Saturday, March 23
New Orleans, LA
8 PM
Florida Gators
vs
Southeastern Conference Championships
Florida cheers a hit uneven bars routine Saturday at the Southeastern Conference Championships in New Orleans, La. Florida took second at 197.75 while LSU claimed the title with a 197.90.
Florida Second at SEC Championships
Sunday, March 24, 2019 | Gymnastics
Four Gators claimed two SEC Event titles Saturday.
NEW ORLEANS, La. – It wasn't the finish Florida was looking for Saturday in the Big Easy.
Florida saw its narrow lead evaporate on the final rotation as the No. 3 LSU Tigers used the Southeastern Conference Gymnastics Championships' top floor exercise total to move to first.
LSU claimed its third consecutive title Saturday with a 197.90. Florida took second at 197.75, followed by Alabama (197.35) and Georgia (197.00). Arkansas (196.475), Auburn (196.375), Kentucky (196.225) and Missouri (195.90) rounded out the team results.
LSU led all teams on vault (49.375), bars (49.475) and used a 49.60 on floor to claim the title. The top balance beam total was a meet record 49.625 by the Gators. Florida finished with a vault total 49.275 and couldn't keep pace with LSU's floor scores on the final rotation.
Saturday's meet drew a meet-record 10,505 to the Smoothie King Center. The previous SEC Championships' high of 9,022 came in the Gwinnett Center in Duluth, Ga., in 2008.
Gators Event Winners:
Two event titles went to the Gators.
Freshman Trinity Thomas hit a collegiate-best 9.95 for the second consecutive meet to win vault.
Five shared the balance beam title at 9.95, including three Gators.
Five Gators posted or equaled collegiate or season-best marks Saturday:
Alyssa Baumann 9.95 Floor Collegiate best
Rachel Gowey 9.95 Beam Collegiate best
Nya Reed 9.875 Vault Collegiate best
Megan Skaggs 9.95 Beam Collegiate best
Trinity Thomas 9.95 Vault Collegiate best
Florida reset its SEC Championships' balance beam total for the second consecutive season, raising it from 49.55 in 2018 to 49.625. That total equals the second-highest beam total in UF history.
SEC Honors
Five Gators earned All-SEC or SEC All-Freshman in Saturday's competition.
The All-SEC Team is comprised of the student-athletes with the top two event scores (including ties) in each session of the SEC Championships. The All-Freshman team is comprised of the freshmen student-athlete with the top score (including ties) on each event in each SEC Championships' session.
Photo Gallery
Quoting the Gators:
Florida's performance tonight:
"I have a lot of pride; I have a lot of joy for this team. Lots of emotion going on - a little sad but for the most part, there were so many superb performances by this team tonight. Of course, little things here, little things there [hurt the scoring potential]. You can tell our freshman class was a little nervous. This is the first time that some of them have been on a podium. But it was a great opportunity for to get their feet wet and to get ready for the final meets of post season.
"I know this team is going to take away a lot [from tonight]. It was bittersweet. Lots of fabulous performances, some really good performances and this is something we're going to remember for a little bit. I think it's only going to help push us to just get that much better towards the end of the season." – Florida Head Coach Jenny Rowland
Overall thoughts on the meet…
"I think that we started with a really strong rotation on bars and then we carried it on over to beam. We had a few mistakes on floor but we finished strong and we fought for every little thing." – Sophomore Alyssa Baumann
"We had so much passion and so much fight out there. It was unbelievable. Every turn. Everyone took it routine by routine. Yeah, we didn't clinch the title, but it was still such an amazing night with an amazing group of girls and we had each other's backs." – Junior Rachel Gowey
"I think we did amazing. We came out here and did what we always do and we had so much fun. We fought until the end. It wasn't the outcome we wanted, but we did great." – Freshman Trinity Thomas
"I'm really proud of the team tonight. I think we really fought for every detail and stayed together the whole time. This is just another step in the process. We didn't come out with the win, but I think we're still happy with how tonight went." – Sophomore Megan Skaggs
National Rank:
Florida is No. 4 in the March 18 Road to Nationals poll.
