LEXINGTON, Ky. – The Florida Gators remain as the only undefeated Southeastern Conference gymnastics team after its win at No. 12 Kentucky. In Friday's meeting of the remaining undefeated league teams, it was the No. 2 Gators taking a 197.80 – 196.60 win in front of 4,412 at the Memorial Coliseum.
Florida's total is its second-highest of the season and stands as the nation's fourth-highest of 2020.
TONIGHT'S MEET
Florida sophomore
Trinity Thomas won four event titles Friday – uneven bars (9.925), balance beam (9.95), floor exercise (9.95) and all-around (39.725). Freshman
Payton Richards completed the Gators sweep of the event titles by claiming her first Gator win (vault – 9.925).
Florida led the meet from the opening rotation after posting a 49.375 on uneven bars. On the next rotation, three Gators set or equaled collegiate vault bests, as Florida posted its season-high of 49.475. After Richards' winning mark,
Megan Skaggs and
Savannah Schoenherr also turned in collegiate vault bests of 9.90 Friday.
Thomas made it four-for-four for 2020 floor wins Friday. Junior
Alyssa Baumann shared second on floor with UK's Mollie Korth at 9.925. Florida finished with its high team total of the evening (49.50) on beam. After Thomas' winning mark, three Gators shared second at 9.90 – Baumann,
Rachel Gowey and
Sydney Johnson-Scharpf.
One Gator wasn't with the team Friday. Sophomore
Nya Reed is ill and didn't make the trip to Lexington for Friday's meet. The Gators look forward to her returning to the team after she recovers.
GATOR PERFORMANCE NOTES:
- Trinity Thomas raised her career event titles total to 39 tonight with wins on bars (9.925), beam (9.95), floor (9.95) and all-around (39.725). She is one away from joining Florida's 40 event wins chart. Of the 15 currently on the chart, only three (Elfi Schlegel/60; Bridget Sloan/56 and Ashanée Dickerson/45) earned 40 wins through their sophomore season.
- Thomas' all-around total equals the nation's sixth-highest of 2020.
- Junior Megan Skaggs opened the vault rotation by setting her collegiate best of 9.90 (previous high: 9.875).
- Sophomore Sydney Johnson-Scharpf set her collegiate floor best of 9.875
- Five marks tonight equaled or set collegiate bests:
HEAR FROM THE GATORS:
On tonight's win:
"It feels great. This team has really put in the work and the effort as they made a commitment to do whatever they can. To say that they are undefeated at this point - well I think it is only going to get better.
When we talked after the meet, shared a few thoughts with the team. Warm-ups were not normal, however I was super-proud of how they performed when their name was called. They remained calm and performed what they show every day in practice. Everyone did a phenomenal job of doing what they know how to do. We came away with a great score and still know that we left a lot out there on the floor.
I'm so proud of the growth they've shown over the last three meets. That is something we've worked really hard on – taking something from each meet and trying to get better. Their intent of focusing solely on the team was there tonight. They controlled the controllables and really that's all we can ask." – Florida Head Coach
Jenny Rowland
On tonight's performance:
"Our first road meet was definitely a little rocky but we worked on bringing that energy, keeping it normal and building off each other. That momentum was there. It wasn't perfect as there is definitely things to work on. But for an away meet we are really happy with it. We're just going to keep moving forward from here." – senior
Amelia Hundley
On collegiate-best vault:
"I was really excited to be in (vault) lineup. I've been working really hard in practice, especially on the landings. I was super happy to be able to contribute to my team tonight." – junior
Megan Skaggs
RECORDS: Florida (4-0, 4-0 SEC), Kentucky (5-2, 2-1 SEC).
THE SERIES: Florida leads the series 88-1.
NATIONAL RANK:
Florida – Florida is No. 2 in the
Road to Nationals standings.
Kentucky – The Wildcats are No. 12 in the Road to Nationals rankings.
UP NEXT:
It's a triangular featuring three top-20 teams – No. 2 Florida, No. 5 Denver and No. 16 Iowa State.
When: Friday, Feb. 7 at 6:45 p.m. ET
Venue: Exactech Arena at the Stephen C. O'Connell Center
Video: SEC Network +
Promotions: First 1,000 fans get a pair of Gator gymnastics socks
Stick around after the meet to get autographs from the 2020 Gators
Tickets: Reserved - $8
General admission - $5 (adult); $1 (youth 12 & under)
UF Students w/ Gator1 ID – free
FloridaGators.com/Tickets
No. 2 Florida at No. 12 Kentucky
Final Team Totals |
| Jan. 31, 2020 ● Memorial Coliseum (4,412) |
| Team |
Vault |
Bars |
Beam |
Floor |
Total |
| Florida |
49.475 |
49.375 |
49.500 |
49.450 |
197.800 |
| Kentucky |
49.175 |
49.100 |
49.025 |
49.300 |
196.600 |
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