Gator Country

Florida senior Amanda Castillo performs on the uneven bars during the Gators' 196.575-195.925 dual meet win versus No. 7 Arkansas in the O'Connell Center on Friday. / Gator Country photo by Casey Brooke Lawson

The No. 8 University of Florida gymnastics team (1-1, 1-0 SEC) opened the 2010 home season with a 196.575-195.925 dual meet win versus No. 7 Arkansas (1-1, 0-1 SEC) Friday evening in front of a Stephen C. O’Connell Center crowd of 4,715.

It was sure to be a tight competition, as the two teams both advanced to the 2009 NCAA Gymnastics Super Six team final, with Florida taking fourth and Arkansas placing fifth. Florida never trailed, but owned a lead of 0.350 heading into the final rotation – a margin that could be surpassed if the Gators encountered problems on the floor exercise.

A miss by Florida’s third performer put the focus firmly on the final three, as strong routines would certainly be needed to claim the win. The final trio, consisting of Marissa King, Maranda Smith and Ashanée Dickerson, all turned in hits to finish out the Gator win.

Dickerson claimed the evening’s all-around title, becoming the first Gator freshman since former All-American Corey Hartung in 2006 to claim the win in the first two all-around performances of their collegiate careers. Last week, she turned in the nation’s second-highest all-around total (39.35) of this very young season. Tonight she raised that total to 39.475. Dickerson upped her collegiate best to 9.925 on vault to take her second consecutive title on that event. She anchored the Gators’ floor exercise lineup with a collegiate-best 9.90 to share the title with Arkansas’ Jaime Pisani.

Senior All-American Maranda Smith collected the first uneven bars win of her collegiate career with her season-best mark of 9.875. Junior All-American Alicia Goodwin and UA’s Amy DeFilippo tied for second with bar marks of 9.85. Florida was led on balance beam by freshman Liz Green’s runner-up mark of 9.85. It was Green’s first appearance in the Gator beam lineup, as she performed an exhibition routine last week in the season opener at Oklahoma. A trio of Gators shared third on beam at 9.825 – senior Rebekah Zaiser, plus freshmen Dickerson and Randy Stageberg. Sophomore Amy Ferguson shared third in the floor standings with UA’s Casey Jo Magee, as each turned in season-high marks of 9.85. The evening’s balance beam title went to Arkansas’ Casey Jo Magee at 9.90.

Next week, Florida travels to Kentucky for a Jan. 22 dual meet.

Photo Gallery: UF Gymnastics vs. Arkansas, 1/15/10 (click here to view gallery)

DIRECTORY OF GATOR COUNTRY PHOTO GALLERIES

About the author

jumper42

Casey Brooke Lawson earned a B.S. in journalism from the University of Florida in December 2008. Lawson was born in Sarasota, Fla., but now still resides in Gainesville, Fla. Lawson picked up her first camera before she could walk, and now, 24 years later, she has made a career of her first love. She has been working as a photojournalist for eight years. She began at her high school, Sarasota High School, interned with the Gainesville Sun, Sarasota Herald Tribune, The Independent Florida Alligator and Sports Illustrated. Now, Lawson is a regularly contributing photojournalist for Gator Country. Trained in sports photography by Gator Country's own Tim Casey, sports photojournalism has become one of Lawson's favorite parts of her job.

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