It counts as a loss in the books. The Gators walked into the Lloyd Noble Center and walked out with their first defeat.
UF has a lot to look forward to despite that loss. In the first meet of the season where both competing teams scored over a 198, Florida’s performance showed the poise that comes with being a top team in the nation through its errors and its successes.
Here’s what it did right, along with an update on the team’s biggest weakness.
High Powered
It was mostly a night of highs for Florida.
Along with the team’s season-best total score of 198.025, both the bars and beam scores were good for the Gators’ third highest in each category with a 49.675 and a 49.600, respectively. Florida holds the nation’s highest beam total, and its bars total against Kentucky is still tied for the best in the nation.
Some individuals set season bests as well. Although her all-around total dropped a bit from last week’s meet, freshman Trinity Thomas tied her season record for the bars and hit a season-high mark on the floor and the beam with a 9.950 and 9.925, respectively. Five other gymnasts, including sophomore Alyssa Baumann and freshmen Savannah Schoenherr and Nya Reed, hit or equaled season-best totals during the meet.
“Honestly, I’m so proud of this team,” junior Amelia Hundley said in a release. “There were definitely some things we could work on, but I think there are a lot of highs.”
Through their individual improvements and season-high score, the Gators have proven they deserve the No. 2 spot, and they’ll certainly find themselves deep in the postseason if their stretch improvement continues.
The Vault Problem
The Gators’ problems on vault are still very apparent.
Many gymnasts, like Reed and senior Alicia Boren, have trouble sticking their landings on the vaults, often striding forward when they hit the mat due to their inability to stop in place. Florida only had a single gymnast hit the 9.9 mark on Friday, with half of the rotation scoring below 9.8.
One of the team’s biggest improvements in its meet against OU came in that one 9.900 score. It was Schoenherr’s, who had been plagued with lackluster routines in the 9.4 and below range in the past few weeks.
Despite Schoenherr’s big improvement, Florida’s vault was still .450 less than its second lowest score, and it will certainly need to shape up its vault routines if it wants to defeat Oklahoma again in the NCAA postseason.
“I think we’re lacking landings on vault,” Thomas said in a release. “Once we get those down, watch out.”
Follow River Wells on Twitter @riverhwells and contact him at rwells@alligator.org.
Florida gymnast Alyssa Baumann equaled two collegiate-best scores on Friday against Oklahoma. Her 9.975 on the beam and her 9.950 on floor were tied for the best scores of her career.
