Gators Fill Bag with all but a win at Historic Home Opener

Freshman Jazmyn Foberg bounces off the vault in front of a sold-out crowd at Exactech Arena on Friday night. The Gators lost to No. 1-ranked LSU in their home opener. (Photo: Adler Garfield/UAA Communications)

Gators Fill Bag with all but a win at Historic Home Opener

Friday, January 12, 2018 | Gymnastics, Scott Carter

The UF gymnastics team was unable to overcome a pair of early mishaps in front of a sellout crowd at the O'Dome.

By: Scott Carter, Senior Writer

GAINESVILLE, Fla. -- As home openers go, the Gators gymnastics team enjoyed a historic one Friday night.

A crowd of 9,661 -- the first sellout in the program's history -- packed Exactech Arena for No. 7 Florida's meet against Southeastern Conference rival and No. 1-ranked LSU.

Adding to the festivities, the Gators' marketing team unveiled a jazzed up introduction that included a Gator Head projected onto the competition floor as the gymnasts came out, firing up the crowd.

"It was magical,'' senior Rachel Slocum said.

Meanwhile, once the competition began, veterans Alicia Boren and Kennedy Baker brought the crowd to its feet with dazzling, high-flying floor routines that fit perfectly into the SEC Network's "Friday Night Heights" promotional slogan for this season. Senior Alex McMurtry won the parallel bars (9.925) title and sophomore Rachel Gowey claimed the beam (9.950) crown. True freshmen Alyssa Baumann, Jazmyn Foberg and Megan Skaggs each delivered solid routines in their home debuts.

The only thing missing was a win, as LSU exited the building with a 197.250 to 197.125 victory.

Yet, afterward, if you had just shown up to the Gators' press conference not knowing the final score, you would have never guessed they had lost. They smiled wide and laughed at their own mistakes.

The upbeat mood was part of the "Fill the Bag" motto head coach Jenny Rowland stressed to the Gators all week following a win at West Virginia in the season opener a week ago that was serviceable but lacking.

"Making everything count and doing everything you can to can in order to control the controllables, in order to be fulfilled in the end, whatever your success, whatever the outcome is,'' Rowland said of her message. "I think this team did a really good job of fixing the little things we needed to fix from the first meet."

48711 — Freshman Alyssa Baumann bounces in the air during her beam routine in her home debut for the Gators on Friday night at Exactech Arena. (Photo: Madison Ross/UAA Communications)

Florida's score was an improvement over the 195.900 it posted in the win over the Mountaineers in the season opener, but it could have been much better if not for some early mishaps.

Slocum's night started off rocky when she pulled up and failed to finish clean on the vault due to a timing error. Instead of following through and risk a potential injury, Slocum had to ease up, posting a 8.550 score that was the lowest of the 12 competitors on the apparatus.

She was able to joke about the uncharacteristic error in the end as her teammates picked up the slack.

"I'm still trying to mull that over in my brain,'' Slocum said. "I think it was just a counting issue with my steps."

Meanwhile, Skaggs fell on the uneven bars to post a 9.275 score that was dropped. She rebounded nicely with a 9.925 to tie Baker for second in the floor standings behind LSU's Myia Hambrick (9.950).

Those early errors prevented the Gators from perhaps holding off the Tigers, who closed with a strong finish on the beam to claim another close win over the Gators. LSU edged Florida for second at the Super Six in April behind national champion Oklahoma.

"Yeah, it was a bittersweet ending when we went to the final scores, but I just can't get over how proud of the team I am,'' McMurtry said. "Every single time somebody gets up on an event, I have full confidence in them. You would have thought it was March or April with the team we had out there."

Baker voiced a similar outlook.

"Obviously, we wanted to beat LSU, but we improved so much,'' she said. "We had mistakes but we had everybody's backs. That was really important."

Boren and Baker capped the night by showcasing new floor routines in front of the home fans for the first time. Judges awarded Hambrick the title despite Boren and Baker drawing the biggest fan reaction of the night.

Baker called it the most fun routine she's ever done. Boren was pleased, too.

"I'm having so much fun,'' Boren said. "I can feel it and it's making me a better gymnast. It's so exciting to be able to do that in front of this sold-out crowd."

As for the judging, well, that's part of the sport that sometimes can spoil an otherwise pleasant evening.

"You know what, it's not a controllable. It's something we can't control and we just have to be undeniable sometimes,'' Rowland said. "It's a subjective sport. It is what it is and we just have to work to get a little bit better."

The Gators brought the energy Friday night. They performed more like a team, something Rowland wanted to see. They had dynamic performances. The veterans led and the newcomers produced.

The bag was full except for a W.