Special report on the Florida Gators gymnastics team
GAINESVILLE, Fla. – A 10.0 by the Gators’ final performer brought the near-capacity Exactech Arena at the Stephen C. O’Connell Center crowd to their feet. Junior Kennedy Baker‘s finishing routine on floor exercise was 10.0, helping the Florida gymnastics team to win the 11th edition of Gators Link to Pink with a season-high total of 197.70. Auburn also had a season-best of 196.40.
Friday’s crowd of 9,108 is the sixth largest in program history. This event is well supported, as half of the Gators’ top six crowds in school history were Link to Pink meet.
| Florida Event Winners Friday | ||
| Vault: | Alex McMurtry | 9.95 |
| Uneven Bars: | Amelia Hundley | 9.95 |
| Balance Beam: | Rachel Gowey | 9.925 |
| Floor Exercise | Kennedy Baker | 10.0 |
| All-Around | Amelia Hundley | 39.55 |
Four different Gators picked up the apparatus wins Friday, with freshman Amelia Hundley also adding the all-around win. Both wins came with collegiate-bests, as her 9.95 took her first uneven bars title. She upped her best to 39.55 to also take her first all-around win.
All-American Alex McMurtry received her second consecutive season-high 9.95 for vault Friday, but tonight she performed the Yurchenko double full, which has a 10.0 start value. Last Friday at North Carolina, she found perfection with the Yurchenko full (9.95 start value). McMurtry is one of just a handful of gymnasts in the nationwith this high-level vault in her repertoire. She will alternate between performing the two vaults in 2017, as her scoring potential is high for either.
Baker’s 10.0 helped Florida tally a season-best 49.575 on floor exercise. It was her second perfect mark on the event of her career, as she was two days short of the one-year anniversary of her 10.0 against Alabama on Jan. 29, 2016.
The evening’s balance beam title went to freshman Rachel Gowey, as she took her first event win as a Gator with a collegiate-best 9.925. Gowey performed as an all-arounder for the second time Friday, using her top total of 39.475 to take second overall.
This was the 11th edition of the Gators Link to Pink meet. Florida honored breast cancer survivors prior to the meet and those survivors formed a tunnel to welcome the Gators to the Exactech Arena competition arena. Most of the SEC’s gymnastics teams will have a pink meet this season, with the intention to help raise awareness about the fight against breast cancer.
GATOR PERFORMANCE NOTES:
- Baker is one of five Gators to turn in the program’s now 10 perfect floor exercise marks. She is one of three to earn the mark on multiple occasions. Gator All-Americans Kytra Hunter and Bridget Sloan turned in the mark four times and twice, respectively.
- Two 10.0s have been registered in 2017 floor competition. Michigan’s Nicole Artz turned one in last Sunday and Baker joins her with tonight’s 10.0 mark.
- Gators set or equaled 13 collegiate-best marks Friday. Gowey led all Gators with five bests tonight – vault (9.80), bars (9.875), beam (9.925), floor (9.875) and all-around (39.475).
- McMurtry takes her 15th vault title and ups her collegiate total of event wins to 30 (15 vault, 9 bars, 6 beam).
- Baker is now a nine-time floor winner and that title was the 20th event win as a Gator (9 floor, 5 vault, all-around, 1 beam).
- Hundley is the first freshman to win an all-around since Alicia Boren used a 39.525 to win the 2016 Gators Link to Pink title.
PERFECT IN PINK
Kennedy Baker‘s 10.0 on floor exercise is the fourth perfect mark in a Gators Link to Pink meet. All-American Melanie Sinclair earned the first 10.0 on bars while wearing pink at the debut Gators Link to Pink in 2007. She registered a 10.0 bars mark in the 2009 edition of the meet.
The next Link to Pink 10.0 was All-American Kytra Hunter’s second vault perfect mark in 2014.
Baker’s mark tonight is the first floor exercise 10.0 in Link to Pink competition.
RECORDS: Florida (340, 2-0 SEC); Auburn (0-4, 0-3 SEC).
THE SERIES: Florida leads the series 73-11.
