There’s been a theme that’s echoed by almost every Florida gymnast and coach this season.
The O’Connell Center is a one of a kind place to perform gymnastics.
At almost every press conference leading up to a home meet, one will hear a gymnast praise the energy in the O’Dome, which is No. 5 in attendance for NCAA gymnastics this season.
“Whenever we are at home, the atmosphere is always amazing,” freshman Payton Richards said before the team’s meet against Alabama on Feb. 21.
And it’s clear the Gators feed off that atmosphere and the large crowd that files into the O’Connell Center every other Friday night.
They have beaten three top-10 teams at home this season – then-No. 8 LSU, then-No. 4 Denver and then-No. 8 Alabama – and two of their three highest scores came in Gainesville.
However, Florida has also shown it can make any arena in the country its home away from home.
All five road wins in 2020 have come against teams ranked in the top 25, including two in the top 15 — then-No. 12 Kentucky on Jan. 31 and then-No. 10 Georgia on Feb. 28.
It didn’t start out this way for the No. 2 Gators, however. Their worst performance of the season — by far — occurred in their first road meet, against then-No. 19 Missouri on Jan. 17.
UF put up its worst vault, beam, bar and overall score in Columbia, Missouri, and coach Jenny Rowland made it clear that it needed to reach higher on the road.
“The energy level was not what we were used to,” Rowland said. “The team started out a little tight and too conservative.”
The squad’s first test following Mizzou was two weeks later versus Kentucky in Lexington. It passed with flying colors.
Florida’s score of 197.80 was its second-best of the season at the time, and it beat the Wildcats by over a point.
The Gators (10-0, 7-0 SEC) improved on that score on Feb. 14 at then-No. 17 Auburn, recording a mark of 197.875, beating the Tigers by over three points.
Beating a school by that much in gymnastics is like watching Usain Bolt against his competition in the 100-meter race.
AU wasn’t in the same league as UF that night.
Sophomore Trinity Thomas had her third-career 10 and six gymnasts tied or set new career highs.
By this point, it’s clear that Florida had overcome its road hurdles.
“This team realized it has to stick to Plan A like we originally planned,” Rowland said after the meet. “This past Friday, I had never seen this team so relaxed. It felt like an intrasquad meet”
Since Rowland said that, the orange and blue have continued to reach higher and higher heights.
On Feb. 28 opposite the Bulldogs, it went into Stegeman Coliseum, one of the most intimidating venues in collegiate gymnastics, and beat Georgia by more than a point, its largest margin of victory in Athens ever.
Finally, this past Saturday at No. 25 Penn State, the Gators had their best road showing yet, scoring 198.10 – its second-best score this campaign – and beating the Nittany Lions by almost two points.
UF became the first program this season to have two gymnasts achieve a perfect score – Thomas on floor and senior Rachel Gowey on beam.
“A 198.10 on the road is fantastic and is a score this team is capable of reaching again,” Rowland said in a release. “This team can continue to grow and get better as we left a lot in the tank.”
Florida has no more regular-season road meets left but will look to show its prowess away from Gainesville in the SEC and NCAA Tournaments.
You can contact Noah Ram at nram@alligator.org and follow him on Twitter @Noah_ram1.
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.
