Most of Rhonda Faehn’s freshman-sophomore dominated gymnastics team weren’t even born the last time the Florida Gators hung a loss on the Georgia Gym Dogs at the Stephen C. O’Connell Center. That was back in 1990 when Maranda Smith, one of the few seniors in the Florida lineup was one year old.
“I was one,” Smith said after her 9.9 on the floor set the stage for freshman Ashanee Dickerson to follow with a 9.925 to seal a razor-close 197.250-197.150 win over the seventh-ranked Gym Dogs, the five-time defending NCAA champions. “That’s crazy to think about that.”
For nearly 20 years it seemed crazy for the Gators to beat Georgia at the O’Dome. Somehow, Georgia always seemed to close strong to eke out a win, like the one in 2008 when the Gym Dogs beat the Gators by .025 points. Since 1990, the Gators have had to live with one heartbreaking loss after another to Georgia at home.
But Friday night, things were different. The Gators (5-2, 4-1 SEC) were the ones who finished strong, barely slipping past Georgia when Dickerson turned in a brilliant floor routine that ended with a nailed landing that brought the O-Dome crowd of 6,421 to their feet screaming for a perfect 10.
They didn’t get the 10 they wanted but Dickerson’s 9.925 was just enough to give the Gators the win.
“It went right down to the wire and I think that is what made it so
exciting to see how our athletes feed off that,” Faehn said. “This is a different team that didn’t buckle to any sort of pressure or knowing how close it really was.”
This was a test for Faehn’s youngsters against the veteran Gym Dogs, who returned six All-Americans from last year’s NCAA championship team. Faehn’s kids didn’t seem the least bit intimidated or fazed by the lofty reputation of the Gym Dogs and they showed plenty of poise when three freshmen in a row calmly handled the balance beam after a fall by freshman Randy Stageberg.
In years past, the Gators haven’t handled adversity on the beam very well, but Friday night, the freshmen handled the pressure like they had been there and done that plenty of times before. Marissa King followed with a 9.825, then Liz Green turned in a 9.80 and Dickerson, who won the all-around title for the fourth time this season, turned in a dazzling 9.95. Dickerson’s 39.625 all-around score was the highest total ever recorded by a Florida freshman.
When Dickerson got on the beam she seemed oblivious to the pressure. She tuned everything out and was totally focused on her task, even talking herself through each skill on the narrow, 4-inch wide beam.
“I’m just in my own zone, talking to myself and telling myself what to do on the next skill,” Dickerson said. “I say stuff like get your arms behind your ears, straight arms on your round-off and things like that.”
Dickerson’s performance was the one that dazzled the crowd, but Faehn was equally impressed by King and Green, who showed plenty of poise to keep the Gators from fading further.
“Numbers four, five and six [on the beam] are all freshmen and they didn’t bat an eye. They just went up and were really aggressive. I think once again — I’ve said it before — that it shows the mental toughness of this very young team.”
Georgia outscored the Gators on the beam, 49.450-49.250, but the beam has long been a scoring staple of the Georgia lineup. When other teams wilt on the beam, Georgia typically finishes strong, which is exactly what the Gym Dogs did Friday night, closing with a 9.975 by senior All-American and 2004 U.S. Olympian Courtney McCool.
The only problem for Georgia was Florida’s finishing kick. While Georgia was finishing strong on the beam, the Gators were closing out with a bang on the floor. They got a 9.9 from sophomore Amy Ferguson in the two slot, and following a 9.85 by King and a 9.875 by Stageberg, Smith delivered here 9.9 on the floor to set up Dickerson’s dramatic finish.
“When you’re up against a top competitor and it’s a tough team and a top competition, you need your people that you continually look to for those scores to be on and Ashanee was on fire,” Faehn said. “Where we were looking for the phenomenal routines, they produced. Amy on floor and Maranda’s floor was gorgeous. I thought that was her best routine that she’s done.”
Although the Florida gymnasts knew the score was close, they weren’t aware of just how close it was. The crowd, however, knew that Dickerson needed a great finish or else the Gators would lose so the atmosphere became electric for the final routine.
A shy freshman from Jacksonville, Dickerson is Florida’s most explosive recruit in the Rhonda Faehn era at Florida. Capable of dominating performances, Dickerson said she was energized by the crowd.
“I fed off the energy from the crowd,” Dickerson said. “Maranda went first and she was great so I just tried to keep the energy going.”
Florida had plenty of energy from the start of the meet, scoring 49.40 on the vault to open things up thanks to a 9.95 from Dickerson in the five slot. The Gators followed with a solid, although not spectacular rotation on the uneven bars. King and Geogia’s Kat Ding shared the title on that rotation.
The second half of the meet was a test of Georgia’s ability to pressure the Gators and the Gators ability to handle adversity and finish things out. It was the kind of performance that Faehn wanted and needed but by no means did the Florida coach think it’s anywhere close to the best her team can do.
“Even looking at tonight, we still can do better,” Faehn said. “That’s what is exciting. We still can do better but it was great to see what they could do under a heavy pressure situation.”
It was also gratifying for Faehn to see a team this young — only six of the 24 routines were performed by freshmen while 16 were performed by freshmen and sophomores — staying on track and growing at the right pace. In years past, the Gators have peaked too early and by the time the NCAA Championship meet rolls around, they haven’t delivered in the way it takes to bring home a title.
This season, Faehn is bringing the team along carefully. They’ve been on a gradual incline as the scores keep getting higher but they should continue to improve.
“In the last two or three years this score or this type of performance would have been our first, second or third competition of the year and from there it’s hard to maintain that,” Faehn said. “This is a different team. This is really the first time that they not only hit but they really performed and they loved every little aspect of the performing. That’s going to be the key but now we have to continue to hit the landings and minimize the mistakes. We only have one more road meet and two home … only three competitions left so it’s right on track. There’s not a lot of time left.”
Florida travels to 12th-ranked Auburn next week to complete the SEC portion of the schedule then there is a home tri-meet with North Carolina and Ball State on March 5 and a home meet with fifth-ranked Utah on March 19.