Special report on the Florida Gators gymnastics team:
GAINESVILLE, Fla. – The final destination of the 2019 season is in the Lone Star State, but to be among the eight teams in Fort Worth, Texas, the Gator gymnasts need to earn that berth this weekend at the NCAA Corvallis Regional. The Gators begin regional competition Friday, April 5 at 10 p.m. ET in Oregon State’s Gill Coliseum.
New Format Starts This Season
2019 marks the start of a new regional championships format:
* Nine teams compete at four regional sites:
* Regional First Round – Lowest two seeded teams at each site compete to advance to Day 2 eight-team regional competition
* Regional Semifinal Round – Eight teams compete, split into two four-team semifinals. Top two teams in each semifinal advance to Day 3 regional final
* Regional Final – Four teams compete, with top two teams advancing to NCAA Championships, set for April 19-20 in Ft. Worth, Texas.
2019 NCAA Corvallis Regional Competition Schedule
Gill Coliseum * Corvallis, Ore.
Start Evt w
V
UB
BB
FX
April 4 Opening Round
6pmET
Iowa
Arizona
April 5 Semifinal
5pmET
Denver
Southern Utah
Boise St
Washington
10 pmET
Florida
UA/UI winner
OSU
Stanford
April 6 Final
10 pmET
S2 Team 2
S1 Team 2
S2 Team 1
S1 Team 1
Of the nine teams at the Corvallis Regional, Florida and Washington advanced to the 2018 NCAA Championships. Five teams among the field look to return to NCAA Championship action – Arizona (2002 – last appearance), Denver (2017), Iowa (2004), Oregon State (2015) and Stanford (2016). Boise State and Southern Utah seeks their first NCAA Championships’ berth.
Florida is seeking its 37th NCAA Championships’ berth in the event’s 38-year history.
Follow the Gators:
* Multi-Team Video Stream via OSUBeavers.com (free)
* Live and On-Demand Corvallis Regional Coverage via FloGymnastics.com (paid)
FloGymnastics will have a camera on each event. To access live and on-demand coverage of the NCAA Women’s Gymnastics Regional events, visit FloGymnastics.com to become a monthly or annual PRO subscriber. Either subscription unlocks access to premium content across the entire FloSports network. Watch the event across all screens by downloading the FloSports app on iOS, Roku, or Apple TV 4.
Gator Claiming SEC Honors:
Florida, the 2019 Southeastern Conference regular-season champions, couldn’t complete the sweep of SEC team titles. The Gators were second at the SEC Championships (197.75) as LSU claimed the title at 197.90 in front of meet record crowd of 10,505 at New Orleans’ Smoothie King Center on March 23.
Two league titles went to the Gators. Freshman Trinity Thomas equaled her collegiate-best of 9.95 for the second consecutive meet to win vault. The Gators raised the SEC balance beam record to 49.625. That total included three winning marks of 9.95 – Alyssa Baumann, Rachel Gowey and Megan Skaggs. Those four earned All-SEC honors and Savannah Schoenherr joined Thomas on the SEC All-Freshman team.
In the season honors announced March 28, Thomas claimed the SEC Freshman of the Year award. She was the logical choice as she is the first in league history to receive a SEC weekly honor after each of Florida’s nine regular-season meets. She was a six-time SEC Freshman and three-time SEC Gymnast of the Week honoree. Thomas leads Florida with 22 event titles, including the SEC vault crown. She is the nation’s top-ranked freshman all-arounder (5th, 39.65 RQS).
Gators Claim All-America Honors:
Four Gators picked up National Association of Collegiate Gymnastics Coaches/Women (NACGC) Regular-Season All-America honors, announced March 27. Trinity Thomas is a four-time All-American – all-around, uneven bars, balance beam and floor exercise. She is the only freshman among the nation’s seven gymnasts to earn four or more 2019 NACGC regular-season All-America honors.
Senior Alicia Boren appears on the all-around and floor exercise lists, bringing her career total of regular-season All-America honors to 10. Sophomores Alyssa Baumann (balance beam) and Megan Skaggs (uneven bars) also earned All-America honors.