It had been 308 days since the Gators competed in a home meet in the O’Connell Center.
Florida’s last home meet was March 11, 2016, against North Carolina, and two Gators — senior Bridget Sloan and sophomore Alex McMurtry — both got perfect 10s on their floor and uneven bar routines, respectively, that night.
But on Friday it was neither Sloan — who graduated after last season — nor McMurtry who headlined No. 3 Florida’s 197.600-196.950 home opener win over No. 9 Kentucky.
Rather, it was junior All-American Kennedy Baker, who took a two-way share of the all-around title with Kentucky’s Mollie Korth. Baker earned the honor for the second straight week with her overall score of 39.575.
It was the fifth all-around win of her career.
“It’s cool, but I always compete for my team,” Baker said after the meet.
“Winning all-around is always nice, but to get the team win was more important to me. But for myself, it felt really good. Just building that confidence for next week.”
In the first two meets of the season alone, not only has Baker won two all-around titles, but she has also collected the share of both a beam and floor tile.
Going forward, Baker will continue to be an integral part of the Gators’ lineup, counting this Friday when Florida travels to Chapel Hill for a rematch against the Tar Heels, who UF defeated 198.05 to 193.725 in that last 2016 meeting.
Florida leads the all-time series 20-1.
“We train in a way that the girls are prepared and self-sufficient,” coach Jenny Rowland said.
“They come to a meet and are ready to go.”
Contact Lauren Staff at lstaff@alligator.org and follow her on Twitter @lstaff27.
Kennedy Baker performs her floor routine during Florida's win over Kentucky on Jan. 13, 2016, at the O'Connell Center.
