In this final home meet of a season that has been defined by an almost never-ending string of injuries, Rhonda Faehn’s M*A*S*H Unit took to the floor of the Stephen C. O’Connell Center Friday minus the guest of honor. It was Corey Hartung’s Senior Night and instead of a whirling dervish, spin, jump and tumble experience that brought the crowd of 3,829 to their feet one last time, all she could do was stand and watch. Not exactly the kind of sendoff Florida’s All-American girl anticipated when the season began, but no one could anticipate all these injuries including the strained calf muscle that has Hartung sidelined perhaps beyond the Southeastern Conference Gymnastics Championships in two weeks.
The night could have turned into a bummer. The Gators have had a few of those lately as their injury-decimated roster has tried to hold it together through all the adversity but this was not going to be one of those long, lean nights, not as long as Hartung’s teammates could give an inspired performance in honor of their senior captain.
“They told me that before they went out that this is for Corey,” beamed Hartung after the fourth-ranked Gators (6-3, 3-3 SEC) scored a 196-825-196.325 win over 14th-ranked Michigan Friday night. Hartung, who has won All-America honors nine times in her dazzling Florida career, watched as Amanda Castillo battled through the pain to win the all-around title with a 39.425 score. She saw Courtney Gladys finish fourth in the all-around, her first crack at the all-around since she was a 14-year-old club gymnast. She also saw sophomore Alicia Goodwin steady what has all season long been a shaky beam lineup, scoring a 9.875 to win the event title. Freshman Amy Ferguson turned in a very solid 9.85 while filling the second slot in the floor rotation.
“We’re a fighting team and this team is amazing,” Hartung said. “We work hard every day and we continue to fight. That’s what I love about this team. We have heart and we have a strong fire under us that’s growing bigger every day. SEC and Nationals are coming up and that’s the biggest part of the year. We’re looking forward to that and we’re getting stronger.”
Castillo, who has battled the pain of bursitis in her ankle all season, was in the all-around lineup for only the second time this year. She had a 9.9 best on the floor to finish out a steady performance that earned her first all-around title of the season. Castillo scored a 9.85 on the vault, another 9.85 on the bars and a 9.825 on the balance beam.
Castillo has turned to acupuncture a couple of weeks ago as a way to deal with the constant pain of the bursitis. She keeps irritating the ankle every day in practice. The only way the ankle will heal completely is complete rest but she’s not going to take any time off until the season is over. Until then she’s fighting through the pain.
“I’m dealing with the pain better,” said the junior from Sanford. “I’m blocking it out and I’m not trying to think about it. Just being with my team and the love of the sport is getting me through.”
For most of the season, Castillo has been limited to one or two events in an effort to keep her fresh as possible for the Southeastern Conference and regional events. Castillo appreciated the gesture but felt she needed to be out on the floor competing in all four events.
“Only doing one event when they were trying to rest me before, I didn’t feel like myself,” she said.
The Gators also benefitted from winning performances by junior Melanie Sinclair on the floor (9.925), vault (9.925) and bars (9.9)
Faehn has spent the season scrambling her lineup almost night to night to patch the holes in a lineup that was expected to be good enough to challenge Georgia for the national championship this year. Injuries have devastated the team as far as some of their weekly performances, but they haven’t killed the determination to fight through all the problems.
“We’re so proud because with all the challenges we’ve encountered so far this season, they’ve never given up,” Faehn said. “They’re fighting and they’re not giving up and they’re not falling. They’re doing the best they can and that’s really positive. At the same time it is challenging and frustrating because we know what we’re capable of but we have to be patient.”
It might take a bit more patience with Hartung, who could possibly be back in time to participate in a couple of events at the Southeastern Conference Championships in Duluth, Georgia in a couple of weeks. With the NCAA Regionals on April 4, Faehn won’t try to rush Hartung into the all-around lineup too early even though her senior is worth “three-tenths of a point” to Florida’s final outcome any time the Gators take the floor.
“We need to make sure Corey is healthy and ready to go,” said Faehn. “The most important time for her to be 100 percent healthy is Regionals because that’s the qualification for Nationals. We’re shooting for SEC’s but in our minds we’re also trying to remain positive and hoping to get her for a few events there.”
There was no chance Hartung was going to perform one last time before the home crowd Friday night, but the Gators won and Hartung got the big ovation from the O-Dome crowd with parents and family from Pennsylvania there to share the moment. Hartung did a pretty good job of keeping her emotions together throughout the ceremony but when she looked saw her parents, she couldn’t hold back the flood of tears.
“Usually I’m not emotional and I didn’t start crying until I saw my parents cry,” Hartung said.
The same couldn’t be said for Faehn.
“I was a disaster,” she said. “I was a mess out there. I just love Corey to death and just how much she has grown and matured. What an unbelievable ambassador for Florida. She’s just beautiful all around, not only gymnastically but as a person. It breaks my heart that we’re going to lose her. She’s going to stick around next year and help with the coaching. I’m not ready to give her up yet.”
The Gators travel to Salt Lake City to take on second-ranked Utah next week.