On Senior Night in the O’Connell Center, a freshman stole the show for the Gators.
In the team’s regular-season finale against No. 9 Utah, Marissa King won her second-consecutive all-around title with a season-best 39.575.
She scored a 9.9 on her first three events (vault, bars and beam), all of which coach Rhonda Faehn said were King’s best routines of the season.
Behind her all-around performance, No. 5 UF (9-2, 5-1 Southeastern Conference) defeated Utah (10-3) 197.55 – 196.5, tying the season-high the team scored two weeks ago against North Carolina and Ball State.
King said it felt like everything finally came together for her against Utah, and it couldn’t have come at a better time for the Gators, who head into next week’s SEC Championships coming off of two of their best outings of the year.
Things didn’t just click for King on Friday night, though. On bars, the Gators scored a season-high 49.525, which is also the second best bars score in the nation.
During the second rotation, the first five routines by Florida’s gymnasts set or tied collegiate bests, and Faehn thought the entire lineup almost performed to the best of its capabilities.
Among the gymnasts who scored a collegiate best was Amanda Castillo, who registered a 9.95 in her final home meet in the O’Connell Center. It was a routine that Faehn described as one of the best of Castillo’s career at Florida.
The overall performance of her team on Senior Night went as well as Faehn hoped it would go, and she said it was wonderful preparation heading into next week’s SEC Championships in Jacksonville.
