Florida Gators

GAINESVILLE, Fla. – The Gators' fan-favorite Link to Pink meet is Friday in the Exactech Arena at the Stephen C. O'Connell Center. The No. 3 Gator gymnastics team plays host to No. 16 Auburn for the 11th annual edition of the meet, which is set to begin at 6:45 p.m. ET.
 
Events aimed to raise awareness about breast cancer prevention and treatment will be included at Friday's meet. These meets are part of a Southeastern Conference initiative and most of the league's teams will participate in a "pink" meet this season. Team colors are set aside as the teams wear pink.
 
This is the first of three "pink" meets for the Gators. In addition to the Gators Link to Pink meet, Florida will be the opponent at Alabama (Feb. 3) and at Arkansas (Feb. 17).
 
Link to Pink Promotions:

• T-shirts - 3,000 Link to Pink T-Shirts courtesy of UF Health
• Pink Poster - Pick up the 11^th annual Link to Pink Team Poster at the marketing tables
• Pink Leos - Both teams set aside their usual school colors to wear pink in support of breast cancer awareness
• Survivor Tunnel - Breast Cancer Survivors will welcome the team to the floor during intros pre-meet
• GIF Booth – Fans can create their very own custom GIF at the GIF Booth! Just like a photo booth, but create GIFs to text, post, and share with friends. Be sure to use #GoGators

 
To get tickets for Friday's meet, visit the FloridaGators.com ticket site or stop by the Gator Ticket Office (open Monday-Friday, 8:30 a.m. – 5 p.m.).
 
Complete list of Florida's 2017 home promotions
 
Parking shuttle:
A complimentary parking shuttle will transport fans from the UF Commuter Lot on Gale Lemerand Drive to the O'Connell Center. For more information, visit FloridaGators.com.
 
How to Follow the Gators:
Friday's action starts a six-meet stretch of live SEC Network appearances for the Gators. Calling the action are Olympic medalists Bart Conner and Kathy Johnson Clarke with Gator grad Laura Rutledge reporting from the sideline.
 
The meet can also be found on SEC Network +. New to the SEC Network + coverage this season is all the pre-meet pageantry and festivities will be part of the on-line production. Tune in beginning at 6:45 p.m. to see the pre-meet show.
 
A tape-delay replay of the UF-AU meet airs Jan. 31 on ESPNU at 1 p.m. ET.
 
Last Friday at North Carolina:
Florida made adjustments to its lineup for its dual meet at North Carolina and still came out with the win and the nation's ninth-highest total of 2017. The Gators took a 197.325-194.30 win Friday in front of a record Carmichael Arena crowd of 4,071. Two Gator All-Americans took each of the meet's individual titles. Junior Alex McMurtry won vault (9.95), uneven bars (9.90) and balance beam (9.95). McMurtry's vault mark is the highest possible for the Yurchenko full twist. That vault was devalued to a 9.95 start value starting in the 2016 season. She did receive a 10.0 for that same vault as a freshman in 2015. Her mark for balance beam equaled her collegiate best and she's earned a 9.95 mark in half of her last 12 beam performances.
 
Sophomore Alicia Boren used collegiate-best marks to win the evening's floor exercise (9.95) and all-around (39.625) titles. It was Boren's first floor title of her collegiate career. The all-around win was her second and first of the season. The 39.625 ties for the nation's sixth highest of 2017.
 
Two Gators – Kennedy Baker and Maegan Chant – rested from all or almost all (Baker was in bars lineup) of Friday's competition. The gymnasts stepping into the lineup performed well. Grace McLaughlin (bars) and Amanda Cheney (beam) both turned in collegiate-best marks of 9.85. Freshman Rachel Gowey added vault and floor exercise to her competitive slate, taking third in all-around at 39.225.
 
SEC Honors for Gator Pair:
Two Gators picked up Southeastern Conference Weekly Gymnastics Awards on Jan. 24. Boren claimed her first SEC Gymnast of the Week honor of her career. McMurtry is the SEC Specialist Gymnast of the Week – her sixth such honor of her career.
 
About the Tigers:
Auburn is looking for its first win of the season. The Tigers are coming off a 197.10-195.800 loss last Friday at then No. 9 Kentucky. AU opened the season with home losses to then No. 13 Oregon State (195.575-195.275) and Georgia (196.80-196.075). Auburn used several gymnasts in the last two meets (13 versus Georgia, 12 at Kentucky), with none performing as all-arounders in those meets.
 
In 2016, Auburn made its second consecutive NCAA Championships' appearance, finishing 11th overall. The Tigers took fourth in 2016 SEC Championships and then senior Caitlin Atkinson was named the SEC Gymnast of the Year.
 
Jenny Rowland spent five seasons at Auburn before taking over Florida's head position for the 2016 season. She was named co-National Assistant Coach of the Year in 2015 after helping Auburn reach the NCAA Super Six for the first time in 22 years.
 
National Rank:
Florida – Florida is No. 3 in the third Road to Nationals poll.
AU – The Tigers are No. 16 in the Road to Nationals poll.