Kytra Hunter sat out of all but one practice last week with a stomach illness, but when she stuck her landing on vault to earn a perfect 10, she looked unfazed by any sickness.
Hunter, who had previously scored two consecutive 10s on floor, opened No. 1 Florida’s (6-0, 4-0 Southeastern Conference) 197.525-196.025 victory over No.11 Arkansas (3-4, 1-4 SEC) on Friday in the O’Connell Center with a 10 on her first event of the night.
“I was so happy for Kytra,” coach Rhonda Faehn said, “knowing that she was sick this week and then knowing that she’s been near perfection on that vault so many times.”
Hunter is now the second Gator in history to have scored three 10s in a single season.
In 1998, Susan Hines scored three 10s on vault. A decade has passed since Savannah Evans scored UF’s last 10 on vault in March 2004.
But Hunter, who did not compete all-around for the first time this year after sitting out on floor, could not build on a strong start after scoring a 10 on vault.
The junior scored team lows on balance beam (9.40) and uneven bars (9.80) with both not counting toward UF’s final score. On beam, Hunter lost her balance and fell off the apparatus to earn the deduction.
“Yeah, I was kicking myself in the butt,” Hunter said. “But you know what? I need something to improve on each week.
“I mean, no girl ever wants to fall, but you got to get one out of the way.”
Hunter’s 10 on vault brings UF’s 10 tally up to five in the team’s six meets this season.
Bridget Sloan, who has contributed two of UF’s five 10s, claimed three event titles against Arkansas: beam (9.900), floor (9.975) and all-around (39.750). After scoring a 10 on beam in UF’s last meet against Kentucky, Sloan followed Hunter’s performance with another less stable routine against Arkansas.
“Bridget’s foot was completely off the beam, but just sheer determination and will,” Faehn said. “She was not going to come off that beam and made the absolute best out of it. And that was really nice to see because they’re not going to be exceptionally perfect all the time.”
Silvia Colussi-Pelaez competed on floor for the second consecutive week and third time overall. Her score of 9.75 was consistent with the career high she achieved against Kentucky.
Alaina Johnson tied her career high on floor with a 9.925. The last time Johnson scored this well on floor was during her freshman year on Feb. 12, 2011.
Johnson was the only other Gator to compete all-around (39.275).
“Alaina is an exceptional floor worker, she really is,” Faehn said.
“She has a very unique routine, and dynamic tumbling for as long lines as she has, so it’s a great combination.”
Despite handing Arkansas its fourth consecutive loss of the season, Florida felt its performance on Friday was not quite up to par.
“Definitely I thought that we got off to a very good start, still not quite getting the landings that were looking for,” Faehn said. “But what I did like was you could see that they were fighting through everything.”
Follow Erica A. Hernandez on Twitter @EricaAlyssa
Kytra Hunter performs a beam routine during Florida’s 197.525-196-.025 win against Arkansas on Friday in the O’Connell Center.
