As a team primed for the long haul, No. 1 Florida kicked off its postseason on the highest note possible.
The Gators captured their eighth Southeastern Conference Championship with a team total of 197.150 in The Arena at Gwinnett Center in Duluth, Ga., on Saturday. UF finished ahead of six other teams, including defending SEC and national champion No. 3 Alabama (196.775) and No. 5 Georgia (196.575), to claim its first conference title since 2010.
“I just had a different feeling at the competition this year,” junior Marissa King said. “We have really consistent lineups and great depth. This team is very special.”
The fuel to UF’s flame Saturday was Kytra Hunter. UF’s top freshman rose to the occasion with the conference title on the line, recording an all-around score of 39.625 to notch the SEC all-around title.
Hunter also claimed the SEC vault title with a 9.975 and was named the SEC Gymnastics Freshman of the Year. She is UF’s first SEC All-Around Champion since 1995 and the first UF freshman to win it since 1983.
“That just shows her competitive experience and the level that she is at,” coach Rhonda Faehn said. “She is just extremely humble, hardworking and disciplined. It was just wonderful to see that she was able to put together such a phenomenal competition.”
Sophomore Alaina Johnson claimed the bars title with a 9.925 to become Florida’s first SEC Bars Champion since Melanie Sinclair in 2008.
King came in fourth with a 39.425 all-around score, Johnson placed fifth (39.40) and junior Ashanée Dickerson finished 11th (39.20).
The Gators started slowly out of the gate, recording a 49.050 on balance beam and a 49.20 on floor exercise. After two events, Florida trailed Georgia by .125.
“We hit all of our beam routines, but we were just a little bit hesitant. And then we missed the landings on floor,” Faehn said. “Our first two events just weren’t what we would have wanted.”
The turning point of the meet for Florida was on vault, its third event. The team tallied a 49.525 — its second-highest vault total of the season — to catapult itself to the top of the leaderboard.
After the rally on vault, the Gators led the field by .325 and from that point on wouldn’t give up the advantage. The team closed out its day with a solid 49.375 on bars.
“I told them over and over, ‘you don’t have to be perfect; you just have to respond,’” Faehn said. “But they responded perfectly. They didn’t let anything affect them mentally and they were extremely impressive on the last events.”
Faehn, who shared 2012 SEC Coach of the Year honors with Auburn's Jeff Graba, said she was happy with her team’s ability to fight through adversity Saturday.
“This team is extremely tough mentally,” she said. “This is going to be a great memory and a great launching pad for regionals and nationals.”
The No. 1 UF gymnastics squad was one of seven Top-15 teams competing at the SEC Gymnastics Championship on Saturday in Duluth, Ga.
