Florida Gators

The No. 8 University of Florida gymnastics team (4-1, 0-1 SEC) couldn't close the gap during the final rotation, dropping a 195.775-194.625 decision at No. 4 Alabama (8-0, 1-0 SEC) Friday evening in front of a sell-out Coleman Coliseum crowd of 15,162. The crowd is the third-largest in the history of collegiate gymnastics.

Team colors were set aside for Friday's Drive 4 the Cure meet, as both teams wore pink leotards (but different shades). Events surrounding the meet were to help raise breast cancer awareness.

The Gators trailed the Tide by just .20 heading into the final rotation, but UF was forced to count a fall toward its beam total, making it impossible to catch Alabama as it closed the meet on the floor exercise. Although Florida had its trouble on beam, the Gators swept the top two places on the event. Junior Samantha Lutz used a solid routine to take the evening's beam title with her season-best mark of 9.85, while Breanne King took second overall at 9.825.

Florida also experienced some problems during their opening event, the uneven bars, posting a 48.20. This was the first meet of the season that a fall was counted against the Gators' team score, as that happened on the bars and beam. Lutz matched her season-best mark of 9.85 to share second overall on the uneven bars, while freshman Corey Hartung also equaled her 2006 best of 9.80. Defending NCAA uneven bars champion Terin Humphrey of Alabama claimed the bars title with her mark of 9.90.

The Gators came back with a solid vault set, turning in a 48.975. Junior Katie Rue posted her season-best of 9.85 to share second overall in the final vault standings. Sophomore Tiffany Murry also earned a mark of 9.825 Friday. Two-time NCAA vault champion Ashley Miles of Alabama won the evening's vault title at 9.90.

The Gators matched their season-best floor team total of 49.075 in the third rotation. Murry upped her season-best floor mark to 9.90 Friday after hitting each of her tumbling passes. She finished second overall on floor. Rue and junior Savannah Evans also turned in marks of 9.825 Friday. Miles collected her second title of the meet on floor with her mark of 9.95.

“Obviously it is not the result we were looking for, but I think it is going to help us in the long run. It is going to help us accomplish the goals we want to achieve. It helps identify which of our athletes are fighters, which ones really want to be in the lineup positions,” UF Head Coach Rhonda Faehn said. “The mistakes of Ashley, Bre and Sherie (on bars) were tough to mentally jump back from, but I thought the team did a great job rebounding on vault and floor. Again on beam, two mistakes happened. They (Hartung and Rai) were actually straight on with the beam, which I could see as I stood at the end of the line. The mistakes that happened tonight were from not trusting themselves. In an environment like this, it is crucial to attack the difficult routines we are doing. We are looking for who can mentally handle this type of situation because this pressure will be there at SECs and NCAAs. This was a great early test.”

Lutz agreed that this was a learning experience for the Gators.

“It is always tough when the team gets off to a rough start. But I thought we pulled it together well on vault and floor – if we have problems, we try not to dwell on them from event to event,” Lutz said. “Alabama is a great team and this is a great place to compete. We know that we need to be on top of our game when we go against them.”

Florida returns home to play host to defending NCAA champion and current No. 1 Georgia on Friday, Jan. 27. Meet time is set for 7 p.m. in the Stephen C. O'Connell Center. Tickets are $4.00 for adults, while children 17 and under and UF students with ID are admitted free. Fans can pick up free passes for Friday's meet at Gainesville area Wendy's locations.