HEAR FROM THE GATORS:
On getting a 10.0 on floor:
“It felt so good. It was my first meet back on floor. I stuck my first pass, and I knew I could do it, get a ten. I felt really good after the whole routine. When you go from almost falling on beam to getting a ten on floor, it’s drastic. I could have felt down after beam, but I picked myself back up and wanted to do it for the team.” – junior Kennedy Baker
On Kennedy Baker‘s 10:
“I’m pretty critical myself, but as soon as she landed her second pass, I knew right then she had an opportunity to get a 10. Her performance and her smile, it was just a perfect package.” – Florida Head Coach Jenny Rowland
On her first all-around win:
“I’m very excited. I wasn’t expecting that, and when they called my name it was really neat. I’m happier for the team win. It’s a team sport and when I make mistakes, they have my back. I was really trying to do it for the team. I enjoyed the whole experience. I’m really happy with how I did, but there is always room for improvement. I think we’re only going to go up from here.” – freshman Amelia Hundley
On the Link to Pink crowd:
“It was an amazing crowd. When they bring the energy the girls feed off of them and it’s just electrifying. We had a great time on the competition floor and I really hope the audience had just as much fun as we did.” – Florida Head Coach Jenny Rowland
On competing in her first Link to Pink meet:
“It was so much more fun and energetic than I expected. I had so much fun out there, especially dedicating it to those going through breast cancer and those survivors. It was so inspiring to see them line the floor as we were running out. It was really special not only for my team but for them as well.” – freshman Rachel Gowey
“It was just really neat seeing all the survivors. They are so much braver and stronger than we could ever be, so going out there and competing for them was a great experience.” – freshman Amelia Hundley
On her vault:
“I’m always excited to compete that double, especially at home. I was really happy with how my vault went and my landing. I’m always trying to get better, and I think that was a really great landing for me. I’ll try it again next week too.” – junior Alex McMurtry
On her beam routine tonight:
“It felt great. I’ve been working on it in the gym. I’m so calm in the gym, and I just needed to focus on bringing it over to the arena. We talked about taking my routine and putting it in my pocket. I think I did that tonight and I was so excited when I stuck that dismount.” – freshman Rachel Gowey
Tonight’s overview:
“Lots of positives. Just an overall memorable evening. We have 13 girls on the team with 13 very different personalities, each their own person. They come into the gym every day with a common goal to work together – it’s just been phenomenal to see them gel together so quickly and that’s really shown on the competition floor. They’re having a lot of fun, they’re feeding off of each other and trying to improve the little things here and there.
“We had some phenomenal performances tonight, we had some really great performances and some of the routines that I saw tonight, I felt like they were trying too hard a little bit to fix what we’ve been working on the gym, which is ok. We’re going to make mistakes. This is process, it’s a marathon of a season, it’s not a sprint. But I’m very pleased with how the team has been building from each meet.” – Florida Head Coach Jenny Rowland
On Amelia Hundley‘s performance tonight:
“She’s been working a lot in the gym on just focusing and working in the moment. That was something I challenged her on beam tonight, but on every event too. She sometimes gets ahead of herself and forgets that you’ve got to take it one skill at a time and one routine at a time. She did a really good job of doing that tonight. She’s a super powerful athlete, but very composed. She’s got a great mindset that she can just focus and hone in and shut everything off except for what she’s got to do. She has that ability to get up there and do what she has to do every time.” – Florida Head Coach Jenny Rowland
On Amelia Hundley and Alex McMurtry anchoring the bars lineup:
“It’s a great feeling (to have them anchor) as a coach, but I think even better for the team. The four in front of them just set them up to be successful. They allow them to calm down, and let them do what they do in practice. We know they’re going to perform a solid routine every time.” – Florida Head Coach Jenny Rowland
On the growth of the freshmen over the season so far:
“We’ve already had four meets and just building off of each competition, seeing the freshmen get out there more, and relaxing. This was the first meet that I’ve seen them be able to perform to what we’ve been working on. [Rachel] Gowey put it perfectly when she said she put her routine in her pocket and brought it out to the competition floor and it was a beautiful performance.” – Florida Head Coach Jenny Rowland
National Rank:
Florida – Florida is No. 3 in the third Road to Nationals poll.
AU – The Tigers are No. 16 in the Road to National poll.
UP NEXT:
SEC Network action against conference foes continues Friday when the Gators are at No. 5 Alabama. Meet time is set of 8:30 p.m. ET at Coleman Coliseum.
Alabama was upset 195.825-195.325 Friday evening at No. 23 Arkansas.
The meet airs live on the SEC Network. Bart Conner and Kathy Johnson Clarke will call the action with Laura Rutledge reporting from the sideline.