Special report on the Florida Gators gymnastics team:
No. 3 Gator Gymnasts Defeat No. 5 UCLA to Open Home Action GAINESVILLE, Fla. - The nation’s top dual of the weekend went to the Florida Gators in front of an enthusiastic Stephen C. O’Connell Center crowd of 6,511. The three-time defending NCAA champions opened home action with a 197.675 - 196.925 win over UCLA. Florida Event Winners Friday Vault: Kennedy Baker 9.925 Alex McMurtry 9.925 Uneven Bars: Bridget Sloan 9.975 Floor Exercise Kennedy Baker 9.950 All-Around Bridget Sloan 39.65 The Gators came into Friday’s meet looking for improvement from their season opener last week at Texas Woman’s University. In that meet, the Gators turned in a 196.825, the third-highest total of this young season. One area that was a focus in this week’s training was landings and the Gators did pick up valuable tenth this week in that area. Two All-American sophomores - Kennedy Baker and Alex McMurtry - shared the vault title at 9.925. Baker used a 9.95 to claim her second consecutive floor exercise win. In the opening weekend the 2016 season, senior All-American Bridget Sloan’s winning all-around total of 39.50 was the nation’s high. Tonight, three Gators bettered that total. Sloan took her second consecutive all-around title at 39.65. Tying for second at 39.575 was Baker and freshman Alicia Boren, who was making her all-around debut. Sloan also turned in the meet’s high mark in any event with her 9.975 on uneven bars. UCLA’s Danusia Francis anchored the Bruins balance beam set with a 9.95 to claim that event title. GATOR PERFORMANCE NOTES: * Boren’s total of 39.575 equals the highest ever by a Gator making their all-around debut. Mackenzie Caquatto also tallied a 39.575 when she made her all-around debut in the fifth meet of the 2011 season. * It was all-around win No. 20 for Sloan. She is one of five Gators to claim 20 or more all-around titles. * The two sophomore used different vaults to reach the same score. Baker’s performed a Yurchenko with one and a half twist (10.0 value) and McMurtry competed a Yurchenko full (9.95 value). It was the second consecutive and ninth overall vault win for McMurtry. * Baker now has four floor wins as a Gator. RECORDS: Florida (2-0, 0-0 SEC); UCLA (1-1, 0-0 Pac 12). THE SERIES: UCLA leads the series 25-13. Florida has met UCLA in home regular season four times in the program’s 44-year history. The only other regular-season home win over the Bruins was in 1986. HEAR FROM THE GATORS Opening Statement: “My first meet in the O’Connell Center was definitely a memorable evening. The team told me yesterday that there was no place like competing in the O’Dome in front of Gator Nation and they are absolutely right. I had a great evening. I had a lot of fun, the team had a lot of fun, I’m very proud of the team. We took a good step forward after our first away meet and I think the future is looking good for the Florida Gators.” - Florida head coach Jenny Rowland On improvements from last week’s meet: “We were just looking to improve upon landings. We had missed over a point in landings (against TWU) and I think the girls did a great job of paying attention to some of the little details. We still have work to do, we will always have work to do but it was a great improvement from last week.” - Florida head coach Jenny Rowland On improving from the last meet: “Tonight was an incredible home-opener for us. We have a very young and small team, so the better we get each meet is really going to add up for post-season. Jenny [Rowland] really emphasizes on us not being perfect, she really just tells us to go out there and have fun. We really focused on landings this week, a bunch of little things and they really add up. We were able to come out with an incredible home-opening score. I think each meet is going to get better and better and that’s how it’s supposed to be. You’re not going to peak in the month of January. I think we’re on track to do great things in the future.” - senior All-American Bridget Sloan On the freshman class: “As a senior, I wasn’t prepared on what to do, so I’m just going to do what I’ve always done and see if they jump on my train and they did. It was incredible in the gym to see them grow as athletes. They’re able to have fun in practice now. We’re not just the upperclassmen, we’re their teammates and their friends. It’s awesome to see that because that’s what you need in a team. You need people to look up to, but you also need those people you can turn to. They don’t look at me as their leader, they look at me as a friend and a teammate, and that’s what it’s supposed to be about.” - senior All-American Bridget Sloan On competing all-around for the first time at her first home meet: "The experience was amazing. They tried to prepare us for it, but they said that it was not going to be anything like they said and you can only feel it when you actually experience it. It was so fun, and I didn't even know I was competing all-around until yesterday. I was so excited." - freshman Alicia Boren On floor performance tonight performing in front of a home crowd: “I think it happened my sophomore year, I kind of had the same experience where the crowd went crazy before I even stepped on the floor. It almost gave me goosebumps because this is what I live for. I wake up in the mornings and go to practice, just waiting to perform on Fridays. It’s now that time. We told the freshman, you’ll never forget your first meet. When the crowd went crazy tonight before I even was announced, it makes you feel appreciated. “We’ve always said Gator fans are the best, but they are hands down the best. They appreciate good gymnastics. The support they give us, you can’t even describe it. It was incredible to have that tonight at our home-opener, and I definitely wasn’t expecting it. It something I will always remember.” - senior All-American Bridget Sloan On joining a team that's won three straight national championships: "They have such an amazing past that I didn't know how I was going to come into it and how I was going to change it because you come in and you see all these amazing girls. They say you're going to compete all-around, but you've got to figure it out as you go. I feel like it's motivated me so much because they've won three, but I haven't added to any of that, and I wanted to be able to add to another one for them." - freshman Alicia Boren National Rank: Florida - Florida is No. 3 in the Jan. 10 Road to Nationals<http://roadtonationals.com/results/standings.php#pages/national.php?nat=1> rankings. UCLA - Bruins No. 5 in Jan. 10 rankings UP NEXT: The Gators start 2016 SEC action next Friday at No. T-7 Auburn. Meet time is set for 8:30 p.m. ET in the Auburn Arena. Auburn opened SEC action Friday with a 196.275-195.175 home win over No. 21 Kentucky. Friday’s meet marks the Gators’ 2016 debut on the SEC Network. The meet will also stream on SEC Network +<http://es.pn/1REARIh>. No. 3 Florida versus No. 5 UCLA Final Team Totals Jan. 15, 2016 ● Stephen C. O’Connell Center (6,511) Team Vault Bars Beam Floor Total Florida 49.400 49.525 49.450 49.300 197.675 UCLA 49.125 49.350 49.075 49.375 196.925