Half of the nation's top-10 teams (No. 3 LSU, No. 4 Florida, No. 8 Georgia, No. 9 Kentucky, No. 10 Alabama) were among the eight-team SEC field. This was the first SEC Championship that all teams (No. 12 Auburn, No. 19 Missouri, No. 20 Arkansas) ranked among the nation's top 20.
Up Next:
Florida finds out where it will head for NCAA Regional Championship action. Four sites will play host to NCAA Regional action the first weekend of April.
The reveal for the 2019 NCAA Regional fields is Monday, March 25 at 5 p.m. ET on NCAA.com.
Florida saw its narrow lead evaporate on the final rotation as the No. 3 LSU Tigers used the Southeastern Conference Gymnastics Championships' top floor exercise total to move to first.
LSU claimed its third consecutive title Saturday with a 197.90. Florida took second at 197.75, followed by Alabama (197.35) and Georgia (197.00). Arkansas (196.475), Auburn (196.375), Kentucky (196.225) and Missouri (195.90) rounded out the team results.
LSU led all teams on vault (49.375), bars (49.475) and used a 49.60 on floor to claim the title. The top balance beam total was a meet record 49.625 by the Gators. Florida finished with a vault total 49.275 and couldn't keep pace with LSU's floor scores on the final rotation.
Saturday's meet drew a meet-record 10,505 to the Smoothie King Center. The previous SEC Championships' high of 9,022 came in the Gwinnett Center in Duluth, Ga., in 2008.
Gators Event Winners:
Two event titles went to the Gators.
Freshman Trinity Thomas hit a collegiate-best 9.95 for the second consecutive meet to win vault.
Five shared the balance beam title at 9.95, including three Gators.
- Second consecutive SEC beam title for sophomore Alyssa Baumann, becoming the first to win beam in consecutive seasons since Georgia's Kim Arnold won a share of the 1997 and 1998 SEC titles.
- Junior Rachel Gowey returned from a four-meet layoff from beam competition to equal her collegiate-best for the third time.
- Sophomore Megan Skaggs raised her collegiate best to 9.95 to win beam.
Five Gators posted or equaled collegiate or season-best marks Saturday:
Alyssa Baumann 9.95 Floor Collegiate best
Rachel Gowey 9.95 Beam Collegiate best
Nya Reed 9.875 Vault Collegiate best
Megan Skaggs 9.95 Beam Collegiate best
Trinity Thomas 9.95 Vault Collegiate best
Florida reset its SEC Championships' balance beam total for the second consecutive season, raising it from 49.55 in 2018 to 49.625. That total equals the second-highest beam total in UF history.
SEC Honors
Five Gators earned All-SEC or SEC All-Freshman in Saturday's competition.
The All-SEC Team is comprised of the student-athletes with the top two event scores (including ties) in each session of the SEC Championships. The All-Freshman team is comprised of the freshmen student-athlete with the top score (including ties) on each event in each SEC Championships' session.
| Gator Gymnast | All-SEC (Qualifying Events) | SEC All-Freshman (Qualifying Events) |
| Alyssa Baumann | Beam, Floor | |
| Rachel Gowey | Beam | |
| Megan Skaggs | Bars, Beam | |
| Savannah Schoenherr | Bars | |
| Trinity Thomas | Vault, Floor | All-Around, Vault, Floor |
Photo Gallery
Quoting the Gators:
Florida's performance tonight:
"I have a lot of pride; I have a lot of joy for this team. Lots of emotion going on - a little sad but for the most part, there were so many superb performances by this team tonight. Of course, little things here, little things there [hurt the scoring potential]. You can tell our freshman class was a little nervous. This is the first time that some of them have been on a podium. But it was a great opportunity for to get their feet wet and to get ready for the final meets of post season.
