Leanne Wong Continues to Shine in Victory over Alabama
Florida defeted Alabama 198.025-197.450 despite a season-high home score for the Tide. Florida continued showing it is still in the national title hunt by putting up another 198+ score. With this high road score it allows the Gators to drop one of their low road scores that count towards the National Qualifying Score for postseason. It was senior night for Alabama and the Gators had a tough crowd to compete against in Tuscaloosa. Six gymnasts competed, with Florida having the road rotation of Uneven Bars, Vault, Floor Exercise and Balance Beam. On to the recap:
Uneven Bars: Last Week: 49.575. NQS, 49.430, 3rd in the Nation
-Anya Pilgrim: Smooth transition from high to low bars. Full twisting double backflip dismount. Stuck- 9.875
-Riley McCusker: Legs and handstands looking good. Layout dismount. Small hop- 9.90
-Skye Blakely: Great swings from low to high bars. Double front twisting dismount. Hop - 9.875
-Leanne Wong: Such a fluid routine. Legs together. Double layout dismount. Hop- 9.875
-Selena Harris-Miranda: Long handstand holds. Legs together. Double layout dismount. Stuck- 9.875
-Alyssa Arana: Nice handstands. Legs pointed. Double layout dismount. Hop- 9.875 (The dropped score)
49.475- Florida leads Alabama by .125 after one rotation.
Vault: Last Week: 49.430, NQS: 49.375, 2nd in the Nation
-Ellie Lazzari: Yurchenko 1 1/2. Under rotated- 9.825 (The dropped score)
-Victoria Nguyen: SEC Specialist of the Week last week. Yurchenko 1 1/2. Small hop- 9.90
-Danie Ferris: Yurchenko 1 1/2. Small hop.- 9.850
-Gabby Disidore: Yurchenko 1 1/2. Hop- 9.850
-Leanne Wong: Twisting Vault, landing towards the table. Stuck. Will she get a 10?- 9.975 (Boo!)
-Selena Harris-Miranda: Yurchenko 1 1/2. Hops on the landing after the 10.0 last week.- 9.825
49.400- Florida is tied with Alabama 98.875-98.875 after the second rotation thanks to a season high Uneven Bars that included four 9.9+ routines by the Tide.
Floor: Last Week: 49.625. NQS: 49.485, 5th in the Nation
-Victoria Nguyen: 1st pass (The long runs from corner to corner)- Tumbling pass into a sissone leap. Looks clean. 2nd pass- 1 1/2 twisting front leap. Stuck- 9.90
-Gabby Disidore: 1st- Double backflip to stag leap. 2nd- 1 1/2 front twist to layout.- 9.875
-Taylor Clark: 1st- Double layout. Stuck. Huge leaps. 2nd- Jump leap to double flip. Stuck. Taylor continues to shine on the Floor- 9.90
-Leanne Wong: 1st- Double layout flip. Stuck. 2nd- Front full twisting leap. Stuck.- 9.925
-Selena Harris-Miranda: 1st- Front flip to double backflip. Stuck. 2nd- Double backflip to Stag Leap- 9.925
-Danie Ferris: 1st- Back tuck twisting flip. Stuck. 2nd- 1 1/2 to front layout. A bit off and lands with a squat. Big deduction - 9.70 (The dropped score)
49.525- Florida leads Alabama by .525 after the third rotation 148.400-147.875. Bama had to count a 9.57 on Beam due to a fall.
Beam: Last Week: 49.300. NQS: 49.325, 9th in the Nation
-Skylar Drasser: Side mount. Back handspring to full turn. Clean this week after a 9.750 last week. Back twisting dismount. Stuck- 9.90
-Anya Pilgrim: Springboard candle mount. Double back handspring. Front arial. Split leap. Back handspring dismount. Stuck - 9.875 (The dropped score)
-Victoria Nguyen: Side mount. Back handspring changing direction mid flip. Back handspring to 1 1/2 twist dismount. Stuck - 9.90
-Leanne Wong: Side split mount. Front arial combination. Back handspring. Leap series. Front twisting dismount. Stuck .-9.950
-Selena Harris-Miranda: Side split mount. Triple series back handspring. Perfect! Big Leaps. Does the Gator Chomp. Twisting dismount. Stuck- 9.950
-Alyssa Arana: Double back handspring. Front flip. Side twisting dismount. Stuck - 9.925
49.625-Florida ties their 3rd highest Beam score of the season. Winning the Meet 198.025-197.450. Fighting off Alabama until the end with the Tide having four 9.9+ scores on the Floor.
Leanne Wong after the Meet concerning her consistency:
“In the gym we just go in after every Friday and see what we can improve. Little things here and there and we did everything we could to get this form, we were so happy”
On her being the MVP of the team:
“Yeah it definitely doesn't only take one person it takes every single person on this team. Every person has their own role and each person is a role model for another and we just came together this night and really put it out there”
Florida looks set on their rotations with only one home meet to go. Leanne Wong won the All-Around with a score of 39.725, moving her total All-Around wins to 20 and into 6th place, all time in Florida history (Trinity Thomas leads with 31 All-Around titles) Leanne Wong would win the Vault (9.975). Selena Harris-Miranda wins Uneven Bars (9.950) and Leanne and Selena share the Balance Beam title (9.950). In an interesting side note. Ly Bui was the exhibition gymnast on all four events. Perhaps she is the “go to” back-up the rest of the season. Florida Gymnastics completes a sweep of the Tide. Joining Men’s and Women’s Basketball with victories this week. Next up is Florida’s Senior Night against Kentucky 3/14. As we say goodbye to Sloane Blakely, Bri Edward’s, Riley McCusker, Leanne Wong, Ellie Lazzari and Victoria Nguyen. Definitely hard to see all of them go.
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