Selena Harris-Miranda finished third at the NCAA Championships a season ago on the beam. (Photo: Madelyn Gemme/UAA Communications)
Natural Competitor: Harris-Miranda Brings A Hate-To-Lose Attitude
Friday, January 31, 2025 | Gymnastics, Scott Carter
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By: Scott Carter, Senior Writer
GAINESVILLE, Fla. — Her raspy voice exposed what her performance was reluctant to reveal.
Selena Harris-Miranda, the first-year Gators gymnast and transfer from UCLA, was sick.
"I just wanted to make sure I could breathe the whole time,'' Harris-Miranda said. "I just told myself to do what you do."
In Florida's Southeastern Conference home opener on Jan. 24 against Georgia, Harris-Miranda did more than inhale and exhale in just her third meet with the Gators. She won the all-around title for the second consecutive week, flashing the skills that made her the No. 1-ranked recruit in the 2022 signing class.
Harris-Miranda, Sloane Blakely and other team members fought against an unwelcome guest that kept Gators head coach Jenny Rowland and her staff uncertain which lineup they would use against the Bulldogs.
"It was a rough week,'' Rowland said. "We had a lot of under-the-weather athletes. The message was, 'If you trained for an event, be ready to warm up an event.' "
The Pac-12 Gymnast of the Year at UCLA a season ago, Harris-Miranda cut short her beam routine on Monday, missed practice on Tuesday and rested on Wednesday's scheduled off day. She returned to the gym on Thursday and, by Friday, though not 100 percent, went out and helped the Gators put up the first score nationally this season of 198.000 or above. She posted a 39.625 all-around score, highlighted by a 9.950 vault routine.
Florida returns to competition on Sunday in a tri-meet at West Virginia featuring the host Mountaineers and Utah. For Harris-Miranda, the SEC Gymnast of the Week after her performance against Georgia, it's another opportunity to show why her departure from UCLA lit up gymnastics message boards and created a stir about where she might end up.
She remains relatively unknown to most Gators fans, but those in the world of NCAA gymnastics have known about her since she was bouncing around Gymcats Gymnastics growing up in suburban Las Vegas.
When reports surfaced in May that Harris-Miranda's time at UCLA was over and that she had entered the transfer portal — neither side has discussed the details of her departure — Harris-Miranda looked forward instead of in the rearview mirror.
Selena Harris-Miranda performs on the uneven bars in last week's win over Georgia. (Photo: Katie Park/UAA Communications)
She drew little interest from SEC schools coming out of high school, but after two outstanding seasons with the Bruins, Harris-Miranda began contacting SEC schools to offer her services. The Gators were one of the first to reach out.
"The SEC is a different ball game,'' Harris-Miranda said. "They mean business. It's like a different kind of pressure."
Rowland had little doubt about what the Gators would get if they landed Harris-Miranda via the transfer portal.
"A fierce competitor,'' Rowland said. "When she raises that hand, you know she is going to make it work no matter what. It may not be the very best that she does on a day-to-day basis, but you know she is going to make it work, and she is going to give it her all."
Ten days after entering the portal, Harris-Miranda committed to Florida to open the next chapter. She enrolled over the summer at UF and began to get to know her team. Her first UF roommate, teammate Victoria Nguyen, could relate. Nguyen transferred to Florida from Georgia, where she spent her first two seasons.
The competitor Rowland spoke of was evident in Nguyen's eyes.
"During her visit, I could definitely tell she was very energetic, and she loves to compete," Nguyen said. "I think that has helped throughout the gym. She has brought up different challenges we could do … just pushing each other.
"I definitely think it's a different feeling coming into a new team. But she is doing great. I think she has so much to offer. I'm so excited to see her journey."
Harris-Miranda said she is a natural competitor, whether in the arena on a Friday night or in games such as Apples to Apples and Connect Four.
"I try to hide it,'' she said, "but I don't think I can. I just hate losing. I don't want to lose. I also grew up in a gym where we played a lot of games."
Harris-Miranda was born in Las Vegas and named after Selena Quintanilla, the famous singer known as the "Queen of Tejano." The president of her fan club murdered her in 1995. Harris-Miranda's mother is from Guatemala, and Quintanilla was her favorite singer. As a kid, she lived in Idaho for a while but began to make her mark in gymnastics at Gymcats.
By the time she arrived at UCLA, Miranda-Harris had proven herself in elite gymnastics, winning eight Level 10 national championships (2022, 2021 all-around; 2022 and 2017 vault; 2022 and 2021 uneven bars; 2021 balance beam; 2022 floor exercise).
She continued to soar with the Bruins, earning Pac-12 Freshman of the Year honors in 2023 and taking home the conference's top individual award a season ago, posting four perfect scores to the delight of fans at Pauley Pavilion.
But in the transfer-portal era of college athletics, if, for whatever reason, an athlete decides to move on from a school, the opportunity to transfer and compete immediately is available, which Harris-Miranda is experiencing with the Gators. She has been the anchor on six events in the past two meets.
"When the season started, I didn't expect to be anchor on anything,'' she said. "I just wanted to be of help to the lineup. Being anchor, I guess, it's super nice. I like it. But I think the way I get the pressure off is not overthinking what I'm doing and kind of just enjoying my teammates around me. The more I'm having fun and smiling, the better I do."
So far, so good for Harris-Miranda. She is fitting in and continuing to excel at what she does best. In her second meet, she shared the all-around title in the Gators' loss at LSU on Jan. 17.
"She was super excited about it,'' Rowland said. "It really just showed a lot of maturity, a lot of grace. She is a very competitive athlete. She thrives on that anchor position. Great to see her remain calm and collected."
Harris-Miranda is eager to return to the NCAA Championships, where she qualified as an individual in the beam a season ago. She traveled with teammate Chae Campbell to Fort Worth, Texas, but the rest of the Bruins stayed home after failing to qualify as a team.
She is determined to do her part to help the Gators advance for the fifth consecutive season. If she can do what she did against Georgia while under the weather, look for Harris-Miranda to be back on the NCAA's biggest stage in the spring as she and the Gators round into form.
"I'm not there yet,'' she said. "I get better through competition. As the season goes, I think our whole team will get a lot stronger."
