Road meets may not be nearly as fun, but for the UF gymnastics team, Fayetteville, Ark., isn't too shabby as a home away from home.
The UF gymnastics team travels to Fayetteville for its first road meet this season and second Southeastern Conference meet.
The No. 1 Gators (2-0, 1-0 SEC) will look to improve a perfect 18-0 series record against the No. 8 Razorbacks (2-1, 0-0 SEC) tonight at 8.
"(We) always hit (our routines) closer on the road," UF coach Rhonda Faehn said. "This team has always done very well in Arkansas."
If the Gators are to repeat their historic success against the Razorbacks, they will have to do so by improving on a balance beam performance that could have cost them a win against Auburn last Friday.
Faehn said in practice that All-American Melanie Sinclair would lead off on beam to begin the match with a more mature and aggressive competitor.
"We want to be able to see her go out there and get the team off to a good start," Faehn said.
Faehn added that the lineup on uneven bars and floor exercise will remain the same. The team is ranked first nationally in both events, and they were integral in the win against Auburn.
If the team can muster the performances on bars and floor seen earlier this season, UF can look to notch 19 in a row against the Razorbacks.
The only thing possibly standing in the way of win No. 19 may be a beat-up Gators team. Injuries to Rebekah Zaiser, who is out for the year with a broken foot, and Amanda Castillo, who is nursing bursitis in her ankle and is being used sparingly, have depleted a bit of the team's depth.
"Now that we don't have that much depth, we need to fight for every single handstand, pointed toe, straight knees, stuck landing," Castillo said.
Less depth means more of the brunt on freshmen.
"You kind of just have to step up to the plate and do it for your team," said freshman Elizabeth Mahlich.
Mahlich competed in three of the four events against Auburn, including anchoring the floor lineup with a 9.875.
Freshmen aren't the only ones contributing more.
Junior Courtney Gladys, whose task was taking over Zaiser's spot leading off on beam, said, "Rhonda always prepares us to be able to step in at any moment."
And Castillo, who has been relegated to more of a leader-off-the-mat role, said she's aching to be out on the floor but realizes she needs to be rested for the end of the season.
"It's killing me not to be out there right now," Castillo said. "This is something that has never happened to me before. I've had injuries but I've gotten over them by the time competition season comes around."
Castillo still planned to compete on bars and beam Friday, but would most likely be kept off floor and vault.
Faehn said the team shouldn't be flustered by the fact that this is the first road meet of the year.
"It's really not tremendously different on the road, other than just the crowd factor for us," she said. "It shouldn't matter if there's 10,000 people cheering against us. We still need to go out there and do a good job."
