Gators head coach Jenny Rowland, speaking to Victoria Nguyen at last year's NCAA Championships, is entering her ninth season. (Photo: Susan Erdelyi/UAA Communications)
These Crowd-Pleasing Gators Ready to Soar Once More
Friday, January 12, 2024 | Gymnastics, Scott Carter
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By: Scott Carter, Senior Writer
GAINESVILLE, Fla. — It's that time of year again when the bubbliest team on the University of Florida campus starts to bounce, cheer and smile. These Gators tend to beam whether they win, lose or draw.
They should. These Gators are talented, entertaining and full of highfliers year in and year out. They will pack the O'Dome for the first time in 2024 on Friday night when they host Fisk, Talladega and George Washington in a quad meet.
"I think when I run out of the Gator head, it will be surreal just because I've watched it happen so many times,'' Gators freshman Kaylee Bluffstone said. "I think it's going to be the best moment ever."
The UF gymnastics team has been a popular draw for years, and the demand for tickets has soared in recent seasons under head coach Jenny Rowland as the sport attracted a wider audience with the inception of "Friday Night Heights" on the SEC Network. The Gators sold out their allotment of season tickets and the single-meet tickets for the Feb. 23 LSU dual were snapped up before Christmas. Plans are in the works to alter the floor configuration at Exactech Arena/O'Connell Center in future seasons to accommodate more fans.
"We're going to be able to bring out a section of seating so more people will be able to come,'' Florida athletic director Scott Stricklin said this week on WRUF. "Gymnastics is incredibly popular with what Jenny and that program have done. I believe we'll do it in a way where people will still be able to see everything and have a really good interaction with the programming."
Entering her ninth season, Rowland led the Gators to a runner-up finish at last year's NCAA Championships in an event that featured an unforgettable performance from an injured Trinity Thomas, the heart and soul of the Gators and one of the faces of college gymnastics the past five seasons. Thomas, hobbled by a leg injury, delivered a perfect 10 on the vault in the penultimate routine of her UF career.
Thomas remains part of the program as a student assistant coach, but her absence on the competition floor leaves a void that Rowland and assistants Adrian Burde, Owen Field and Jeremy Miranda know can't be replaced by any single gymnast. Fortunately for Rowland and Co., they have 17 on the roster, including six freshmen who comprise one of the nation's top recruiting classes: Bluffstone, Alyssa Arana, Gabby Disidore, Skylar Draser, Danie Ferris and Anya Pilgrim.
Kaylee Bluffstone is one of six freshmen who joined for the 2024 Gators. (Photo: Ashley Ray/UAA Communications)
The Gators have experience, too, returning 15 of the 24 routines from last season's NCAA runner-up performance. Veteran Payton Richards returns for a Super Senior season. Meanwhile, seniors Ellie Lazzari and Victoria Nguyen and junior Morgan Hurd will have expanded roles. Sophomores Leanne Wong, a member of the gold-winning U.S. team at the World Championships in October, and Sloane Blakely are stars on the rise.
Rowland is eager to get started, crediting the team's veterans for setting the tone for the newcomers and everyone pushing each other to the max in the gym.
"They have really done a great job of paving the way,'' Rowland said. "We could have a [event] lineup with three freshmen, which is crazy and awesome. We understand, and the team understands, this is a team of growth and development and learning. I have all the confidence in the world that this team is going to have success."
Considering Thomas ' dynamic career, any discussion about the 2024 Gators requires a visit to the immediate past. A two-time winner of the Honda Award honoring the nation's top collegiate gymnast, Thomas finished her career as UF's all-time leader for event (142) and all-around (30) wins. She recorded 28 perfect scores, which tied the NCAA record.
Thomas is in graduate school at UF and adds a unique voice as a student assistant.
"Five years having Trinity on a team day in and day out is amazing," Rowland said. "Extremely excited to have her continue to be part of our program in a different capacity, and at the same time, seeing some older faces elevate their game, step up to the plate, be ready to raise their hand when their name's called and be given opportunities on events and in various situations that maybe they had not had in the past."
Rowland said Nguyen has continued to blossom since her all-around performance at the NCAA Championships, and a healthy Hurd is ready to show what she can do on the collegiate stage.
Bluffstone can relate to the excitement around the program. She grew up in Lutz, located north of Tampa, and has attended UF gymnastics meets since elementary school. She participated in the program's summer camp in Rowland's first season.
"I know her as Red,'' Rowland quipped of her memory of the lively red-headed kid. "She was a very memorable gymnast from the get-go."
The 5-foot-1 Bluffstone has grown slightly since then, turning her full attention from a cartwheel-obsessed soccer player to gymnastics. Like so many times before, she will spend her Friday night at the O'Dome.
But instead of watching with her family and friends from the stands, she will be on the arena floor, fulfilling a childhood dream.
"I just knew the atmosphere was where I wanted to be,'' she said.
Bluffstone is not alone. Fans have made it loud and clear they love Gators gymnastics. They get another opportunity to cheer them on Friday night.
Get there early. Extra seats or not, these Gators usually pack the arena.
