When Bridget Sloan sets a goal for herself, she achieves it.
During Florida’s meet against Kentucky on Friday — the midway point of the regular season — Sloan achieved her goal of landing a perfect 10 on balance beam.
“She was very serious about getting a 10 on beam,” coach Rhonda Faehn said. “When she did the routine, we all knew that it was perfect. There was no error. It was such an amazing routine and so worthy of a 10.”
Sloan’s 10 on beam has been a long time coming. The sophomore has consistently improved her beam scores since the start of the season with one goal in mind: getting a 10 on what she considers her best event.
Sloan started the season with a 9.225 on beam against UCLA, then it was a 9.925, 9.90 and finally against Oklahoma on Jan. 31, she got the closest she’s been this season to a perfect beam with a 9.95.
“Floor is a good event for me, but I’m really pushing for a 10 on beam,” Sloan said on Jan. 24, after she scored her first 10 of the season on floor.
Sloan led Florida 197.175 to 195.450 win against Kentucky. The 1.725 difference is the largest margin Florida has won with so far this season.
“It was one of those nights,” Sloan said. “It was like a fairy tale.”
Sloan’s mother, father and three older siblings traveled from Indiana and were on hand to witness her historic performance.
“I was very relaxed,” Sloan said. “They were really just playing the music perfect. I felt like we were back at practice.”
Now that Sloan has achieved a 10 on beam, she said her new, more immediate goals are to stay healthy, maintain the right state of mind for competition and get a 10 on bars.
“I’m definitely trying for a 10 on all four (events),” Sloan said. “You got to have goals.”
While Sloan found glory on the beam, her teammate and perfect-10-on-floor twin, Kytra Hunter, stumbled. The junior wobbled during her beam and scored a 9.750 — the lowest beam performance of the night from the Florida lineup.
Though Sloan was fifth and Hunter was fourth in the beam lineup, she said Hunter’s performance did not throw her off her game.
“When I get up on the event, it’s my event,” Sloan said. “I’m able to block out whatever happened.”
Besides the low note she hit on beam, Hunter had a successful meet against Kentucky. She placed second to Sloan (39.675) in all around with a 39.425. Hunter won the floor (9.925) and vault (9.925) events while Sloan’s 10 secured her a win on beam and her 9.90 on bars tied her with senior Mackenzie Caquatto for her second event win of the night.
The last time a Gator achieved a 10 on beam was almost a decade ago. On Feb. 27, 2004, Kristen Stucky stuck a 10 on beam against Kentucky in Lexington, Ky. Stucky’s 10 is the only other 10 on beam in the history of UF gymnastics.
“It’s so kind of awesomely eerie,” Faehn said.
Ten years later another Gator made history in Memorial Coliseum, whether she realizes it or not.
“It hasn’t sunk in just yet,” Sloan said. “It was definitely the beam routine of my life.”
Follow Erica A. Hernandez on Twitter @EricaAlyssa
Bridget Sloan performs on the balance beam during Florida’s win against Georgia on Jan. 24 in the O’Connell Center.
