Maegan Chant, Rachel Gowey, Amelia Hundley and Sierra Alexander, left to right, have maintained a tight bond with the 2021 Gators gymnastics team after their careers came to a crashing halt a year ago. (Photo: Courtney Culbreath/UAA Communications)
The 2021 Gators Have Not Forgotten 2020 Seniors
Thursday, April 15, 2021 | Gymnastics, Scott Carter
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By: Scott Carter, Senior Writer
GAINESVILLE, Fla. – Rachel Gowey returned to her native Iowa and recently started classes to become a chiropractor. Sierra Alexander is back home in Fort Lauderdale preparing to move cross-country to Washington state and begin graduate studies in creative writing. Maegan Chant, who came to UF from Canada, is once again north of the border waiting out the coronavirus pandemic and set to enter nursing school in the fall.
Meanwhile, their former roommate and teammate on the Gators gymnastics team, Amelia Hundley, is a student assistant for the Gators and in Fort Worth, Texas, this weekend for the NCAA Championships. Gowey is scheduled to join her there as the No. 1-seed Gators open their bid for the program's first national title since 2015 on Friday afternoon in the semifinals. Alexander and Chant said they both plan to watch the meet on TV, cheering for the Gators to do what they envisioned doing a year ago: win it all.
Instead, just as the college gymnastics postseason was about to begin with then No. 2-ranked and 10-0 Florida among the favorites to win the national championship, the season was shut down as the U.S. and rest of the world grappled with COVID-19.
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A year later, the four Gators who missed Senior Night and a chance to cap their careers covered in confetti, have moved on. It took time, each dealing with the disappointment in her own way. The fact they remained roommates after the season and into the summer helped since they knew what each was going through.
"I don't think anyone really knew how to deal with what happened,'' Hundley said this week. "It's not exactly the way we thought it was going to go. We as a team were doing so well and we were looking forward to that national championship. It was devastating. It was hard because we weren't prepared for it."
"It just ended very abruptly,'' Alexander added. "It was a little rough."
As Alexander and Chant relocated late in the summer of 2020, Gowey continued at UF to finish her undergraduate degrees. At first, the transition from student-athlete to only student felt odd, she said, considering she was so close to the team as it prepared for another season.
Once she moved back to Iowa earlier this year, Gowey's focus centered on her career plans and transitioning from a Gators gymnast into a Gators gymnastics fan.
"I really do think moving on and starting school again, it's been better for me,'' Gowey said. "That was a year ago and here I am today preparing for my future. It was an adjustment, but slowly and surely, I'm moving forward. I love the team dearly. I'll be watching the team from now on closely."
Chant has done the same, tuning into Florida's meets from her home in Waterdown, Ontario. She is eager to see what the Gators do at the NCAA Championships, the team's first appearance at the meet since 2018. The Gators failed to qualify for only the second time in program history in 2019, and then the event was canceled in 2020.
Roommates and teammates: Sierra Alexander, Rachel Gowey, Amelia Hundley and Maegan Chant, left to right, pose for a photo together prior to the 2020 season. (Photo: Courtney Culbreath/UAA Communications)
Finally, a sense of normalcy has returned despite the health and safety protocols that are in place.
"We didn't get to go do what we had been training for all year,'' Chant said. "I've been following them on their journey this year. They have had to overcome so many obstacles. They are so relentless and determined.
"They have some unfinished business to attend to. I'm excited for them."
Here's the second part of this foursome's story. They are closely tied to this year's team because the current Gators wanted to pay tribute to the group in some fashion.
The 2020 seniors discovered how closely connected they would be earlier this season when Hundley invited them to join a FaceTime call following one of the team's practices. The faces staring back were familiar ones, starting with Coach Jenny Rowland.
As part of the team's tribute, the Gators dedicated the 2021 season to the four seniors who missed out on their final shot at a national title, and as part of the team's social-justice-action pledge last summer, the Gators created a hashtag of #4CTION on social media. The numeral "4" represents the four former-teammates who during their four-year careers, performed 27 percent of the Gators' routines and won a pair of Southeastern Conference regular-season titles.
"Still being able to be a part of it and not being there is super special," Chant said. "They just told us the season is for you. We're going to work our butts off and try to honestly, take care of unfinished business."
Said Gowey: "I was just so overwhelmed that they would do that for us and they still held us that close to their hearts. I'm pretty sure I cried."
Alexander, for one, won't be shocked in the least if the Gators return home with a Texas-sized trophy. While the four seniors from last season served key roles during their careers, Rowland and Co. reloaded with a group of talented freshmen to mix into the lineup with a talented group of returnees.
"Honestly, I'm not surprised [what they have done] because I think this team is even better than last year's team,'' Alexander said. "I'm just so proud of them. I'll be watching on TV and texting the girls. I'm supportive any way I can be for them."
As Chant and Alexander watch from afar, Gowey will be in the stands and Hundley on the floor in the middle of the action, another chance to learn as she aims toward a future as a coach.
If the Gators win the title, Hundley and Gowey said they will feel right at home.
"It's been amazing to watch them take what we started last year and turn it into their own in some ways, but still continue on that legacy,'' Hundley said. "It would be the most amazing feeling. I feel just as much invested, just as proud to be on that floor representing UF as if I was wearing a leotard."
Gowey gets nervous thinking about the possibilities. She said as she watches the action the floor, she expects to be on the edge of her seat and minus a few fingernails.
But it will be worth it.
"I wish I could will them to do what I know they're capable of,'' she said. "I think they are going to rise to the occasion. I hope I get to witness that."
