The crowd at Pete Maravich Assembly Center rose to its feet when LSU’s McKenna Kelley finished her floor routine. Kelley needed a 9.975 on the routine for the Tigers to win, and she diligently watched the judges with the rest of her teammates as they wrote down her score: 9.875.
Not enough.
The No. 3 Gators (2-0, 2-0 SEC) defeated the No. 5 Tigers 197.500-197.425 in a thriller in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. The victory ended a 35-0 home win streak for LSU (1-2, 0-2 SEC) and earned UF its first regular-season win against the Tigers since 2014.
UF was on bars for its first rotation, and freshman Trinity Thomas excelled in the event once more after a 9.950 score last week against Missouri. She scored the highest of all the Gators’ gymnasts for the second straight week with a 9.925. Both junior Amelia Hundley and sophomore Megan Skaggs contributed to the effort with 9.900’s.
LSU looked to end the rotation in the lead after Sarah Finnegan’s 9.925 on the vault, but Sarah Edwards landed in a sitting position instead of on her feet. She was given a 9.300 as a result, and the outlier left UF on top 49.350-49.250 at the end of the first rotation.
Florida improved on its vault score from last week in the second rotation. The highest score on the vaults once again came from Thomas, who netted a 9.875. Savannah Schoenherr, while improving from her very low score of 9.450 against Missouri, still ended up with the dropped score, a 9.750.
LSU’s Finnegan once again stuck out from the crowd with a 9.975 on her uneven bars routine. Her score was backed up by the 9.950 of Lexie Priessman, who’s good friends with Hundley.
The lead changed hands in LSU’s favor at the end of the second rotation 98.775-98.575.
The third rotation saw the Gators on the floor, and Thomas’ dominance continued. She once again had the highest score for a UF gymnast, taking a 9.950 during her floor routine. Senior Alicia Boren and freshman Nya Reed also scored high on the floor with a 9.900, respectively. Sophomore Alyssa Baumann landed in the middle of the pack in her first event back from injury, scoring a 9.875.
The Tigers also did well in the third rotation as Kennedi Edney and Reagan Campbell both earned 9.900’s on the beam. The Tigers held a 148.075-148.00 lead heading into the final rotation.
Florida took to the balance beam on the final rotation in its effort to pull ahead against LSU.
“Honestly going into beam we were a little shaky here and there,” Boren said in a release. “But then we got it together and did what we know best, which is to just be normal.”
The event was stolen by junior Rachel Gowey’s performance, who scored a 9.925, and she was backed up by 9.900’s from Thomas and Boren.
The Tigers, however, made costly mistakes on the floor. The largest error came from Priessman, who ended with a 9.300 in the event after a few slips. With a 9.900 from Baumann on the bars, and when Kelley's floor routine failed to hit the score the Tigers needed, UF secured its victory.
"This one feels amazing, especially since last year we lost at home (to LSU),” Baumann said in a release. “To come here and win, it's just a great feeling and it really sets us up for the rest of the season knowing that if we could do this we could do anything."
Follow River Wells on Twitter @riverhwells and contact him at rwells@alligator.org.
Freshman Trinity Thomas led the No.3 Gators to a 197.500-197.425 victory over No. 5 LSU in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, on Friday. Thomas earned team-high scores on the uneven bars, vault and in her floor routine.
