When the Gators needed her most, freshman Ashanée Dickerson came through for them Friday night against rival Georgia.
Needing a 9.85 or better on her floor routine to beat the five-time defending national champions in a dual meet for the first time since 2005, Dickerson dazzled the home crowd, and the judges, to a personal-best 9.925 to hold off No. 7 Georgia (3-4, 2-3 Southeastern Conference) 197.250 – 197.150.
“When you’re up against a top competitor and it’s a tough team, you need the people you look to for those scores to be on, and Ashanée was on fire tonight,” UF coach Rhonda Faehn said.
The win marked the first time since 1990 that UF defeated Georgia in Gainesville.
That streak almost didn’t come to an end Friday night, though.
Maintaining a .175-point lead after two rotations, No. 4 Florida (5-2, 4-1 SEC) had some close calls on the balance beam.
Freshman Randy Stageberg fell during her routine, which resulted in a 9.15 score, and there were noticeable wobbles throughout the lineup.
That is, until Dickerson came through in a big way.
As the last competitor in UF’s lineup, Dickerson tallied a 9.95 on the beam, helping the team keep a .100-point advantage heading into the final rotation.
“For her to finish on that note and to carry that momentum onto floor, I think really fueled the team to just shut the door right then,” Faehn said.
But when Georgia got to the beam in the last event of the night, three of its gymnasts scored a 9.9 or better, including a meet-high 9.975 from Courtney McCool in the Bulldogs’ final routine.
With the meet’s outcome depending on her floor exercise, Dickerson pulled through for the Gators again.
Her score secured both the team’s victory and her fourth all-around title of the season (39.625) in front of an O’Connell Center crowd of 6,421 fans – the 15th largest in school history.
“Knowing Ashanée had to go out there and hit the routine… I wasn’t nervous, because I knew she would do it,” Faehn said. “That’s really a reassuring feeling.”
