Florida Gators
Southeastern Conference Championships
Gator Gymnasts Take Third at SEC Championships
Saturday, March 24, 2001 | Gymnastics
The No. 11 University of Florida gymnastics team (15-12, 2-3 SEC) took third with a total of 196.375 Friday evening at the Southeastern Conference Championships, held in front of a Bartow Coliseum crowd of 7,456 . No. 2 Georgia regained the team title with a team total of 198.00, while No. 3 defending champion Alabama was runner-up at 197.425. Louisiana State was fourth at 196.30, followed by Kentucky (195.85) and Auburn (194.50).
Georgia's Cory Fritzinger, the SEC Freshman of the Year, claimed the evening's all-around title with a total of 39.70. Every apparatus title was won by a gymnast with a mark of 9.95. Georgia's Suzanne Sears and Marline Stephens shared the SEC floor crown. Kristi Lichey of UGA claimed the vault title at 9.95. Shrieves and Fritzinger shared the evening's uneven bars title with Alabama's Natalie Barrington. Alabama's Lissy Smith and Fritzinger shared the balance beam crown. In other SEC honors awarded at the conclusion of the meet, Alabama's Andree Pickens was named the SEC Gymnast of the Year and UGA's Suzanne Yoculan picked up the SEC Coach of the Year honor.
The Gators opened the meet with their fourth-best floor exercise team total of the season (49.20). Hilary Thompson and Lindsey Miner tied for top honors on the floor exercise for the Gators with identical marks 9.90 to tie for fifth overall.. Florida then rotated to the vault, where it turned in a total of 48.90. For the sixth time this season, Miner led the Gators on the vault , this time posting a mark of 9.825 to tie for 12th overall.
Florida posted its third-highest uneven bars total of the season Friday (49.20). Freshman Kara Waterhouse led the Gators on the event with a collegiate-best mark of 9.925 to take sole possession of fourth place. In the Gators' final event – the balance beam – UF turned in a total of 49.075. Three Gators tied for team top honors on the event, as Jenny Carow, Thompson, and Miner each turned in marks of 9.85 to tie for seventh overall. Thompson turned in the Gators' top all-around total for the meet, taking seventh at 39.325, while Waterhouse was eighth at 39.20.
"It was a great performance. We hit our routines – we were clean and we were aggressive," UF Head Coach Judi Markell said. "We met our goals that we had entering this meet. We counted no falls and we had a better performance than we did last week and we were cleaner than we were in the last meet. I was pleased with our performance in this pressure filled meet."
Next up, the Gators will play host to the NCAA Southeast Region Championships on Saturday, April 7. Meet time is set for 7 p.m. in the Stephen C. O'Connell Center. The top two teams at the NCAA Southeast Regionals advance to the NCAA Championships, set for April 19-21 in Athens, Ga.
Southeastern Conference Team Totals
| Vault | Bars | Beam | Floor | Rank | Total | ||
| Georgia | 49.475 | 49.500 | 49.400 | 49.625 | 1 | 198.000 | |
| Alabama | 49.125 | 49.325 | 49.450 | 49.525 | 2 | 197.425 | |
| Florida | 48.900 | 49.200 | 49.075 | 49.200 | 3 | 196.375 | |
| LSU | 48.875 | 49.350 | 49.050 | 49.025 | 4 | 196.300 | |
| Kentucky | 48.975 | 48.750 | 48.825 | 49.300 | 5 | 195.850 | |
| Auburn | 48.425 | 48.450 | 48.825 | 48.800 | 6 | 194.500 | |
