Skip to Content, Navigation, or Footer.
We inform. You decide.
Friday, March 29, 2024
<p>Freshman Trinity Thomas scored a 9.925 on vault and a 9.975 on her floor routine in the Gators regular-season finale win over Penn State on Friday.</p>

Freshman Trinity Thomas scored a 9.925 on vault and a 9.975 on her floor routine in the Gators regular-season finale win over Penn State on Friday.

It came down to the little things in the final vault rotation.

A bounce here. A stumble there.

In UF gymnastics’ moment of weakness, the LSU Tigers struck swiftly, and a perfect 10 on the floor from the Tigers’ Sarah Finnegan extinguished any remaining hope Florida may have had.

Despite holding the lead in three of the four rotations at the SEC Championships in New Orleans, it was LSU who walked away with the trophy. UF placed second overall in the tournament with a score of 197.750, behind the Tigers (197.900) and in front of the third-place Alabama Crimson Tide.

The Gators took to what is arguably their best event in the bars for the first rotation. The event was highlighted by the recently emerging sophomore Megan Skaggs, who’s 9.925 was the highest score for Florida.

Freshman Savannah Schoenherr and junior Amelia Hundley rounded out the 9.9s, each scoring 9.900 exactly. Although UF’s two all-arounders in senior Alicia Boren and freshman Trinity Thomas are traditionally the highest scorers on the bars, they didn’t hit above the 9.9 mark. Both scored 9.850s. The Gators’ score of 49.425 was enough to take the lead into the second rotation.

Meanwhile, the Tigers ended close behind UF after their vault rotation score of 49.375, which included three scores of 9.900. Florida’s one SEC loss in the regular season, Georgia, ended the first rotation in third place with a 49.050 on the beam, and Kentucky finished last with a 48.625 on the floor.

UF kept the momentum going with its beam rotation. It saw three 9.950s: one from Skaggs, one from sophomore Alyssa Baumann and one from junior Rachel Gowey. When the rotation ended, the Gators held a comfortable lead over the rest of the field with a score of 99.050.

LSU, while having a good rotation on the bars that included a 9.950 from Sarah Finnegan, fell a little further behind Florida when the second rotation ended, hitting the halfway point of the championships with a 98.850.

At the beginning of UF’s floor rotation, it appeared as if Florida was undergoing a lull in its momentum. Skaggs, who appeared poised for a huge night after the first rotations, saw a 9.525 on her routine after a bad stumble. While freshman Nya Reed placed with a 9.750 after landing out of bounds on one of her passes.

Boren and Thomas shifted the Gators’ momentum back to where it was. Boren netted a 9.925, which was quickly followed by a 9.950 from Thomas. UF held fast after its third rotation, heading into the vaults with a 148.475.

LSU remained the only real competitor through three rotations with a 148.300.

Enjoy what you're reading? Get content from The Alligator delivered to your inbox

The final event for the Gators was the vault, the event in which they’ve been most vulnerable all year, while the Tigers headed into one of their best events on the floor.

Aside from a 9.950 from Thomas, the Gators didn’t get another score over 9.900, and they were forced to keep a 9.775 from Skaggs. They ended with a 197.075, and LSU, who was still on the floor, needed to average 9.900 over its next three routines.

The Tigers did more than that, and after Finnegan’s 10, LSU’s final floor routine from McKenna Kelley served as a victory lap.

Follow River Wells on Twitter @riverhwells and contact him at rwells@alligator.org.

Freshman Trinity Thomas was the only Gator to score above a 9.900 on vault in Saturday's SEC Championships. She scored a 9.950, and Florida finished the competition in second place behind LSU. 

Support your local paper
Donate Today
The Independent Florida Alligator has been independent of the university since 1971, your donation today could help #SaveStudentNewsrooms. Please consider giving today.

Powered by SNworks Solutions by The State News
All Content © 2024 The Independent Florida Alligator and Campus Communications, Inc.