Heading into Saturday’s Four on the Floor meet for the NCAA Women’s Gymnastics National Championship, Florida had plenty of momentum as it looked for its fourth national championship and first in 11 years.
But it was not to be. The Gators fell short Saturday, finishing in third place behind Oklahoma and Louisiana State in the ultimate meet of the 2026 season. UF finished with a 197.6875 score, 0.4750 points behind the Sooners and 0.3875 points behind the Tigers. It also finished ahead of fourth-place Minnesota by 0.3125.
Despite coming up short of its ultimate goal, head coach Jenny Rowland and senior gymnast Riley McCusker were nothing short of proud of Florida’s season, which a Southeastern Conference Tournament and a first-place semifinal finish Thursday night highlighted.
“It was a wonderful story filled with highs, filled with lows, filled with drama, filled with intensity,” Rowland said. “It made for one of the greatest stories of Gators gymnastics history that I have been a part of. And I wouldn't have it any other way.”
Rowland, who joined Florida in 2015, has led the Gators to eight appearances in the NCAA Championship final, but has yet to claim her first national title. Despite that, her Gators were excellent throughout 2026, claiming two of their four highest scores in program history in back-to-back weeks against LSU and Kentucky in March.
While it didn’t result in a national crown, Rowland said the team “left it all out there” in its final performance of the standout season. That reaffirmed the attitude that the Gators carried all season, which Rowland highlighted post-meet.
“It was a we over me team this year, and I saw so much growth and joy and happiness and fierceness and competitiveness,” Rowland stated.
Saturday marked the final meet for some of Florida’s top performers, including McCusker. The Bradenton, Florida, native earned the NCAA uneven bars national championship with a 9.9875 score in Thursday’s semifinal, one year after sharing the SEC uneven bars title with a 10.0000 score in the anchor position.
Moments after her final meet at Florida, McCusker was emotional when reflecting on her time in Gainesville.
“I have so much love and an overwhelming sense of gratitude for this team,” McCusker said. “I’ve had the best experience with them.”
McCusker originally committed to Florida in February of 2016 but did not enroll until the fall of 2021 after competing in the U.S. Olympic Trials that same year. In her five-year Gator career, McCusker earned multiple All-American honors and was also named to the 2026 All-SEC team.
“Riley has grown up in front of our eyes,” Rowland said. “An exceptionally special young lady, and I’m extremely proud of her journey and how high her chin has been held the whole time.”
Rowland also reflected on the Florida careers of Selena Harris-Miranda and eMjae Frazier, both of whom have made major impacts since arriving in Gainesville from West Coast destinations.
Harris-Miranda transferred to Florida from UCLA in the summer of 2024 and continued her excellence as one of the nation’s top gymnasts. In her two-year stint with the Gators, she earned 10 All-American honors and was named the 2026 Women’s College Gymnastics Association Region 5 Gymnast of the Year.
Meanwhile, Frazier joined Florida in the summer of 2025 after earning 10 All-American honors in three years at California. In her lone year with the Gators, she was named to the 2026 All-SEC team.
“We wouldn't be the same without them,” Rowland said of Harris-Miranda and Frazier. “I feel like they've been a part of our family for four years.”
While Florida is losing three of its top contributors, the squad is stacked with talent to make a run at a national title in 2027.
Leading the charge is Skye Blakely. The sophomore was excellent in her second year with Florida, earning All-America uneven bars first-team honors and balance beam second-team honors. She was named to the 2026 All-SEC team and also earned 2026 SEC Specialist of the Year honors.
Also set to return is rising senior Kayla DiCello. After missing all of 2025 recovering from a torn Achilles tendon, she earned All-SEC and two All-American honors in her junior year.
Alongside Blakely and DiCello, other Florida contributors set to return include Alyssa Arana, Jayla Booker, Amelia and Gabby Disidore, Danie Ferris and Anya Pilgrim.
That returning talent has Rowland looking ahead with “great hope and great excitement” for next season.
So with the 2026 season now in the rearview mirror, Florida might not have captured the top prize, but it achieved the success it strived for all season long.
“I said going into this, we’ve already won,” McCusker said. “I still feel that way.”
Contact Max Bernstein at mbernstein@alligator.org. Follow him on X @maxbernstein23.
Max is a junior sports journalism student in his seventh semester at The Alligator. He serves as The Alligator's assistant sports editor and football beat coordinator. He previously served as The Alligator's sports editor and as a reporter for football, women's tennis, volleyball, lacrosse and sports enterprise. He also has made multiple appearances on the Paul Finebaum Show. Max wants to shoutout his cats, Scooter and Zoe, and niche former Florida Panthers players (shoutout Maxim Mamin).
