Gator Country

Gators gymnast Alaina Johnson competes in the floor exercise of Florida's home win against Georgia on Feb. 24. / Gator Country file photo by Saj Guevara

The Florida gymnastics squad is ringing in the New Year with accolades and a win in its season-opener.

After defeating Ball State last weekend (196.575-190.55), freshman Bridget Sloan took home the season’s first SEC Freshman Gymnast of the Week honor. Sloan follows in junior Alaina Johnson’s footsteps, who was named SEC Freshman Gymnast of the Week back in 2011.

Sloan made a name for herself in her first event as a Florida gymnast hitting the vault for a 9.925 to share the Florida-Ball State vault title with senior All-American Ashanée Dickerson. Sloan is the first freshman to begin her collegiate career with a vault mark of 9.925. It also marks the highest vault score in a season-opener, which was set by Dickerson in 2011. 

Sloan posted third on the beam and fourth on the bars scoring a 9.80 on both. The freshman superstar is a six-time (and current) member of the U.S. Senior National Team. The youngest member of the U.S.’s silver medal team at the 2008 Olympics, she was also a member of the 2009 and 2010 U.S. World Championships.

The Gators begin the SEC rivalry at 8 p.m. Friday evening against LSU. The meet will take place in the Pete Maravich Assembly Center in Baton Rouge, La. Sunsports will be airing the meet on January 19th at 5 p.m. and January 20th at 10:30 a.m.

Gator Country reporter Elizabeth Rhodes can be reached at .

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