Meet ResultsPhoto Gallery – Images by Erin Long and Mike & Susan Erdelyi ATHENS, Ga. – The University of Florida gymnastics team dropped its first meet of the season Friday at Georgia, 196.40-196.35, in front of a sell-out Stegeman Coliseum crowd of 10,224.
Florida's
Alex McMurtry took her fourth vault title of the season with her 9.90 score Friday. She also shared her second straight uneven bars title, as she and UGA's Brandie Jay each posted marks of 9.925.
Florida showed some effects of some winter illnesses suffered during the week on the third rotation.
Bridget Sloan, who is recovering from a cold, experienced some leg cramps while performing her final tumbling pass. The stumbled landing dinged her score. Freshman
Ashley Hiller took
Bridgette Caquatto's spot in the lineup as Caquatto was not quite ready to perform on the event after her bout with the flu last weekend. Sophomore
Kennedy Baker led UF on the event with her 9.925.
After opening the season with four six-for-six balance beam sets, the Gators had some trouble at Georgia. Florida saw its ninth-tenths lead heading into the final rotation dissolve after two falls on the event combined with the GymDogs improving on their season-best floor total by more than three-tenths.
Sloan did finish the meet, anchoring the Gators balance beam set with the meet's winning mark of 9.875.
Three GymDogs turned in personal-best floor marks of 9.95 – Brittany Rogers, Gigi Marion and Mary Beth Box – to share the evening's event title. Rogers and teammate Brandie Jay shared the all-around win at 39.375.
GATOR PERFORMANCE NOTES- The bars win was the second straight for McMurtry and the third of her career. McMurtry's vault win was her 11th of her career.
- Sloan's beam win pushes her career total to 78. She is now tied for third on the Gators Career Wins chart with Kristen Guise (1993-96), who also accumulated 78 event wins.
RECORDS: Florida (4-1, 2-1 SEC); Georgia (3-3, 2-2 SEC).
THE SERIES: Georgia leads 99-41-1.
This was the 10
th time in the two team's 141 all-time series that a tenth of a point decided the meet (Georgia leads 5-4-1).
RE-AIR DATES:The Florida at Georgia meet airs again on the SEC Network Saturday, Feb. 6 at 9:30 a.m. and Sunday, Feb. 7 at 7 p.m. Also airs Tuesday, Feb. 9 at 1 p.m. on ESPNU.
HEAR FROM THE GATORSOn Florida's performance:"Obviously, this meet could have been better. There are a lot of things we can learn from. There were some stellar performances following some mistakes. Bouncing back and rebounding is really what this sport is all about. You are allowed to have a mistake here and there. I thought there were some great responses in the performances following a miss.
"I thought tonight was a great opportunity for our freshmen to experience a SEC meet in full force. It was a really big crowd and the Stegeman Coliseum was in full force. It was really loud and our team had to perform under the pressure of competing on beam after some big floor scores by Georgia. Thought it was handled pretty well. There were some bumps and bruises and some misses here and there." - – Florida head coach
Jenny Rowland Following Kennedy Baker's miss on beam, how did you think the team performed?"I thought the team came together well.
Peyton Ernst came back solid as can be.
Ericha Fassbender had an amazing beam performance tonight – she looked so confident up there.
Alicia Boren really had a great routine going up until her dismount. She was striving to be perfect and was a little short on her dismount." – Florida head coach
Jenny Rowland How about Bridget Sloan finishing the meet on beam after a bit of trouble on floor?"I think she did a great job. She competes with her heart.
"On floor, she cramped up a little bit but performed and finished her routine to the best of her abilities. She told me 'I got this. I can do beam'. She went up there and hit a beam routine Sloan-style." – Florida head coach
Jenny Rowland National Rank:Florida – Florida is No. 1 in the Feb. 1
Road to Nationals rankings.
Georgia – Bulldogs No. 11 in Feb. 1 rankings
UP NEXT:The Gators return home to play host to the popular Gators Link to
Pink meet. Florida will face No. 8 Arkansas on Friday, Feb. 12 for the 10
th edition of the meet. Meet time is set for 7 p.m. in the
Stephen C. O'Connell Center.
Most of the Southeastern Conference's gymnastics teams will have a
pink meet this season, with the intention to help raise awareness about the fight against breast cancer.
The first 2,000 fans in attendance receive a Link to
Pink t-shirt, compliments of
UFHealth. Check the promotions page for a complete list of happenings for the Link to Pink meet. Arkansas lost 197.425-196.15 at No. 5 LSU Friday.
The meet will stream live on
SEC Network +. No. 1 Florida at No. 11 Georgia
Final Team Totals |
| Feb. 5, 2016 - Stegeman Coliseum (10,224) |
| Team | Vault | Bars | Beam | Floor | Total |
| Georgia | 49.000 | 49.325 | 48.450 | 49.625 | 196.40 |
| Florida | 49.000 | 49.325 | 48.675 | 49.075 | 196.35 |
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