Freshman Amelia Hundley landed her routine on bars.
She stuck it.
Her score? A 9.975.
Junior All-American Alex McMurtry then stepped up, tasked with having to follow her teammate’s near-flawless routine.
“I was so excited for her,” McMurtry said. “But then I had to go.”
As soon as her hands touched the bars, she hit a perfect handstand.
Her team swarmed her as she stuck her dismount, and then the judges’ scores flipped around.
It was a 10.
Behind McMurtry’s perfect score, the No. 3 Gators (5-1, 3-1 SEC) defeated No. 9 Georgia (5-2, 4-2 SEC) 197.975-196.525, posting the second highest team score in the nation this season.
“The performance was fabulous tonight,” Florida coach Jenny Rowland said. “I finally saw from those two what I’ve been seeing in the gym every day. ... I don’t know what to say about Alex. She never surprises me.”
Florida is the first school in the NCAA to have a 10.0 from two gymnasts this season, which includes Kennedy Baker’s 10 on floor two weeks ago against Auburn.
And while the crowd of more than 8,300 exploded after Hundley and McMurtry performed on bars, it was Rachel Slocum who had set the tone in the previous rotation on vault.
The junior transfer from Eastern Michigan’s vault — a front handspring pike-front twist — earned a 10 from one of the judges and a 9.950 from the other, averaging out to a 9.975.
It was her career-best score on the apparatus.
“I’ve just been competing it really consistently,” Slocum said. “I keep sticking them so I guess that’s a good thing I’m going to continue to do. I was so close to getting that 10.0 tonight and I’m really hoping to get it soon.”
The Gators swept all four event titles, with McMurtry winning the bars and beam, Slocum winning vault and sophomore Alicia Boren rounding it out on floor.
Boren collected her second all-around title of the season, posting career high scores on vault (9.95), bars (9.90) and floor (9.950).
“It’s been a while since I put a full meet together,” Boren said. “It was nice to experience that.”
And while the Gators are riding a season-high team score and their second 10.0, they are still hungry for even more.
“Honestly, I don’t think there is a ceiling,” Boren said. “If we make a ceiling we are limiting ourselves. So, I think we just have to keep working and keep improving because you really can’t be perfect.”
Contact Lauren Staff at lstaff@alligator.org and follow her on Twitter @lstaff27.
Alex Mcmurtry perfroms her bars routine against Georgia on Friday, Feb. 10, 2017. The routine received a perfect 10.