"I know this team is going to take away a lot [from tonight]. It was bittersweet. Lots of fabulous performances, some really good performances and this is something we're going to remember for a little bit. I think it's only going to help push us to just get that much better towards the end of the season." – Florida Head Coach Jenny Rowland
Overall thoughts on the meet…
"I think that we started with a really strong rotation on bars and then we carried it on over to beam. We had a few mistakes on floor but we finished strong and we fought for every little thing." – Sophomore Alyssa Baumann
"We had so much passion and so much fight out there. It was unbelievable. Every turn. Everyone took it routine by routine. Yeah, we didn't clinch the title, but it was still such an amazing night with an amazing group of girls and we had each other's backs." – Junior Rachel Gowey
"I think we did amazing. We came out here and did what we always do and we had so much fun. We fought until the end. It wasn't the outcome we wanted, but we did great." – Freshman Trinity Thomas
"I'm really proud of the team tonight. I think we really fought for every detail and stayed together the whole time. This is just another step in the process. We didn't come out with the win, but I think we're still happy with how tonight went." – Sophomore Megan Skaggs
| SEC Event Winners | ||
| Vault: | Trinity Thomas, Florida | 9.95 |
| Bars: | Sarah Finnegan, LSU | 9.95 |
| Beam: | Alyssa Baumann, UF | 9.95 |
| Rachel Gowey, UF | 9.95 | |
| Megan Skaggs, UF | 9.95 | |
| Sarah Finnegan, LSU | 9.95 | |
| Lexi Graber, Alabama | 9.95 | |
| Floor: | Sarah Finnegan, LSU | 10.00 |
| All-Around: | Sarah Finnegan, LSU | 39.80 |
National Rank:
Florida is No. 4 in the March 18 Road to Nationals poll.
Half of the nation's top-10 teams (No. 3 LSU, No. 4 Florida, No. 8 Georgia, No. 9 Kentucky, No. 10 Alabama) were among the eight-team SEC field. This was the first SEC Championship that all teams (No. 12 Auburn, No. 19 Missouri, No. 20 Arkansas) ranked among the nation's top 20.
Up Next:
Florida finds out where it will head for NCAA Regional Championship action. Four sites will play host to NCAA Regional action the first weekend of April.
The reveal for the 2019 NCAA Regional fields is Monday, March 25 at 5 p.m. ET on NCAA.com.
| Site (Region) | First (ET) | Second (ET) | Final (ET) |
| Ann Arbor, Mich. (Michigan) | 3 p.m. | 2 p.m. / 7 p.m. | 7 p.m. |
| Athens, Ga. (Georgia) | 3 p.m. | 2 p.m. / 7 p.m. | 7 p.m. |
| Baton Rouge, La. (LSU) | 4 p.m. | 3 p.m. / 8 p.m. | 8 p.m. |
| Corvallis, Ore. (Oregon State) | 6 p.m. | 5/10 p.m. | 10 p.m. |
- Nine teams compete at four regional sites:
- Regional First Round – Lowest two seeded teams at each site compete to advance to Day 2 eight-team regional competition
- Regional Second Round – Eight teams compete, split into two four-team sessions. Top two teams in each session advance to Day 3 regional final
- Regional Final – Four teams compete, with top two teams advancing to NCAA Championships, set for April 19-20 in Ft. Worth, Texas.
| No. 4 Florida at Southeastern Conference Championships Final Team Totals |
|||||
| March 23, 2019 – Smoothie King Center (10,505) | |||||
| Team | Vault | Bars | Beam | Floor | Total |
| LSU | 49.375 | 49.475 | 49.450 | 49.600 | 197.900 |
| Florida | 49.275 | 49.425 | 49.625 | 49.425 | 197.750 |
| Alabama | 49.225 | 49.200 | 49.450 | 49.475 | 197.350 |
| Georgia | 49.175 | 49.475 | 49.050 | 49.300 | 197.000 |
| Arkansas | 48.950 | 49.100 | 49.150 | 49.275 | 196.475 |
| Auburn | 49.125 | 49.050 | 48.950 | 49.250 | 196.375 |
| Kentucky | 49.125 | 49.200 | 49.275 | 48.625 | 196.225 |
| Missouri | 48.675 | 48.850 | 49.125 | 49.250 | 195.900 |
Players Mentioned
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