GAINESVILLE, Fla. – A trophy is on the line in the nation's top dual meet of the weekend. No. 3 Florida is at No. 2 Louisiana State for a Sunday afternoon meet. Competition begins at 3:30 p.m. ET in the Pete Maravich Assembly Center.
For the first time in 2017, the Southeastern Conference is awarding a regular-season gymnastics champion (based on regular-season win-loss results).
LSU currently leads the SEC standings with a 6-0 record and Florida is second at 5-1. A win or tie gives LSU the 2017 SEC title. A Florida win would have the 2017 SEC title shared between the Gators and Tigers.
How to Follow the Gators:
The Florida at LSU meet is the finale of two consecutive meets airing live Sunday afternoon on the SEC Network. Calling the action are Olympians Bart Conner and Kathy Johnson Clarke with Gator grad Laura Rutledge reporting from the sideline.
The meet can also be found on
SEC Network +. New to the SEC Network + coverage this season is all the pre-meet pageantry and festivities will be part of the on-line production. Tune in beginning at 3:15 p.m. to see the pre-meet show.
The
SEC Network's Before the Heights show sets up the weekend's gymnastics action. Watch it beginning at 3 p.m. ET on SEC Network +.
Last Friday versus Missouri:
Last Friday, the Gators turned in the nation's No. 9 score of 2017 to take a 197.90- 196.75 win over No. 13 Missouri.
Florida used perfect or nearly perfect scores to take three of the apparatus wins. Junior
Alex McMurtry's 10.0 on floor exercise was her first on the event, second perfect score of the season (bars 10.0 on Feb. 10) and fifth of her career. She is the second Gator to score a 10.0 in three events (Gator Great
Bridget Sloan is the only UF gymnast to claim a 'Gym Slam' – a 10.0 on each event).
McMurtry shared the vault title with teammate
Rachel Slocum as each turned in a nearly perfect 9.975. Freshman
Amelia Hundley equaled her collegiate uneven bars best of 9.975 to take the win. Hundley's collegiate-best 39.625 took her second all-around title. It also shares the No. 13 highest total of the season.
SEC Weekly Honors Sweep Gators:
The Gators swept the SEC Weekly Gymnastics Awards on Feb. 28. McMurtry picked up her first SEC Gymnast of the Week honor. She claimed the SEC Specialist of the Week award seven times during her career (and twice in 2017). Slocum is the SEC Specialist of the Week for the first time and Hundley claims her second SEC Freshman of the Week award.
Gator Scoring Notes:
- Florida's top four team totals are among the nation's top 25 of 2017 – No. T6 197.975 (Feb. 10). No. 9 197.90 (Feb. 24), No. T16 197.70 (Jan. 27) and No. T23 197.60 (Jan. 13).
- The season highs for three Gators – Alicia Boren (39.725/T7), Amelia Hundley (39.625/T15) and Kennedy Baker (39.575/T27) all rank among the nation's top 30 all-around totals of 2017. Florida is the only school with three different gymnasts represented among the nation's top 30 all-around totals.
- Twelve gymnasts have turned in 18 perfect marks across the nation this season. Baker and Alex McMurtry are among the five in the nation to claim a 10.0 on floor this season. McMurtry is among the six who have uneven bars 10.0 marks. Two other gymnasts in the nation join McMurtry in scoring 10.0s in multiple events this season - Oklahoma's Maggie Nichols and UCLA's Kyla Ross. She also posted another perfect mark this season as she received a 9.95 for a Yurchenko full vault on Jan. 20. The start value for that vault is a 9.95.
About the Tigers:
LSU (11-1, 6-0 SEC) is coming off 197.675-196.10 win at No.14 Auburn on Feb. 24. The Tigers only loss in 2017 came Feb. 17 at the GYMQuarters Mardi Gras Invitational in St. Charles, Mo., as LSU took second to No. 1 and defending NCAA champion Oklahoma (198.35-197.70) in the quad meet. Both Florida (Feb. 10) and LSU (Feb. 19) set their identical season-high team total of 197.975 in 2017 home action. The Tigers are drawing well this season, averaging more than 9,500 per meet in 2017.
Freshman Kennedi Edney turned in LSU's top all-around total of 39.625 on Jan. 27 to win the dual at Kentucky. Senior Ashleigh Gnat is among the nation's 12 gymnasts who have recorded perfect marks in 2017, earning a vault 10.0 at Alabama on Jan. 13.
National Rank:
Florida – Florida is No. 3 in the eighth
Road to Nationals poll.
LSU – The Tigers are No. 2 in the Road to Nationals poll.
