Florida Gators

PITTSBURGH, Pa. – It was a nail-biter to the end but No. 2 Florida gymnastics took second in Sunday's NCAA Pittsburgh Regional final to advance to the NCAA Championships.
 
California and Florida advance to the NCAA Championships, set for April 13-15 in Ft. Worth, Texas. This will be Florida's 39^th appearance in the 41-year history of the NCAA Championships. The Golden Bears won the Pittsburgh Regional at 198.075 and Florida took the second advancing spot with a 197.80 team score. Michigan State was third (197.65) and Arizona State took fourth (197.475).
 
TONIGHT'S MEET:
All the second session winners at each of the nation's four region sites opened final competition on uneven bars.
 
Defending NCAA all-around champion Trinity Thomas sat out Sunday's meet as she suffered a right lower leg injury in Friday's NCAA Regional second round. Her status is day-to-day. She was on the sideline Sunday to cheer the Gators.
 
Florida opened the meet with five consecutive stuck uneven bar landings as UF posted a 49.575. Leanne Wong led UF with her third near-perfect 9.975 bars mark of the season. Freshman Kayla DiCello earned a 9.95 and sophomore Riley McCusker posted a 9.925.  
 
A six-for-six balance beam set for a 49.60 gave the Gators a 0.275 lead at the meet's midpoint. Wong again posted a near-perfect 9.975 to take the beam win. DiCello turned in her third consecutive beam 9.95 while McCusker and Payton Richards earned 9.9s.
 
A pair of out-of-bounds dinged the Gators' floor exercise total of 49.325. Wong's 9.925 led UF on floor while the team got a 9.9 from both DiCello and Richards.
 
Florida entered the final rotation with a slight 0.050 lead over California and a 0.250 margin for a top-two team position.
 
The Gators led off with a 9.9 by Wong and a 9.95 for Richards – equaling her collegiate vault best. That mark tied Richards for the afternoon's vault win with Arizona State's Anaya Smith. Florida tallied a 49.30 on vault and then waited to see if its 197.80 would finish among the top two.
 
California closed the meet with a meet's floor high of 49.625 to take the win at 198.075.
 
Half of the meet's top six all-arounders were Gators. Wong won her sixth all-around of 2023 at 39.775. DiCello was fourth at 39.675 and Richards set her collegiate high all-around (39.575) to take sixth.
 
SUNDAY'S EVENT WINNERS:
Vault:     9.95        Payton Richards, UF Anaya Smith, ASU
Bars:      9.975      Leanne Wong, UF
Beam:    9.975      Leanne Wong, UF
Floor:     9.975      eMjae Frazier, California
AA:        39.775    Leanne Wong, UF
 
GATOR PERFORMANCE NOTES:

• The nation's top two all-around totals in 2023 NCAA Regional action belong to Gators – Kayla DiCello (39.80 – NCAA Regional Second Round) and Leanne Wong (39.775 – NCAA Regional Final). Denver's Lynnzee Brown turned in a 39.80 in Sunday's NCAA Denver Regional Final.
• This is Wong's second meet of her Gator career with a pair of 9.975. She had near perfect 9.975s on vault and floor in the 2022 regular-season finale at NC State quad.
• Wong earned a bars mark of 9.975 in both NCAA Regional Finals she's participated in, using that mark to also win the Auburn Regional Final in 2022.
• Wong's three balance beam 9.975s of her career won the 2022 and 2023 Southeastern Conference titles and the 2023 NCAA Pittsburgh Regional Final.
• Senior Payton Richards set her all-around best (39.575), equaled her vault best (9.95) and earned her season beam high (9.9) in Sunday's meet
• A Gator has won all-around in each of UF's 13 meets this season.
• Florida's 49.60 was the sixth balance beam total of 2023 of 49.60 or higher for the team.
• Collegiate bests tonight:
  • Payton Richards: 39.575 (all-around), 9.95 (vault)

 
THEY SAID:
"Gators get to keep dancing. We've been talking since the very first day of the season about being mindful of enjoying each moment. Making the most of each moment, supporting, lifting and leaning on each other through the highs and the lows. I will have to say we had those today. We had highs, we had lows and at the end of the day the Gators kept fighting. Taking their bites one step at a time, one bite at a time and had each other's backs. Couldn't be more proud of them – they never gave up and we live to dance to the Great Eight. Super grateful to have two more weeks with this team." – Florida Head Coach Jenny Rowland
 
"I think a lot of times people put a lot of pressure on Trin(ity Thomas). Her scores matter and I think a lot of people put pressure on her. There wasn't a doubt in my mind that we couldn't be successful today without her. She honestly has instilled that into us. She lifts us up, she cares for us – she's one of the best human beings ever. But I just wanted to say how amazing everyone did. Whether Trin is competing with us or on the side, she makes the biggest difference." – Florida senior Payton Richards
 
 


 
REGIONAL DRAMA:
If it seemed that 2023 featured the tightest competition for a top-two qualifying spot, the data backs that up.
 
2023 regionals produced the slenderest average margin between Team 2 and Team 3 in the four-season history of the multi-day regional format.
 
With 2023 Team 2 & 3 margins ranging from 0.325 (UCLA over Missouri) to zero (LSU won tie-breaker over Michigan using sixth scores 237.05 - 235.725), the average margin between final day team 2 and 3 was just 0.15 in 2023.
 
That is slenderest margin since the first season for the format. The 2019 margin to claim the second position was 0.24375.
 


Playing host is also important. All 11 host teams since 2019 that advanced to the regional's final day punched their ticket to Fort Worth, Texas.

UP NEXT:
The 41^st NCAA Championships are April 13-15 in Ft. Worth, Texas.
 
Florida competes in April 13 NCAA Semifinal I at 3 p.m. ET.  California, Denver and LSU join UF in semifinal I. The second semifinal includes UCLA, Kentucky, Oklahoma and Utah.
 

April 13 – NCAA Championships Semifinal I Rotation Order
Apparatus	Vault	Bars	Beam	Floor
School	LSU	Florida	Denver	California

 
April 13   NCAA Semifinal I                3 p.m. ET              ESPN2
April 13   NCAA Semifinal II               9 p.m. ET              ESPN2
April 15   NCAA Team Final               4 p.m.  ET             ABC
 

No. 2 Florida at NCAA Pittsburgh Regional Final Team Totals
April 2, 2023 – Petersen Events Center
Team	Vault	Bars	Beam	Floor	Total
California^	49.275	49.525	49.650	49.625	198.075
Florida^	49.300	49.575	49.600	49.325	197.800
Michigan State	49.225	49.525	49.425	49.475	197.650
Arizona State	49.450	49.500	49.225	49.300	197.475