Florida Gymnastics Advances to The Final Four

Florida and LSU will join #1 Oklahoma and #13 Minnesota on Saturday at 3:30 EST winner take all. Florida looks for its fifth nation championship, its first since 2015. Florida advanced to the Final Four after an afternoon session high of 197.7875, outscoring #2 LSU, who finished second with a 197.4375.

Thursday’s session saw some low scoring overall. With no perfect 10’s given in the afternoon or evening session. Oklahoma pulled out the highest score with a 198.300.

One of the highlights of the day was Riley McCusker’s high score of 9.9875 on the Uneven Bars. Riley’s routine was her only routine of the day and the Gators finished on Bars, so she waited all day to hit her routine. Earning an individual national championship. Individual campions are crowned from the Thursday session and the team championship is decided on Saturday.

Six Gymnasts competed, with Florida having the rotation of Balance Beam, Floor Exercise, Vault and Uneven Bars. The Five highest scores count. On to the recap:

Beam: Last Meet: 49.550. Average: 49.536, 1st in the Nation. Georgia: 49.286, 8th nationally. LSU: 49.488, 3rd nationally. Stanford: 49.070, 7th nationally.

-Skylar Drasser:  Double backhand series. Wobbles on split jump. Twisting front dismount 1 1/2 twist. Stuck- 9.85

-Alyssa Arana: Double back handspring. Alyssa almost falls off the Beam. Gainer Full side dismount. Stuck - 9.70 (The dropped score)

-Skye Blakely: Double wolf turn. Front to back handspring. Gainer full twisting side dismount. Stuck - 9.9125

-eMjae Frazier: Springboard mount. Front flip to back flip arial. 360 turn. Split jumps. Cartwheel to twisting dismount. Stuck.-9.9250

-Kayla DiCello: Springboard candle mount. Wolf turn. Double back a handspring. Front arial. Side dismount. Stuck.- 9.8875

-Selena Harris-Miranda: Side split mount. Triple series back handspring. Mist start of a turn. Front twisting dismount. Hop.- 9.8875

49.4625- Some tight scoring and a few bobbles keep this score a little down. LSU-49.4750, Stanford-49.2500 and Georgia-49.1500 after the first rotation. Florida is down by .0125 and in second place by .2125. The key is finishing in the top two in this session.

Floor: Last Meet: 49.450. Average: 49.436, 6th in the Nation. Georgia: 49.493, 3rd nationally. LSU: 49.543, 1st nationally. Stanford: 49.443, 5th nationally.

-Gabby Disidore: 1st pass (The long runs from corner to corner)- Double layout into a leap. Hop. Strong start for Florida. 2nd pass- Front twisting layout. Stuck.- 9.8875

-Danie Ferris: 1st- Double tuck flip layout. Leaned back a bit. 2nd- Combination twisting layout into a Stag Jump-9.8750

-eMjae Frazier: 1st- Front double tuck flip. Huge height on this pass. Stuck. 2nd- Back cartwheel. Stuck.- 9.9375 eMjae with the two top scores, so far, for the Gators. Nice to see.

-Skye Blakely: 1st- Front handspring. Double flip to stag leap. Lands on the line. 2nd-Front double layout combination pass. Stuck- 9.8500

-Kayla DiCello: 1st- Big back flip pass. Stuck 2nd- Front flip into a Stag Jump. - 9.8875

-Selena Harris-Miranda: 1st- Front double tuck. Missed her landing and danced out of it. 2nd- Combination pass to stag leap- 9.8375 (The dropped score)

49.4375- eMjae cracks 9.9 while LSU has a sub par Uneven Bar routine. The Gators are in first at 98.900. LSU is second at 98.6625. Georgia is third at 98.4000 and Stanford is fourth at 98.125.  UF is first by .2375 and .500 above third. All important Vault is next!!

eMjae Frazier finishes 2nd in the AA. (Photo UAA)

Vault: Last Meet: 49.375. Average: 49.256, 9th in the Nation. Georgia: Average: 49.323, 5th in the nation. LSU: 49.440, 2nd in the nation. Stanford: 49.128, 15th in the nation.

-Anya Pilgrim: Yurchenko 1 1/2. Hop.- 9.850

-Skylar Drasser: Yurchenko 1 1/2. Big hop forward.- 9.7875 (The dropped score)

-eMjae Frazier: Yurchenko Double. Twisting to face the Vault. Small hop.- 9.8750

-Kayla DiCello: Yurchenko 1 1/2. Hop forward. BIG Vault!- 9.8625

-Danie Ferris: Yurchenko 1 1/2. Adjusted feet on landing- 9.8250

-Selena Harris-Miranda: Yurchenko 1 1/2. Small hop.- 9.8125. Florida will need Selena’s A game on Saturday.

49.2250-The step backward for Selena was a big deduction.  Florida is still in first at 148.1250. UGA is now second at 147.9375 after a huge Floor exercise. These Dawg fans barking like it’s a football game have to go. LSU is third having to count two 9.7’s on Beam at 147.9125. Stanford is fourth at 147.4125. UF is in the lead by .1875 and are .2125 out of third place. With one of their best events to go.

Uneven Bars: Last Meet: 49.575. Average, 49.586, 1st in the Nation. Georgia: 49.345, 7th nationally. LSU: 49.445, 3rd nationally. Stanford: 49.375, 6th nationally.

-eMjae Frazier: Low bar mount. Strong handstands. Double layout dismout. Hop back- 9.8250

-Anya Pilgrim: Low bar mount. Legs together. Full twisting double tuck dismount. Stuck- 9.8750 (The dropped score)

-Skye Blakely: Springboard mount. Extra long handstands. Should be a high score. Inverted grip to a double half twist dismount. Stuck.- 9.9750. Skye is 3rd in the NCAA’s on Uneven Bars on the season.

-Kayla DiCello: Springboard high bar mount. Legs together. Great handstands.Twisting layout dismount. Tiny hop keeps this from being a monster score- 9.90

-Selena Harris-Miranda: Top bar mount.High bar to low bar into a handstand. Long handstands. Double layout dismount. Stuck- 9.9250

Riley McCusker: Low Bar mount. Smooth routine. Great low to high bar transition. Textbook routine. Double tuck dismount. Stuck- 9.9975

49.6625-Wow! Huge finish for the Gators! McCusker gets the high score for the evening. With a possible National Championship on this event. Florida takes first place. 197.7875, LSU is second and moves on to Saturday with a 197.4375, UGA is third (Goodbye Dawgs) 197.2625 and Stanford is fourth at 196.9375

Individual Champions

Keira Wells, Oklahoma: Vault

Riley McCusker, Florida: Bars

Brooklyn Rowray, Minnesota: Beam

Jordan Chiles, UCLA: Floor

Faith Torrez, Oklahoma: All-Around

Coach Rowland after the Meet:

“Extremely proud of this team, this story that they have written around the promise, it is something that they have lived by daily and from the very last day of season last year, they have been extremely intentional and motivated to support, to elevate, to do whatever they can. There were no regrets this year and we can say that there have been no regrets this year. I can say that extremely proud. No journey is ever perfect or is linear and I think that’s what makes this team so special. They have brought a lot joy to the staff, to this team and incredibly excited to continue dancing and competing one more day with this team.”

The Gators are RED HOT at the right time. The extra, extra tight scoring in Nationals keeps UF from six straight 198+. OU had a record breaking score on Vault, 49.750. The highest score in NCAA Semifinal history. Hopefully they come back to earth with a score closer to their 49.350 during the SEC Championship on Saturday. All you can control is your own team and your own routine. One stick at a time and Florida has a chance.