With a sprinkle
of switch-ups, the Gators managed to push forward with their second
victory of the season.
Friday night at
home, No. 1 Florida toppled No. 16 Kentucky with a final point
tally of 196.775 to 192.900.
The squad’s
star freshman Alaina Johnson continued to shine, racking up a 9.95
in vault. The score ranked her as one of four freshmen in Gator
history to nab the number.
“Coming in to
this competition I came in just as the last competition,” Johnson
said. “I was focused and just thinking about what I needed to think
about — nothing more, nothing less.”
She also said
that she doesn’t typically look at her scores when competing.
Despite not
watching her scores, Johnson pulled in impressive totals in
addition to her vault score, with a 9.925 on uneven parallel bars
earning first place and 9.850 on floor exercise.
Even though
Johnson is an all-around competitor, she rested on the beam routine
this meet.
The coaching
staff also lent freshman Mackenzie Caquatto greater exposure to
college competition against the Wildcats, placing her on the lineup
for both bars and beam — an event she hasn’t yet competed in
college.
Caquatto pulled
in a 9.900 on bars and a 9.725 on beam.
“Being up in
the beam line up 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.”
However,
sophomore all-arounder Ashanee Dickerson’s performance on beam was
uncharacteristic for her usually high scores. Dickerson scored a
9.550, placing her in eighth for the individual results in
beam.
She did go on
to come back on floor, posting a 9.900, which led her to her ninth
career all-around title.
The Gators
utilized the Kentucky meet to unleash their newest addition to the
roster, freshman Jade Wiggins, placing her on exhibition for bars
and beam. Wiggins had a shaky performance on bars, falling on her
first attempt. She joined the team this month after graduating
early from high school in December.
“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,” head coach Rhonda
Faehn said. “It’s better to do it at home than at a road meet. She
has a tremendous amount of potential and she has very nice lines.
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.”
