In what has been a year full of accolades for Trinity Thomas, she received two more Tuesday.
Thomas was named the SEC Gymnast of the Year and was named to the All-SEC team, the conference announced Tuesday.
Thomas was honored following a stellar sophomore campaign. She was the only gymnast in the nation to score a 10 in three events and had the third highest all-around total this season against Georgia (39.825).
Thomas became the fifth UF gymnast to win this honor and the first since Alex McMurtry in 2017.
Last month, the Women’s Collegiate Gymnastics Association named her to five All-American teams. She was the only gymnast named to that many teams.
Thomas wasn’t the only member of the Gators team honored Tuesday. Fellow sophomore Savannah Schoenherr and senior Rachel Gowey were named to the All-SEC team as well.
Schoenherr broke through in 2020, scoring a nearly perfect 9.975 on Jan. 24 against LSU and winning her first ever bars title against Denver and Iowa State on Feb. 7. Gowey scored her first career 10 against Penn State on March 7 and was named the SEC Specialist of the Week, in what ended up being Florida’s final match. This is Gowey’s third time on the team, while it is a first for Schoenherr.
Finally, Gators coach Jenny Rowland was named SEC Coach of the Year for the second time in her career. She was also named the conference's top coach in 2016. No. 2 Florida was 10-0 and the SEC Regular Season Champion when their season was canceled on March 12 due to the COVID-19 outbreak.
The criteria for the teams was changed this year due to the season being cut short. In 2019, 34 gymnasts were named to the team. However, that number was shrunk down to 12 for 2020.
The orange and blue led all SEC programs with three gymnasts on the team.
Noah is a third year journalism-sports and media student from Palm Beach Gardens, Florida. He has been with The Alligator since Spring 2019 and has covered men’s and women’s tennis, gymnastics and volleyball. When he isn’t on his beat, Noah is usually sadden over his beloved South Florida sports teams, such as the Heat and Dolphins.
