Rachel Slocum celebrates her NCAA Regional vault with Florida Head Coach Jenny Rowland. The Gators look for a top-three finish in Friday's NCAA Semifinal action to advance to Saturday's NCAA Super Six team final.
NCAA Gymnastics Action Starts in St. Louis
Tuesday, April 11, 2017 | Gymnastics
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Gators join three other SEC teams in Friday's NCAA Semifinal II
By: Mary Howard
ST. LOUIS, Mo. – It is a competition in the Florida gymnastics team's focus all season. Now that competition is almost here.
NCAA Championship action makes its first appearance in St. Louis' Chaifetz Arena this weekend. The 12-team field competes Friday in two semifinal sessions. Florida competes in NCAA Semifinal II, set to begin at 8 p.m. ET.
To move ahead to Saturday's Super Six final where the national team champion is determined, the Gators need to be among the top three teams in its semifinal session on Friday.
Florida has qualified for the NCAA Championships 35 times, missing only the 2000 event. The Gators advanced to the 2017 national stage after winning the NCAA Gainesville Regional, held April 1 in the Exactech Arena at the Stephen C. O'Connell Center.
What happens in Friday's competition?
The top three teams in each of Friday's semifinals advance to the NCAA Super Six on Saturday, April 15 at 9 p.m. (ET). The winner of the Super Six is the NCAA team champion. The NCAA Super Six format began in 1993, with Florida advancing to the team final 14 times.
The NCAA Individual Event Finals discontinued after the 2015 championships. NCAA individual event champions are now based on performance in Friday's semifinal sessions. The results from the two semifinals combine to determine each of the five event champions. Gators have won 16 NCAA individual titles.
How to follow the action:
All NCAA Gymnastics Championships' competition televises live.
Friday's NCAA Semifinal II (includes Florida) begins on ESPNU at 8 p.m. ET. Then at 9 p.m. ET, television coverage for NCAA Semifinal II flips to ESPN.
2017 NCAA Gymnastics Championships – April 14-15
Date
Competition
Time (ET)
TV (live)
Friday, April 14
Semifinal I
1 p.m.
ESPN2
Semifinal II
8-9 p.m.
ESPNU
Semifinal II
9 p.m.
ESPN
Saturday, April 15
Super Six Team Final
9 p.m.
ESPNU
ESPN3 will stream the action on Friday and Saturday. In addition, all action for each apparatus is ESPN3:
Who's in the Field?
This is the fourth year a team's seed holds through NCAA Regional and Championship competition. Teams 1, 4, 5, 8, 9 and 13 are in Friday's opening semifinal and teams 2, 3, 6, 7, 10 and 14 appear in the first semifinal. The six teams to win NCAA team titles in the meet's 35-year history are evenly split between the two semifinals (Semi I: UCLA, Oklahoma, Utah; Semi II: Florida, Alabama, Georgia). Four teams from the 2016 NCAA Super Six are in NCAA Semifinal II (Florida, Alabama, Georgia, LSU). Sophomore Alicia Boren is one of five Gators to earn 2017 NACGC regular-season All-America honors. She claimed first-team honors for all-around, vault and floor exercise. 2017 Gators Honors:
The five Gators who earned All-Southeastern Conference honors also picked up National Association of Collegiate Gymnastics Coaches/Women (NACGC) All-America accolades. This is the fifth season for NACGC regular-season All-America honors.
Their final regional qualifying score (RQS) standings in the Road to Nationals rankings entering NCAA Regional competition determines the All-Americans. The top eight gymnasts on each event and the all-around receive first-team honors and gymnasts Nos. 9-16 receive second-team honors with all ties included.
The Gators earning spots on the 2017 NACGC All-America list are three-time All-Americans Alicia Boren (all-around, vault, floor) and Alex McMurtry (vault, bars, beam). Three others earned one honor each – Kennedy Baker (floor), Amelia Hundley (bars) and Rachel Slocum (vault).
Florida is one of three programs in the nation with double-digit NACGC All-America honors – Oklahoma (14), LSU (11) and Florida (10).
McMurtry became the first in Florida history to earn SEC Gymnast and Scholar-Athlete honors in the same season. She also was named the NACGC Southeast Region Gymnast of the Year.
Gators at 2016 NCAA Championships:
The Gators took fourth in 2016 NCAA Super Six action (197.35), as Oklahoma claimed its second team title (197.675). Then Gator senior Bridget Sloan won three NCAA event titles in 2016. She claimed her second NCAA all-around title and shared the uneven bars and balance beam titles. The trio of titles raised her career total of NCAA event titles to six, a Gator program record and third all-time in the 35-year history of the NCAA Gymnastics Championships.
Tickets:
Single session tickets range in price from $18-$25. Purchase tickets at TicketMaster.
