Sloan is Greatness in a Leotard
Friday, March 11, 2016 | Gymnastics, Scott Carter
The senior gymnast competes at home for final time tonight
GAINESVILLE, Fla. -- If you were in the stands that late November night in 2009 at Ben Hill Griffin Stadium, you knew.
Same goes for that early March afternoon in 2007, when the UF men's basketball team beat Kentucky in the final home game for the Oh-Fours at the O'Connell Center.
You knew something special had happened and was happening.
The Swamp was alive in a way it had never been before the festive evening Tim Tebow and his teammates celebrated Senior Night with a victory over FSU six years ago. And the Oh-Fours were never boring, winning back-to-back national titles along the way.
Those are the images that first come to mind when trying to imagine the home departure for Gators senior gymnast Bridget Sloan. The Gators host North Carolina tonight in the final UF sporting event inside the current O'Connell Center.
And it's Senior Night for Sloan and three of her teammates.
Great ones come and go in college sports.
They blossom at different times. Some reach the pinnacle in college. Others don't fulfill their potential until the pros. And then there are those like Sloan, who was already an elite talent prior to stepping foot on UF's campus.
She competes in a sport that is under the radar nationally other than for every fourth year when the Olympics are held. In Olympic years, names like Mary Lou Retton, Gabby Douglas, Nadia Comaneci and Shannon Miller resurface as reminders of the greatest moments in the sport's history.
Sloan was a 16-year-old when she made her Olympic debut in 2008 in Beijing. The next year she was the all-around World Champion. She continued to compete on the international stage until it was time for college, when many gymnasts call it a career.
Instead, the ultra-competitive Sloan bounced on, choosing a program in Florida that had never won a national championship.
She is now less than four months from her 24th birthday, a relic in the world of elite gymnastics.
She is also a three-time national champion chasing a fourth in the final months of her competitive career.
The numbers are impressive: 85 individual titles at Florida, a school-record seven perfect 10s in her career, and the only UF gymnast to ever complete the "gym slam" by scoring a perfect 10 in every event (three on beam, two on uneven bars, one on vault and one on floor).
In her sport, that's greatness.
"This senior class really has developed this program into a powerhouse of a program,'' Gators coach Jenny Rowland said this week.
Sloan will be joined by teammates Bridgette Caquatto, Bianca Dancose-Giambattisto and Morgan Frazier during Senior Night festivities after the meet.
But since day one, Sloan has been the straw that stirs the drink.
If you have watched Sloan compete the past four years, you know. If you haven't, check her out either in person or on TV.
My favorite moment watching Sloan happened earlier this season during a home meet between the Gators and Alabama, the two programs that have won the last five national championships.
Sloan won the all-around title and scored a 10 on beam. She was in fine form and knew it.
In her final event of the evening on floor, Sloan finished one of her tumbling passes in impressive fashion, and then the seasoned performer she is, looked directly into the SEC Network camera nearby with a head nod and sassy expression, as if to say, "yeah, that's right, I just did that."
Bridget Sloan in a nutshell: elite talent, driven competitor and dynamic performer.
She is ready for a final show at the O'Dome.
"I'm super excited,'' she said. "I know I've been looking forward to it. It's just a moment where you get another opportunity to do your best."
And one final opportunity for the home fans to see what greatness looks like in a leotard.
Players Mentioned
