After three consecutive weeks of reaching perfection, coach Rhonda Faehn thinks it may be time to give her two leading all-around gymnasts a break.
Faehn said Monday that she is considering resting Kytra Hunter and Bridget Sloan on at least one event during Florida’s (5-0, 3-0 Southeastern Conference) home meet against Arkansas (3-3, 1-3 SEC) on Friday.
“This Friday ... we may have that opportunity to have Bridget (Sloan) and Kytra (Hunter) maybe rest floor; we’ll have to see how training goes this week,” Faehn said. “If you ask them, they want to do everything all the time.”
Sloan and Hunter scored two consecutive 10s on floor during Florida’s first home meet of the year against Georgia on Jan. 24. In Florida’s most recent home meet against Oklahoma on Jan. 31, Hunter scored another 10 on floor.
Mackenzie Caquatto and Rachel Spicer got some rest in during Florida’s road win against Kentucky on Feb. 7.
Caquatto, who has competed all-around in three of UF past four meets, sat out on the floor and vault against Kentucky. Spicer competed in her usual vault (9.775) and balance beam (9.80) but not on floor.
“We’re using this opportunity to allow some athletes that are doing a lot of the leg work to freshen up a little bit,” Faehn said.
Besides Sloan’s individual success with a perfect 10 on beam, the Gators have had trouble perfecting an imperfection that has plagued them since the start of the season: stuck landings.
“That was something in the first four competitions that maybe we got some landings on one event but really not starting to dial in those stuck landings everywhere,” Faehn said. “This was the first time I felt everyone got that landing.”
Faehn noted that four of the six Gators to compete on uneven bars stuck their landings — a vast improvement from past meets when Florida stuck no landings.
Florida achieved no season best in total event scores or overall scores against Kentucky, and individually, the Gators lacked some improvement. Besides Sloan, no Florida gymnast broke a career- or season-best record against Kentucky in any event. Nonetheless, Faehn believes the Gators showed competitive improvements.
“It was such a great improvement to see that they competed aggressively and really started to kind of attack the event,” Faehn said. “That’s definitely what we were looking for at this point in the season.”
Now that Florida has officially passed the halfway mark of the 10-meet regular season, Faehn said she is happy with where her squad is.
“I feel like they are not only confident and consistent and they’re competing aggressively,” she said. “We’re really following the plan that we had set from the beginning: start out a little bit slower … not pushing them right from the start.
“These athletes really need to be fresh and feel almost like we just started season when it nears the end of the season.”
Follow Erica A. Hernandez on Twitter @EricaAlyssa
Kytra Hunter performs a floor routine during Florida’s 197.875-197.225 win against Oklahoma on Jan. 31 in the O’Connell Center. She may not compete on floor against Arkansas on Friday.
