GAINESVILLE, Fla. – It was the little things that didn't go in Florida's favor Friday, contributing to its first 2019 league loss. Those balance checks and extra steps quieted the Gators scoring, as No. 3 Florida lost by 0.075 of a point to No. 7 Georgia Friday in front of 8,744 at the Exactech Arena at the Stephen C. O'Connell Center.
The GymDogs' 197.45 was just off its season-best of 197.475 set the first Friday of February. Florida posted a 197.375.
Florida-Georgia is the longest standing rivalry for both programs. This was the 54
th of the last 58 meetings that both teams brought a top-10 ranking.
TONIGHT'S MEET:
A Gator won four of the meet's five events. Freshman
Trinity Thomas used two 9.975s to take the uneven bars and floor exercise wins. She claimed her fourth overall and third consecutive all-around win with a 39.675. Senior All-American
Alicia Boren was runner-up in the all-around at 39.60. She equaled her season best of 9.925 to take her second vault win of 2019.
Georgia's Sabrina Vega anchored with a 9.95 to take the beam win. Florida was led on beam by junior All-American
Amelia Hundley, who matched her collegiate best of 9.925 to share second with UGA freshman Rachel Baumann.
Photo Gallery
GATOR PERFORMANCE NOTES:
- Thomas now has six nearly perfect marks of 9.975 – three each for uneven bars and floor exercise. Six is a Florida record for 9.975s by a freshman. Entering the season, UF's freshmen 9.975 record was four and was set by Bridget Sloan (2013).
- Boren now has 44 event wins as a Gator, which ties for No. 12 all-time for Florida.
- Three Gators equaled five collegiate-best marks Friday:
- This was the first home loss to Georgia since Jan. 18, 2008. That meet was also decided by a slim margin (0.025).
- In the 58 UF-UGA meetings since 2003, tonight's competition was the seventh decided by a tenth or less.
- This was Florida fourth dual this season versus a top-10 team:
- Jan. 19 – No. 3 Florida (197.50) at No. 5 LSU (197.425)
- Feb. 1 – No. 2 Florida (198.025) at No. 1 Oklahoma (198.325)
- Feb. 15 – No. 3 Florida (197.325) at No. 9 Alabama (196.475)
- Feb. 22 – No. 3 Florida (197.375) versus No. 7 Georgia (197.45)
RECORDS: Florida (5-2, 5-1 SEC), UGA (6-3, 4-2 SEC)
THE SERIES: Georgia leads the series 93-57-1.
TRINITY THOMAS OFF TO U.S. CAMP
After Friday's meet,
Trinity Thomas headed to Sarasota, Fla., for a
U.S. Women's National Team Training Camp. The camp will be held at EVO Athletics and will include 35 gymnasts who are members of the U.S. National Team or invited athletes. Thomas, who is the only current member of the U.S. Senior National Team who is competing in college, will return to UF campus on Monday.
HEAR FROM THE GATORS:
Opening statement…
"No event stood out more than anything else. We left a lot out on the floor tonight. For the Gators, it was a missed opportunity. It's not the end of the world, it was a competition. We have a lot more to go.
"I really think this team is going to respond well from this loss. Win, lose, we go by scores. Really had a decent night tonight. I can't say anything bad. I know this team is full of fight, full of heart, full of passion. They are going to get back in the gym and they are going to continue to work hard and do it for their team, themselves and for Gator Nation." – Florida coach
Jenny Rowland
On her performance tonight…"It was pretty good. I definitely didn't do the bar routine that I wanted. There were little things here and there. But I think as a whole, I think I am getting back to where I can be. There are highs and lows here and there and just getting back out there and doing better each week, that would make me happy." – senior
Alicia Boren
On her performance tonight…"There are things that I'm happy about that I improved on from the last few weeks but there were also things that I beat myself up over a little bit. I think this is a good learning experience. We still have a lot of time. I think we can either go down on ourselves over our mistakes or use them as a learning tool and see what we can do to improve upon. I think that's what we're going to do. For myself, I'll just work on those little things and I think we're going to be where we want to be when we need to be." – junior
Amelia Hundley
On seeing her sister compete for Georgia…
"It was definitely a little bit weird. I just wanted to go up to her before she was competing and give her some words of encouragement or stand right next to the floor. But at the same time, Florida is my number one priority and I couldn't do that. But I was just cheering her on from the side and it was really cool to see her compete at the college level because I haven't actually seen it in person before and I'm really proud of her." – sophomore
Alyssa Baumann
National Rank:
Florida – Florida is No. 3 in the
Road to Nationals standings.
UGA – The GymDogs are No. 7 in the
Road to Nationals standings.
UP NEXT:
Florida finishes 2019 SEC regular-season action next Friday at No. 21 Arkansas. A win would give Florida at least a share of the 2019 SEC regular-season title. Both Florida and Auburn share the top of the SEC standings with 5-1 records. Auburn also closes SEC action next Friday when it competes at No. 9 Alabama.
UF-Arkansas meet time is 8 p.m. ET in the Barnhill Arena. No. 5 LSU took a 197.125-196.375 win over the Razorbacks tonight in Fayetteville, Ark.
The Florida-Arkansas meet will not be available on SEC Network or SEC Network +.
No. 3 Florida versus No. 7 Georgia
Final Team Totals |
| Feb. 22, 2019 ● Exactech Arena at the Stephen C. O'Connell Center (8,744) |
| Team |
Vault |
Bars |
Beam |
Floor |
Total |
| Georgia |
49.350 |
49.300 |
49.475 |
49.325 |
197.450 |
| Florida |
49.275 |
49.400 |
49.175 |
49.525 |
197.375 |
