Florida overpowered its three opponents in Friday’s meet. Despite some unsettled routines that cost the Gators a few deductions, the team kept its momentum through all aspects of the meet while cheering each other on.
The meet offered new routines and performances from fresh faces such as graduate student Peyton Richards. During a clean and seamless performance, she kept her composure and scored a 9.925.
UF junior Leanne Wong, fresh off a perfect 10, kept the momentum flowing and ended with an all-around performance where she earned over a 9.9 in all four of her routines to give her an overall 39.725.
Her highlight of the night was her near-perfect beam routine where she fell just short of a 10 with a 9.975.
The No. 6 Florida Gators (9-1, 4-1 SEC) beat the No.14 Missouri Tigers (8-3, 2-3 SEC), the No. 27 Illinois Fighting Illini (7-6, 1-3 B1G) and the Lindenwood Lions (8-6, 3-1 MIC) 197.625 on the road in St. Charles, Missouri, in a quad meet. This marked the Gators’ highest team score of the season.
“A win on the road, a season-high nonetheless, I am proud of them for being focused, fighting and elevating their new normal,” Florida head coach Jenny Rowland said. “We had some great momentum going throughout the evening, and it was an extremely fun night.”
UF junior Sloane Blakley opened up for the Gators on uneven parallel bars with a seamless routine to earn a 9.875 score.
“I felt like it was really normal from what I do in the gym,” Blakely said. “I felt like myself and I am told to just be Sloane, that is all I really did.”
Gators senior Victoria Nguyen excelled in her bar performance with a profound handstand. However, her uneasy landing led to a deduction in her score to a 9.8.
Freshman Gabby Disidore struggled to grasp her landing. However, despite a minor deduction, she still managed to earn the highest Gator score of the night with a 9.925. Disidore also set a career-best with her routine.
Freshman Anya Pilgrim, this week's SEC Freshman of the Week, proved her title with a clean performance in her defined bars routine to score a 9.9.
To close the apparatus for Florida, Wong’s almost-flawless landing placed her third in the uneven bars with a 9.9. Florida led the meet with a 49.425 after the first rotation.
The Gators moved to balance beam for the second rotation where freshman Skylar Draser claimed a season-high score of 9.9. Blakely suffered a deduction on her performance when she uneasily wobbled on the beam, costing her a score of a 9.825.
However, Pilgrim’s back handspring series brought Florida back when she scored a 9.9. UF senior Ellie Lazzari also struggled on the beam when she almost fell off of the side, but she managed to recover and earn a 9.9 to match Pilgrim.
Nguyen kept the momentum with the Gators as she finished her routine with a flawless back handspring and a twist dismount to earn a 9.875.
Wong’s graceful beam routine earned her an almost perfect score of 9.975. Her performance also scored the highest for the Gators of the night in the apparatus.
Florida headed into the third rotation on the floor exercise carrying a slim .275 lead over the rest of the competition
Nguyen opened up for Florida on the floor and dazzled in her routine, gliding across the floor to earn a 9.9. Freshman Kaylee Bluffstone tallied a 9.875 in her tumble run on the floor to help the Gators remain in the lead.
Pilgrim managed to keep everyone on their toes during her graceful routine which marked another high-scoring floor run for UF with a 9.9. Blakely brought her best effort in her routine as she glistened across the floor in her leap combinations with settled landings to earn a 9.925.
Graduate student Payton Richards almost fell out of bounds, but she rebounded with a strong first pass to earn a 9.925.
Wong shined on the floor apparatus,earning a 9.950. This marked the Gators' 12th 9.9-plus score of the night. Florida ended the third rotation with a 0.625 lead over Missouri headed into its final apparatus on vault.
Lazzari opened up on vault for UF and earned a 9.800. However, her unfortunate off-balance landing cost her a deduction. Blakely ended her routine with a perfect landing as her run claimed the highest vault score of the night, a 9.925.
Pilgrim fell short on her routine as she added an extra step into her landing that led to a deduction and earned her a 9.825. Freshman Danie Ferris kept the Gators afloat after her performance earned a 9.9 which put the Tigers out of reach to overpower Florida.
Wong rounded out the final apparatus with a clean and promising performance. Her 9.9 score earned the Gators a season-high team score of 197.625.
UF will next compete at home on Feb. 23 at 6:45 p.m. against the No. 3 Louisiana State Tigers. The meet will be broadcast on ESPN.
Contact Alyssa Britton-Harr at abritton-harr@alligator.org. Follow her on X @abrittonharr.
Alyssa Britton-Harr is a second-year journalism major and a sports reporter for The Alligator. In her free time, she enjoys cheering on the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and spending time with her friends.
