Florida Gators

The No. 13 University of Florida gymnastics team saw a golden opportunity escape Friday evening at No. 3 Oklahoma. The Gators led the Sooners heading into the final rotation, but trouble on the balance beam placed UF behind OU in the final team standings, 195.475-193.925.

Florida opened the meet on the uneven bars, posting a 48.725. Freshman Orley Szmuch led the Gators on the event with a 9.825 to take fourth overall. OU's Mariana Goncalves won the uneven bars with a 9.95. Szmuch again led the Gators on their next event, the vault. She won the event with an UF season-best mark of 9.925 for the first vault title of her collegiate career. Junior Lindsey Miner made her first competitive appearance for the Gators since fracturing her left index finger on Jan. 22, turning in Florida's second-high mark of 9.775 on the vault.

The Gators, who were trailing the Sooners by .675, moved into a slender .225 lead after the third rotation. Florida turned in solid marks on their event, the floor exercise, while OU were forced to count two falls toward its balance beam team total. Senior Hilary Thompson led UF on the floor for the fifth time this season with her mark of 9.875, which took fourth overall. Miner also posted a 9.825 in her first floor routine since Jan. 18. OU's Concalves won the floor competition with a 9.925.

On the final rotation, the Gators saw that lead dissolve when two falls were calculated into UF's balance beam team score. Freshman Erinn Dooley and Miner shared UF's top mark on the beam of 9.725 for third place overall. Kasie Tamayo of OU won the beam crown with a mark of 9.85.

"It was a very disappointing way to finish," UF Head Coach Judi Markell said. "We had a chance to beat the No. 3 team and we just let it get away. We knew what we had to do and we just didn't do it. We definitely have something to work on next week in practice."

Concalves also won the evening's all-around title with a total of 39.575. OU teammate Kasie Tamayo was runner-up at 39.40, while UF's Krissy Dreger took third at 38.675.

The Gators return home to play host to No. 7 Stanford, No. 20 Penn State and Illinois-Chicago for the SunTrust Mardi Gras Madness. The meet is Friday, Feb.15 at 7:00 p.m. in the Stephen C. O'Connell Center. Tickets are $4.00 for adults, while children 17 and under plus UF students with identification are admitted free.

Team Totals