Following the Florida gymnastics squad’s first meet Jan. 7, coach Rhonda Faehn said the team would be playing around with its lineups this season, allowing some athletes to rest while others gain exposure in new events.
Faehn’s plans played out again Friday night, as the No. 1 Gators used a new lineup combination to topple No. 16 Kentucky in the O’Connell Center with a final point tally of 196.775 to 192.900.
Normal contributor Maranda Smith didn’t compete in the floor exercise, while Alaina Johnson, the SEC Freshman Gymnast of the Week, rested from the balance beam routine.
In her place, freshman Mackenzie Caquatto made her debut.
“Being up in the beam lineup this week was a little bit nerve-wracking,” she said. “But I just went up there and tried to stay calm and do everything that I did in practice because it’s been pretty solid there.”
Caquatto scored a 9.725 for her routine. Even with her performance, the scores on beam for the squad were lower than usual, as sophomore Ashanée Dickerson earned an uncharacteristic 9.550.
Dickerson said her performance resulted from her getting ahead of herself and rushing through her routine.
“I thought they did well,” Faehn said of her beam lineup. “I thought some of the routines were better than what the score showed. However, we’re not really concerned with the scores. We look at how the athletes are doing.”
Johnson also said she doesn’t look at her scores during meets, but she continued to make Gators history against Kentucky by scoring a 9.950 in vault, making her one of four freshmen for Florida to do so.
“Mackenzie and Alaina are top, elite athletes,” Faehn said. “With that comes a lot of experience under high-pressure situations. It’s nice to see they don’t get rattled in the warm-ups and that carried over into the competition. It brings a calming effect to the other athletes as well.”
Friday’s meet also allowed for some gymnasts to gain experience in areas outside of their comfort zones. Junior Nicole Ellis completed her floor routine, which she hasn’t done since her senior year of high school, Faehn said. Ellis finished with a 9.750 for her performance.
The Gators’ newest roster addition, freshman Jade Wiggins, made her collegiate gymnastics debut, performing in beam and uneven parallel bars. Though Wiggins fell in her bars routine, Faehn said she has only been training with the team for less than a week.
“We really wanted to get her out there to give her a chance to see not only how she’d perform, but she has to get out there,” Faehn said. “It’s better to do it at home than at a road meet. She needs more numbers under her belt, more training in our environment and our pressure situations in the gym. I really think she’ll start to come around.”
