GAINESVILLE, Fla. — The Gators gymnastics team started strong and didn't let up in Friday night's NCAA Gainesville Regional at the O'Dome.
Florida, the No. 4 national seed, won Session II with a 197.925 team score, advancing to Sunday's regional final along with runner-up Missouri. The Tigers edged third-place Georgia, 197.525-197.425. Iowa State finished fourth with a 196.575.
Florida and Missouri join Utah and Michigan State in Sunday's regional championship at Exactech Arena/O'Connell Center. The meet is scheduled to start at 5 p.m., with the top two teams advancing to the NCAA Championships in two weeks in Fort Worth, Texas. Florida's score Friday night was better than either Utah's (197.825) or Michigan State's (197.475) in Friday's Session I.
Tickets to Sunday's NCAA Regional Final
The Gators, hosting an NCAA Regional for the first time since 2017, bounced back impressively after their fourth-place finish at the SEC Championships in New Orleans last month. They showed significant improvement in three of the four events, with their 49.300 on beam Friday night being the only score lower than their SEC Championships performance (49.450 on beam).
Tonight's Meet:
A blind draw determined the competition order for today's regional competition. The Gators opened with five consecutive vault marks of 9.9 or better. Senior
Victoria Nguyen shared the event win at 9.95 while freshman
Skylar Draser started the lineup off with a 9.925. The Gators got 9.9s from
Anya Pilgrim and
Danie Ferris plus junior
Leanne Wong.
When Pilgrim stuck the landing on her half in half out dismount, the Exactech Arena knew a good score was coming. Her collegiate best 9.975 led UF on uneven bars to share the win with another freshman, Georgia's Lily Smith. Wong anchored with a 9.9 to finish a 49.30 set that was tested by an early lineup miss. In just her third appearance in the Gators bars lineup, Draser turned in a collegiate-best 9.85.
Florida led Georgia by 0.125 at the midpoint.
A six-for-six balance beam set sent Florida into the final rotation with a 0.30 lead over Missouri. Senior
Ellie Lazzari anchored with a 9.95 – second only this season to the 9.975 she opened the campaign with in January. Three other marks of 9.9 or better helped Florida equal its second-highest total (49.575) of the season – 9.925 by Pilgrim and Wong plus Draser's collegiate-best 9.90 to start the lineup off.
Four marks of 9.9 or better helped the Gators tally the day's top floor total (49.475). Nguyen and Wong led the team with 9.925 with
Sloane Blakely and Lazzari each earning 9.9s.
A season-high five Gators competed as all-arounders Friday. Wong was third overall at 39.65 and Nguyen was fourth (39.55). Draser was sixth with a collegiate-best 39.50.
EVENT WINNERS:
Scores are combined from both NCAA Second Round sessions to determine event winners:
| Vault |
Victoria Nguyen, Florida |
9.950 |
|
Emma Silberman, Maryland |
9.950 |
| Bars: |
Anya Pilgrim, Florida |
9.975 |
|
Lily Smith, Georgia |
9.950 |
| Beam: |
Abby Paulson, Utah |
9.950 |
| Floor: |
Jaylene Gilstrap, Utah |
9.950 |
| All-Around |
Lily Smith, Georgia |
39.675 |
|
Nikki Smith, Utah |
39.675 |
GATOR PERFORMANCE NOTES:
- Have yourself a night Skylar Draser. Started off the meet with 9.925 on vault (0.025 away from UF high) and set or equaled collegiate bests on bars (9.85), beam (9.90) and all-around (39.50).
- Victoria Nguyen led off the floor lineup with a 9.925 – the seventh time she's earned her career high and fourth time in 2024
- Florida's 49.575 on vault is the team's second-highest of season and ties for 10th in program history.
- Take a look at freshman Anya Pilgrim's collegiate apparatus bests: 9.95 (vault), 9.975 (bars, beam), 10.0 (floor)
- Leanne Wong has turned in a 9.9 or better bars and beam marks in last seven performances
- Five all-arounders in a single meet is the most for the Gators since the 2009 season. That is the national high for all-arounders in a single 2024 meet.
- Seven Gators competed tonight, which is the nation's slightest number in a 2024 team meet.
- Collegiate bests tonight:
COACH ROWLAND SAID:
"We advance and have the opportunity to keep doing what we love. It was a night of peaks and valleys. And at the same time, the peaks were highs and valleys weren't too low. The Gators continue to remain calm, stay focused and not lose momentum. This is typically a competition where nobody's gonna have a perfect meet. It's all about who's going to be able to react, control your emotions and be able to keep moving on with the least amount of mistakes as possible. So extremely proud of the Gators and everybody stepping up." – Florida Head Coach
Jenny Rowland
UP NEXT:
NCAA Regional Finals are contested in four sites across the nation. The Fayetteville and Ann Arbor regions hold team finals on Saturday, April 6. Final round action for the Gainesville and Berkeley regions is scheduled for Sunday, April 7. The top two teams in each regional final advance to the
April 18-20 NCAA Championships in Ft. Worth, Texas.
2024 Regional Sites – April 3-April 7
| Region |
Teams Advancing to Region Final |
| April 6 – Final Round |
|
| Ann Arbor, Mich. (Michigan) @ 5 p.m. ET ESPN+ |
Alabama, Ohio State, Oklahoma, Penn State |
| Fayetteville, Ark. (Arkansas) @ 6 p.m. ET ESPN+ |
Arkansas, LSU, Kentucky, Minnesota |
|
|
| April 7 – Final Round |
|
| Gainesville, Fla. (Florida) at 5 p.m. ET ESPN+ |
Florida, Michigan State, Missouri, Utah |
| Berkeley, Calif. (California) at 8 p.m. ET ESPN+ |
Arizona State, Denver, TBA, TBA |
No. 4 Florida in NCAA Gainesville Regional Second Round – Session II
Team Totals |
| April 5, 2024 – Exactech Arena at Stephen C. O'Connell Center |
| Team |
Vault |
Bars |
Beam |
Floor |
Total |
| Florida^ |
49.575 |
49.300 |
49.575 |
49.475 |
197.925 |
| Missouri^ |
49.375 |
49.475 |
49.375 |
49.300 |
197.525 |
| Georgia |
49.300 |
49.375 |
49.450 |
49.300 |
197.425 |
| Iowa State |
49.050 |
48.975 |
49.350 |
49.200 |
196.575 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
| NCAA Gainesville Regional Second Round – Session I |
| Utah^ |
49.225 |
49.575 |
49.600 |
49.425 |
197.825 |
| Michigan State^ |
49.450 |
49.350 |
49.300 |
49.375 |
197.475 |
| Maryland |
49.175 |
49.050 |
49.125 |
49.000 |
196.350 |
| Towson |
49.075 |
48.400 |
48.500 |
49.075 |
195.050 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
| ^ advance to Sunday's Regional Final |
|
|
|
