Florida Gators

GAINESVILLE, Fla. — If this comes off as hyperbole, so be it. The greatness of Trinity Thomas is worth the risk of sounding like Howard Cosell on the opening of "Monday Night Football" back in the day.

Plus, the 21-year-old Thomas has her own Wikipedia page, so she must be something special. If you were at the O'Dome on Friday night for the Florida gymnastics team's season opener, you know why you stay in your seat when Thomas steps up to perform.

Thomas is one of those rare athletes who transcend her sport. She is a Mia Hamm or Venus Williams of college gymnastics. She is the most accomplished student-athlete in action in any sport for the Gators and the reigning Honda Award winner as the nation's top collegiate gymnast.

Thomas started 2023 the way she ended 2022: showcasing what greatness looks like in a leotard.

How's this for a season-opening performance? Thomas scored a 9.925 on vault, the first routine of her final season at UF. She followed that with a 9.950 on the uneven bars. Next up, on the balance beam, Thomas delighted the sellout crowd with a perfect 10, the 21st of her UF career, to extend the program record she already owns.

"It really says a lot about Trin," Gators head coach Jenny Rowland said. "It goes to show what she has been doing in the gym. It wasn't anything different. It was normal."

As part of Rowland's pre-meet plan, she withheld Thomas from competing in the floor exercise, an event she routinely wows fans with her soaring acrobatics, graceful athleticism, and a leg maneuver that makes her a favorite in any game of Twister.

The last time we saw Thomas perform for the Gators, she nailed her floor routine at the NCAA Championships in Fort Worth, Texas, for the 20th perfect score of her collegiate career. Still, the Gators finished second to Oklahoma in the team standings despite Thomas winning the NCAA all-around, floor exercise and uneven bars national championships.

Thomas graduated cum laude in April with a bachelor's degree in applied physiology and kinesiology. She could have called it a career and returned in a few years when the Gators induct her into the UF Athletic Hall of Fame. But she has one more goal to chase, one that drives daily in the gym: a team national championship. That is why Thomas, officially a Super Senior thanks to an additional season of eligibility from the suspended COVID-19 2020 season, was back on the competition floor Friday night as the showstopper.

"That's exactly why I came back," she said afterward. "I want everything and more for this team. This team deserves it more than you know."

Following Florida's runaway win in a quad meet with West Virginia, Ball State and Lindenwood, Thomas and her teammates celebrated their initial step toward what they hope is the program's first national title since 2015. Rowland has assembled her deepest team yet, and though veteran Savannah Schoenherr suffered a broken foot last week and is out indefinitely, Florida's roster is loaded with talented veterans and fresh-faced newcomers such as Kayla DiCello, the all-around bronze medalist at the 2021 World Championships.

DiCello won the all-around title in her collegiate debut, highlighted by a 9.925 score on the beam. DiCello and Thomas are in their first season as college teammates, but they have known each other since a U.S. National Team camp several years ago.

DiCello understands Thomas's mark in collegiate sports over the past four years.

"Trinity is an inspiration to me," she said. "Her gymnastics is amazing. All the effort and hard work she puts in the gym is what I want to do, and how she helps everyone on the team."

Thomas inspires the Gators, and they inspire her. Thomas is not shying away from the quest to win the team national title. She has tunnel vision on the road back to Fort Worth.

However, she knows she can't do it alone – no matter how many 10s she posts in the record books.

"I definitely put a lot of pressure on myself, and luckily I have my team to take a lot of that pressure off me," Thomas said. "I'm super thankful for them and just blessed to be back."

Gators fans are blessed, too. They get to watch Thomas perform four more times this season in the O'Dome, the next time on Friday when Auburn and 2021 Olympic star Suni Lee visit.

A word of advice: stay in your seat when Thomas is ready to perform. You don't get to see perfection very often in the real world.

"It doesn't really get old," Thomas said. "I strive for it every time."