AUBURN, Ala. – Big score after big score led to a school-record 198.775 – the third-highest in NCAA history – as No. 2 Florida gymnastics won Saturday's NCAA Auburn Regional final in front of a Neville Arena crowd of 6,166.
Florida and Auburn advance to the NCAA Championships, set for April 14-16 in Ft. Worth, Texas. This will be Florida's 38
th appearance in the 40-year history of the NCAA Championships.
TONIGHT'S MEET:
All the Thursday's second session winners at each of the nation's four region sites opened final competition on floor exercise. Senior
Trinity Thomas started off her school-record all-around (39.90) with her second consecutive 10.0 on floor. Freshman
Leanne Wong, who tallied UF's second-highest all-around ever (39.875), started her competition with a 9.95.
Both Wong and Thomas posted 10.0s on vault. It was Wong's first collegiate 10.0 on the event. Thomas now has three vault 10.0s – all in 2022. Senior
Nya Reed, who was held out of Thursday's NCAA Regional second round on a precautionary measure due to heel pain, was back in Florida's power events Saturday. She earned a 9.90 on floor and a 9.95 for vault.
Florida's final three uneven bars performers all went 9.95 or better. Both
Megan Skaggs and Thomas earned 9.95s and Wong anchored the lineup with a 9.975.
Five consecutive Gators turned in 9.95s as Florida closed the meet with a school-record 49.75 on balance beam –
Sloane Blakely, Alyssa Baumann, Wong, Thomas and
Leah Clapper.
Thomas' two 10.0s and two 9.95 added up to a 39.90, equaling her school-record set in 2021 at LSU. It ties for fifth in NCAA history and leads the nation in 2022.
Wong's 39.875 shares No. 2 with Thomas among the nation's all-arounders in 2022.
SATURDAY'S EVENT WINNERS:
Vault: 10.0
Leanne Wong, UF,
Trinity Thomas, UF
Bars: 9.975
Leanne Wong, UF
Beam: 10.0 Sunisa Lee, Auburn
Floor: 10.0
Trinity Thomas, UF
AA: 39.90
Trinity Thomas, UF
GATOR PERFORMANCE NOTES:
- Gators have claimed 20 Regional wins - 1982, '84, '85, '87, '97, '05, '06, '07, '08, '09, '10, '12, '13, '14, '15, '16, '17, '18, '21, '22
- The 198.775 is the No. 3 total in NCAA Gymnastics' 40-year history, trailing only the 198.875 set by both Stanford and UCLA two days apart in the 2004 season.
- Florida's added two totals to the NCAA all-time high list in 2022: No. 3 198.775 (April 2 at NCAA Regional) and No. T5 198.575 (March 4 at Auburn).
- Florida has seven 2022 team totals starting with 198 – a school record. The previous high was five in 2014.
- Event totals for vault (49.70), uneven bars (49.675) and balance beam (49.75) set Florida highs in NCAA Regional competition.Florida's previous team high in regional competition of 198.40 was set in 2013.
- Balance beam total of 49.75 is a school record. Twice this season Florida posted its previous beam high of 49.70 (at SEC Championships and vs Arkansas)
- A Gator has won all-around in 12 of UF's 13 meets this season. Thomas has six wins, Wong (3), Skaggs (2) and Blakely (1)
- Thomas' all-around total of 39.90 ties for No. 5 all-time in NCAA history. She also posted a 39.90 at LSU in 2021.
- An all-around total of 39.85 or better has been turned in six times across the nation in 2022 – with five of those totals belonging to a Gator.
- Thomas three wins tonight extends her Gator Career Events Record total to 106.
- Tonight's victory moves Thomas into sole possession at 24 for third all-time on the Gators Career All-Around Wins chart.
- The 15 10.0s by four different Gators leads the nation. Utah is next with five Utes posting nine 10.0s in 2022.
- Trinity Thomas' ten 10.0s in 2022 is double the nation's next highest individual total (5 by Auburn's Sunisa Lee)
- Florida is nation's only program with a 10.0 on each apparatus in 2022 (vault: 4; bars: 2; beam: 1; floor 8)
- It's been almost 26 years since a Gator earned a vault 10.0 in NCAA Regional competition. In addition to tonight's 10.0s by Trinity Thomas and Leanne Wong; the program's first vault 10.0 was earned by All-American and two-time NCAA vault champion Susan Hines in NCAA Southeast Regional Championships on April 13, 1996
- Collegiate bests tonight:
Adding some more Gator chomps to Neville Arena Saturday was the No. 7 Florida softball team.
EXTRA CHOMPS SATURDAY:
After their 7-6 win Saturday at Auburn's Jane B. Moore Field, the No. 7 Florida softball added some extra Gator chomps in Neville Arena. The Gators appreciated the extra support from their Gator sisters.
"So grateful and so thankful for the Gator softball team that was here cheering on the Gators. Couldn't have done it without all your support," Florida Head Coach
Jenny Rowland said. "Beat those Tigers tomorrow!"
HEAR FROM THE GATORS:
COACH ROWLAND SAID:
"Somebody asked me if that [team score] is a record and I said 'I don't know if it's a record but we're going to Fort Worth!' Really a phenomenal, phenomenal evening for the Gators. They just keep getting better and better. It was so much fun, not forced - just pure ease. This team's really built a fabulous foundation. We look forward to celebrating the moment and then getting back in the gym and keep trying to get a little bit better. We've got more in the tank.
"The end goal is to get to Fort Worth to have that opportunity to show everybody again what the Gators are all about. And we're going to continue to take it day by day by day. I know this evening is a great evening that the Gators can lean on and take a lot of confidence from." - – Florida Head Coach
Jenny Rowland
UP NEXT:
The 40
th NCAA Championships are
April 14-16 NCAA Championships in Ft. Worth, Texas.
Florida competes in April 14 NCAA Semifinal II at 6 p.m. ET. Michigan, Missouri and Auburn join UF in semifinal II. The Gators have the Olympic rotation and start NCAA semifinal competition on vault.
NCAA Semifinal I includes Alabama, Minnesota, Oklahoma and Utah.
| April 14 – NCAA Championships Semifinal II Rotation Order |
| Apparatus |
Vault |
Bars |
Beam |
Floor |
| School |
Florida |
Missouri |
Auburn |
Michigan |
April 14 NCAA Semifinal I 1 p.m. ET ESPN2
April 14 NCAA Semifinal II 6 p.m. ET ESPN2
April 16 NCAA Team Final 1 p.m. ET ABC
No. 2 Florida at NCAA Auburn Regional Final
Team Totals |
| April 2, 2022 – Neville Arena (6,166) |
| Team |
Vault |
Bars |
Beam |
Floor |
Total |
| Florida^ |
49.700 |
49.675 |
49.750 |
49.650 |
198.775 |
| Auburn^ |
49.450 |
49.200 |
49.625 |
49.500 |
197.775 |
| Kentucky |
49.375 |
49.250 |
49.300 |
49.575 |
197.500 |
| Denver |
49.175 |
49.350 |
49.325 |
49.375 |
197.225 |
| ^advance to NCAA Championships' semfinals |
