After struggling with its first two events Saturday at the Southeastern Conference Championships, No. 1 Florida trailed No. 6 Georgia by a margin of .125 points.
Then, vault started.
The Gators pieced together a 49.525 — their second-highest vault total this season — to launch to the top of the SEC leaderboard by a .325-point margin over the seven-team field.
From that point on, UF never relinquished its advantage.
“Vault was definitely a turning point for us,” coach Rhonda Faehn said. “We just had the best vault performance of the season. It turned everything around. It was just really, really incredible.”
Before Saturday’s competition, sticking landings on vault was an area in which the Gators needed a vast improvement.
Prior to March 24, UF was seventh in the country on vault and averaged a 49.283. On the road, that average was slightly lower at 49.27.
Against Utah a week prior to SECs, Florida failed to stick a single landing. While the team still managed to score a 49.325 total, its fourth-best of the year, the performance was not its sharpest.
“We worked really hard during [last] week on vault and did stick drills,” Faehn said. “We really made it a priority.”
Following shaky showings on balance beam (49.05) and floor exercise (49.2), the Gators knew that nailing vault was do or die.
Despite an early 9.775 from senior Nicole Ellis, freshman Rachel Spicer and UF’s four all-arounders refused to get rattled. Spicer posted a 9.825, and junior Ashanée Dickerson and sophomore Alaina Johnson followed through with scores of 9.9.
Junior Marissa King, who had stumbled all year on vault, then recorded a season-best 9.925. But freshman Kytra Hunter made the biggest impact, notching a meet-high vault score of 9.975 to close out the rotation on a fierce note.
“It really re-energized everyone,” Faehn said. “It was really hard to get that momentum because we had a bye after every single event. It’s kind of hard to keep it going because you have to go back into the locker room.”
In its final event, uneven bars, Florida tallied a 49.375 to seal its eighth conference championship in school history. But it was UF’s performance on vault that proved to be the key.
“[The vault performance] was a great push,” Faehn said. “It was great for them to see you don’t have to be perfect to win, but it’s a matter of how you respond to the situation and how much you just keep fighting.”
UF headed to Raleigh for regionals: The Gators found out Monday that their next pit stop will be Raleigh, N.C.
Top-ranked Florida will return to Reynolds Coliseum to compete as the top seed for the NCAA Regional on April 7 at 4 p.m. UF’s competition will be No. 12 Ohio State, No. 13 Penn State, regional-host No. 20 North Carolina State, Kent State and North Carolina.
The last time the Gators competed at Reynolds Coliseum was in their season opener against the Wolfpack on Jan. 6. UF dominated that dual meet to win 196.025-194.675.
