams met in Gainesville on the final day of January. Then No. 2 Florida took a 197.875-197.225 win over No. 1 Oklahoma in front of a Stephen C. O'Connell Center crowd of 7,260. Kytra Hunter turned in a second-consecutive 10.0 floor mark to become the first Gator to turn in multiple perfect floor marks. Bridget Sloan won all-around (39.75), bars (9.90) and beam (9.95) and shared the vault win with Hunter at 9.95.
Gators in their last meet:
Florida finished 2015 Southeastern Conference dual meet action Feb. 27 by posting a 198.125-195.95 win over No. 25 Kentucky. The Gators' total stands as the nation's third-highest of 2015, as UF turned in the nation's high of 198.225 on Feb. 13.
Marks of 9.90 or better gave the Gators each of the four apparatus titles. A pair of Gator freshmen – Kennedy Baker and Alex McMurtry – shared the vault win at 9.95. McMurtry's performance moved her to the top of the national vault rankings with her regional qualifying average of 9.955. Junior All-American Bridgette Caquatto set her collegiate best to take the floor exercise title at 9.975. Earlier in the evening, fellow junior All-American Bridget Sloan won the uneven bars after matching her collegiate best of 9.975. The evening's balance beam title was a three-way tie at 9.90 – Florida's senior All-American Kytra Hunter, Baker and Kentucky's Shannon Mitchell.
Hunter's all-around win at 39.60 was her sixth of 2015 and 18th as a Gator, moving her into sole possession of the No. 4 spot on Florida Career All-Around Wins list.
Kennedy Baker is SEC Freshman of the Week
For her performance versus Kentucky, Baker picked up the SEC Freshman Gymnast of the Week honor. Baker's event wins on vault and balance beam were the first of her collegiate career. Her collegiate-best 9.95 shared the evening vault title with McMurtry. She also shared the evening's balance beam title at 9.90.
Baker shared second on floor exercise at 9.95. Each of her last four floor routines have scored a 9.95 (twice) or 9.975 (twice).
Five different Gators have been honored by the league this season (SEC Gymnast of Week: Hunter-Week IV & VI; Specialist of the Week: Sloan-Week I; McMurtry-Week II; SEC Freshman of Week: Kennedy Baker-Week II, IV, VI and VIII; Ericha Fassbender Week V; McMurtry Week VII).
Oklahoma in 2015:
Oklahoma ranked No. 2 on the GymInfo preseason poll, but has held at least a share of the No. 1 spot for each of the eight weekly rankings released this season. Florida and Oklahoma shared the No. 1 spot in the Jan. 19 rankings, but the Sooners have had a solitary hold on the top spot for each release since. The Sooners are atop the national rankings for three events – bars, beam and floor – and are No. 3 in vault.
No. Sooner has competed as an all-arounder in 2015. Both Breanna Dowell (bars) and Haley Scaman (vault) have turned in 10.0 marks in 2015.
Olympians in Lloyd Noble Center Friday:
Part of the Sooner Network broadcast team calling Friday's meet is Kelly Garrison-Funderburk. Both she and Florida head coach Rhonda Faehn were part of the 1988 U.S. Olympic team.
Another U.S. women's gymnastics Olympian at Friday's meet is Florida junior Bridget Sloan, who was the youngest member of the 2008 Olympic silver medal team.
National Rank:
Florida – Florida is No. 3 in the March 2 GymInfo rankings. This is the second week the national rankings are based on regional qualifying score.
Oklahoma – The Sooners are No. 1 in the GymInfo rankings.
