Florida Gymnastics Finishes Third At Nationals
- Dan Bond
- Apr 19
- 5 min read
Florida started with a wobble and ended with a hop as the season came to a conclusion in Fort Worth with a third place finish. The Gators had the same rotation as Thursday, which was a favorable one. Their top two events Beam and Bars are where they would start and end with. So, off to a great start and a chance for a big score at the end. Unfortunately a 197.6875 just wasn’t high enough. 198’s win championships and Oklahoma had one on Thursday (198.300) and another on Saturday (198.1625) LSU was second at (198.075) Minnesota was fourth (197.375)
Coach Rowland after the meet:
“I saw this team unbreakable. I saw this team fight till the end. They didn’t back down. It was a “we over me team” this year and I saw so much growth and joy and happiness, and fierceness and competitiveness and all the things. I couldn’t be more proud of the team. It is not gymnastically what we wanted it at the end and emotionally this team gave it their all and left it all out there tonight.”
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: Semifinals: 49.4625. Average: 49.536, 1st in the Nation. Oklahoma: 49.523, 2nd nationally. LSU: 49.488, 3rd nationally. Minnesota: 49.070, 12th nationally.
-Skylar Drasser: Double backhand series. 360 turn. Wobble. Twisting front dismount 1 1/2 twist. Stuck- 9.8375
-Skye Blakely: Triple 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. Maybe missed a series, looked off. Cartwheel to twisting dismount. Stuck.-9.800
-Kayla DiCello: Springboard candle mount. Wolf turn. Double back a handspring. Slight balance check. Front arial. Side dismount. Stuck.- 9.900
-Selena Harris-Miranda: Side split mount. Triple series back handspring. Front twisting dismount. Hop.- 9.9375
-Alyssa Arana: Double back handspring. Alyssa falls off the Beam. Gainer Full side dismount. Stuck - 9.1500 (The dropped score)
49.3875-Tough start for the Gators. Below average score on an event they needed a huge score. Oklahoma leads-49.600, some hops on Vault gives hope but a big score. LSU-49.5125, Minnesota-49.2625 after the first rotation. Florida is down by .2125 and in third place.
Floor: Semifinals: 49.4375. Average: 49.436, 6th in the Nation. Oklahoma: 49.489, 4th nationally. LSU: 49.543, 1st nationally. Minnesota: 49.308, 14th nationally.
-Gabby Disidore: 1st pass (The long runs from corner to corner)- Double layout into a leap. Hop. Need a big score to catch up. 2nd pass- Front twisting layout. Stuck.- 9.8625 (The dropped score)
-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. Some movement here.- 9.8875
-Skye Blakely: 1st- Front handspring. Double flip to stag leap. Tiny hop. 2nd-Front double layout combination pass. Stuck- 9.9125
-Kayla DiCello: 1st- Big back flip pass. Stuck 2nd- Front flip into a Stag Jump. Foot slide - 9.8750
-Selena Harris-Miranda: 1st- Front double tuck. Great leaps. 2nd- Combination pass to stag leap- 9.900
49.4500- Florida comes out of the Floor with a solid score. However the Sooners keep the petal to the floor on Uneven Bars and LSU gets a 10 on Vault from Choi. Passing Trinity Thomas for second on the most 10’s in one season. The Gators are in third place at 98.8375. Oklahoma is first at 99.0875. LSU is second at 98.9875. Minnesota is fourth at 98.7125. The gap to first is now .250. Can Florida pull ahead with the dreaded Vault to come?
Vault: Semifinals: 49.2250. Average: 49.256, 9th in the Nation. Oklahoma: Average: 49.543, 1st in the nation. LSU: 49.440, 2nd in the nation. Minnesota: 49.128, 15th in the nation.
-Anya Pilgrim: Yurchenko 1 1/2. Step forward.- 9.8250
-Skylar Drasser: Yurchenko 1 1/2. Hop forward.- 9.8250
-eMjae Frazier: Yurchenko Double. Twisting to face the Vault. Small hop.- 9.8750
-Kayla DiCello: Yurchenko 1 1/2. Hop. Can we get a stick?- 9.8500
-Danie Ferris: Yurchenko 1 1/2. Hop backward. Oh, No!- 9.800 (The dropped score)
-Selena Harris-Miranda: Yurchenko 1 1/2. Sideways hop.- 9.8750
49.2500- Just an average score unfortunately. Florida is now in fourth place at 148.0875. LSU is first at 148.600, after a nice Uneven Bars. Oklahoma is second at 148.5250. Minnesota is third at 148.1000. UF needs teams to have big mistakes and a 9.9+ from five Gators. At this point, with the quality teams here. It’s all about NOT finishing fourth.
Uneven Bars: Semifinals: 49.6625. Average, 49.586, 1st in the Nation. Oklahoma: 49.443, 4th nationally. LSU: 49.445, 3rd nationally. Minnesota: 49.172, 17th nationally.
-eMjae Frazier: Low bar mount. Strong handstands. Double layout dismout. Stuck. Should be a high score- 9.9125
-Anya Pilgrim: Low bar mount. Legs together. Full twisting double tuck dismount. Stuck- 9.900
-Skye Blakely: Springboard mount. Extra long handstands. Should be a high score. Inverted grip to a double half twist dismount. A small foot slide keeps this from a possible 10- 9.950
-Kayla DiCello: Springboard high bar mount. Legs together. Great handstands.Twisting layout dismount.Kayla didn’t hold her landing long enough- 9.8875
-Selena Harris-Miranda: Top bar mount.High bar to low bar into a handstand. Long handstands. Double layout dismount. Stuck- 9.950
Riley McCusker: Low Bar mount. Smooth routine. Great low to high bar transition. Textbook routine. Double tuck dismount. Hops sideways on landing- 9.8375 (The dropped score)
49.600- Nice finish but too little too late. Florida at least moved to third with a 197.6875. Oklahoma is your National Champion, again with a 198.1625, with a 49.6375 on Floor. LSU is second at 198.0750 and Minnesota is fourth at 197.3750. LSU had a shot, needing a 9.985 from Kaitlin Chio on the last Beam routine. She hit a 9.90, almost.
The 2026 season comes to a close. Some may complain however they are in Fort Worth again. Which is where the 85 teams in the nation that compete in gymnastics want to be. It is always hard to say goodbye to the senior class. This one was another special one and the positivity that this class has, has to pass down. Winning the SEC Tournament was definitely a highlight of the year and something that can never be taken away.
Coach Rowland wore her Tim Tebow #15 jersey Saturday. Part of the seasons motivation was similar to the famous Tebow “Promise” after not making the Final Four last year. You could have the meet three times and have three different results but in the end it went as it was seeded. 1,2,3. Florida will reload, as will the others and we will see them again in Fort Worth, competing for a National Championship
As I predicted another top finish but no NC as we always hop and step and slide in the finals. Jenny has taken the place of Mary Wise as close but never getting there. Our biggest problem as a team for 7 of the last 10 years has been hops and misses in the Vault and the floor. Common denominator - the same coach for both events and same coach for the last 10 years in these events. Until we change coaches here or put more pressure on him to duplicate the exercises of OU we will continue to be good, just not great.