Gators coach Jenny Rowland, left, watches her team practice on Thursday at Chaifetz Arena in St. Louis. (Photo: Michael Erdelyi/For UAA Communications)
Gators in St. Louis: Showtime is here, McMurtry on Display, Familiarity Factor
Friday, April 14, 2017 | Gymnastics, Scott Carter
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The UF gymnastics team opens its quest for a fourth national title in five years starting tonight at the NCAA Championships.
By: Scott Carter, Senior Writer
ST. LOUIS – When it was finally their turn to practice late Thursday afternoon at Chaifetz Arena, the Gators shared the floor with Southeastern Conference rivals Alabama and Georgia.
To put it another way, the three programs that own 10 of the last 12 NCAA women's gymnastics national championships. Only UCLA (2010) and Oklahoma (2016 & 2014 tie with UF) have interrupted the trio's grip on the championship trophy over that span.
Georgia won five consecutive titles from 2005-09, Alabama won back-to-back in 2011-12, and the Gators broke through by winning three in a row from 2013-15. With the 2017 NCAA Championships opening Friday – Florida competes in the second semifinal starting at 8 p.m. ET – defending national champion Oklahoma enters as the No. 1 seed followed by No. 2 LSU and the third-ranked Gators.
While there was a lot of talent on the floor at practice Thursday, Gators coach Jenny Rowland focused on how her team performed in a new environment.
"This is the day to get used to the equipment,'' Rowland said. "We don't have to be on point, we don't have to be stellar, just relax, move around a little bit and get used to the equipment and have a little fun. With that being said, it was a really good practice."
View from the floor on practice day with @MChant3 ??
Unlike most regular-season meets, the performance floor is raised at the NCAA Finals. This is the first time the 36-year event has been held in Missouri.
Junior Alex McMurtry said there was definitely an adjustment period after the team's first run through each event.
"Bars and beam were a little bouncier than we were expecting,'' she said. "Even floor was like a trampoline out there. Getting used to that, trying to keep calm, to have the maturity to have a level head and know we can hit routines [was our goal]."
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Shelby Granath, who has covered Florida's journey to the NCAA Championships from the start, filed this report on Friday for GatorVision:
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BEEN HERE, DONE THAT
For a trio of Gators – freshmen Rachel Gowey and Amelia Hundley, and junior Kennedy Baker – the home arena of the St. Louis University men's and women's basketball teams is familiar.
All three competed here on the elite circuit, including Gowey and Hundley last summer at the P&G Championships, where Simone Biles, just weeks before becoming a star at the Rio Summer Olympics, won the all-around competition. Hundley placed sixth. Amelia Hundley
This time is different.
"I can remember the arena but it's also a different atmosphere going in with a team," Hundley said. "I don't know if I have much of an advantage because I've been there before."
Baker recalled competing here in 2012 and said the familiarity factor might not play a big role but that it can't hurt.
What intrigues Baker the most about the national championship is competing with six teams on the same night.
"It makes me sharper,'' she said. "I like competing with a lot of teams as opposed to a dual meet. I'm competitive."
The Gators are grouped with LSU, Alabama, Michigan, Georgia and Nebraska in Semifinal II. The top three advance to Saturday's Super Six against the top three qualifiers from Semifinal I.
"Each arena you go to is different,'' Gowey said. "Hopefully when I go there I will feel like I've done it before. It won't be all new to me."
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BANNER GIRL
McMurtry was in for a surprise when the team bus pulled up to the arena Thursday.
A massive NCAA banner advertising the event draped the side of the building facing Interstate 64, which runs adjacent to campus. It featured a photo of McMurtry flying through the air during a routine.
"That was pretty awesome,'' said McMurtry, the 2017 SEC Gymnast of the Year. "I showed up and it was so much larger than expected."
It's been a memorable stay here so far for McMurtry. She won the Elite 90 Award for gymnastics on Wednesday night at the NCAA Banquet, becoming the first UF student-athlete to claim the award, which goes to the student-athlete with the highest cumulative grade-point average at the final site of each of the NCAA's 90 championship.
McMurtry owns a 4.0 grade-point average in Applied Physiology & Kinesiology -- Exercise Physiology.
"That was really special. I remember that award being given out last year and my first year. I asked my adviser what it takes to get that,'' she said. "As they were announcing it, it was really surreal. This year has been full circle for me. For some reason, it took me two years to get used to college gymnastics but if I'm finding it now.
"I reality check myself all the time. 'Is this really happening? Is that my life?' "
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QUOTE OF NOTE I
"It's an underlying pressure that we all know could definitely happen. We talk about that a lot this year, working in the moment. This team has risen to the occasion when they have needed to. I'm very confident in their abilities." – Rowland on how you can't win title on first day but you can be eliminated
QUOTE OF NOTE II
"We just know if we go out and have fun and stay within our own energy and focus on each other, I think we know what we can do and what we're capable of. It's just staying within our own bubble. That's what most important for us." – Hundley on team's mindset
QUOTE OF NOTE III
"I know last year, it stung a little bit. And those who returned to the team definitely carried that with them throughout the season and showed the freshmen the ways, what it takes to be a national contender and a national champion. I think that's definitely helped fuel the fire." – Rowland on Florida's fourth-place finish in 2016
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GYM NOTES
Top-seed LSU is trying to become the fourth SEC team to win the national title. The only non-SEC schools to win are Utah (9 titles), UCLA (6) and Oklahoma (2). … This is a reunion of sorts for Hundley, who has three former teammates at Cincinnati Gym competing in Alabama senior Amanda Jetter, LSU's Lexie Priessman and Michigan junior Brianna Brown. "It's our team back together. We're real excited about that. I'm just really excited to see how everyone is doing,'' she said. … A large crowd is expected for tonight's semifinal featuring the Gators. You can watch live on ESPNU at 8 p.m. and then on ESPN starting at 9...Saturday's NCAA Super Six team final is a sellout.
