Fourth Place for Florida at SEC Gymnastics

 Florida puts up its second lowest score of the season in New Orleans, finishing fourth in the SEC tournament 197.300. #3 LSU 198.075, #7 Alabama 197.750 and #6 Kentucky 197.600 Or your top three teams. In a night that needed 9.9 scores only 5 routines outside of Leanne Wong (hit 3 of 4) made that mark.

LSU ruled the night, capturing or tying for all four apparatus winners with number one in the nation gymnast Haleigh Bryant capturing the all around, with a score of 39.80

Coach Rowland said:

“The Gators really came out strong tonight on beam so really proud of their performance. Really just tried to keep that momentum solid through all four events. We had some peaks and we had some valleys tonight. We had too many mistakes tonight. It was a solid performance but not a performance I know the Gators are capable of. At the same time, it isn't an end all, be all. We have two weeks to get prepared for our regional championships, which is in Gainesville.”

In postseason there are two additional judges for a total of four. Six gymnasts compete with the top five scores counting. Florida goes Beam, Floor, Vault and Uneven Bars. On to the Recap:

Beam: (Last week: 49.40, Average: 49.530, 3rd Nationally)

Skylar Drasser: Back-spring layout. Full turn, bobble. Stuck landing- 9.850

Sloane Blakely: Front flip to back flip. Side dismount, stuck. A slight adjustment keeps this from a 10- 9.925

Anya Pilgrim: Springboard side mount. Triple series, perfect double back flip side dismount, 10?- 9.875

Ellie Lazzari: Triple Backflip. Falls off beam. Nice finish however-9.050 (The dropped score)

Victoria Nguyen: Backflip twist to front flip. Slight hop on the dismount- 9.850

Leanne Wong: can't fall needs a 9.9 to keep pace. Great routine!- 9.90

Score: 49.400 Florida is in 4th place, behind by .0750

Floor Exercise: (Last week: 49.60, Average: 49.565, 9th Nationally)

Victoria Nguyen: First pass (The long runs from corner to corner) Backflip to sissone. Second pass: back flip to twist hyphen 9.850

Danie Ferris: First pass: back twist flip, big hop. Second pass: twisting flip- 9.750

Anya Pilgrim: First pass: Triple backflip. Second pass: Double backflip, hop on landing- 9.825

Morgan Hurd: First pass: Double layout, big hop. Second pass: Front flip, hop back- 9.525 (The dropped score) Morgan really looked off the whole routine tonight.

Sloane Blakely: First pass: Backflip, stuck landing. Second pass: Backflip to front flip. Solid performance- 9.850

Leanne Wong: First pass: Double layout. Second pass: Backflip to double flip- 9.90

Score: 49.175 Season low. Florida is now down .350. In 4th place

Vault: (Last week: 49.475, Average: 49.485, 3rd Nationally)

Skylar Draser: Yurchenko 1 ½. Nailed it!- 9.825

Victoria Nguyen: Yurchenko 1 ½. Stuck landing-9.90

Sloane Blakely: Yurchenko 1 ½. Hop back- 9.775

Anya Pilgrim: Yurchenko 1 ½. Big Vault, stuck landing- 9.90

Danie Ferris: Yurchenko 1 ½. Big hop on landing- 9.725 (The dropped score)

Leanne Wong: Vault to twist back towards the table. Slight hop- 9.875

Score: 49.275 Florida’s 2nd lowest Vault score of the season. Down .575 in 4th place.

Uneven Bars: (Last week: 49.425, Average: 49.415, 10th Nationally)

Sloane Blakely: Smooth transition from low to high bars. Slight hop on landing- 9.825

Victoria Nguyen: Legs together, straight hand stands, sticks the landing 10?- 9.925

Ellie Lazzari: springboard mount to the high bar. Twist dismount, stuck landing- 9.875

Gabby Disidore: Off on handstand. Hop on landing- 9.825 (The dropped score)

Anya Pilgrim: legs stuck together. Beautiful routine and sticks the landing- 9.9

Leanne Wong: held handstands. Sticks the landing. Can we get a 10?-9.925

Score: 49.450 Florida finishes .775 out of first place and Conference Tournament winner LSU.

Photo credit Floridagators.com

  Disappointing, yes. Freshman nerves, probably. After improving every Meet Florida scores continue to head the wrong way, at the wrong time. The Meet in New Orleans used platforms to raise the apparatus. The same way they are set up for the national championships. So you land differently then on concrete or a basketball court. This factored in somewhat for all the competitors as there was only one perfect 10 all night (Konnor McClain, LSU on Beam) Despite the fact two or three of these teams could be competing with Oklahoma on the final day at nationals. The good news is Florida hosts regionals on April 4, 5 and 7 with a sold out home crowd, I'm almost sure Florida will bounce back.