GAINESVILLE, Fla. — The Florida gymnastics team knew Sunday's final round of the NCAA Gainesville Regional would be its final home performance of the season at the O'Dome.
The Gators made sure it was not their final
meet of the season.
The fourth overall national seed, Florida dominated the regional championship to advance to the NCAA Championships for the 40th time in the meet's 42-year history. Florida posted a season-high score of 198.325, winning a regional championship for the fourth consecutive season and 21st time in program history.
Utah (197.575) finished second, followed by Missouri (197.325) and Michigan State (196.625).
TONIGHT'S MEET:
All of the top seeds at each of the nation's four region sites opened final competition on balance beam.
The Gators came out on point Sunday, putting up its second-highest beam total of 49.60 to take the early lead. Five marks of 9.9 or better were earned, with senior
Ellie Lazzari anchoring the set with a team high 9.95.
Sloane Blakely and
Victoria Nguyen earned 9.925s while freshmen
Skylar Draser and
Anya Pilgrim added 9.9s.
For the first time this season, all six in Florida's floor exercise lineup earned a 9.9 or better as UF turned in its third-highest total (49.65) of 2024. The two Gators who competed in Belgium last October in the FIG World Championships – Pilgrim and
Leanne Wong – led with winning marks of 9.95. Collegiate bests of 9.925 were earned by Nguyen and freshman
Danie Ferris with 9.9s by Blakely and Lazzari.
The Gators tallied a 49.575 on vault for both days of NCAA Regional action – the second-highest UF total for the season. A trio of 9.925s by Draser, Wong and Lazzari led with 9.9s by Ferris and Nguyen rounding out Florida's scoring routines. Lazzari's 9.925 set her collegiate best.
Heading into the final rotation, Florida led by 0.75 so knew a solid uneven bars set would punch its ticket to Fort Worth.
That's just what UF got, posting its second-highest uneven bars total (49.50) of 2024. Wong and Pilgrim each turned in a team-high 9.925 with Draser adding a collegiate-best 9.9.
The top four all-around scores of the day came from the Gator quad. Lazzari eclipsed her collegiate best to share the win with Pilgrim at 39.65. Right behind that duo was Nguyen and Wong, who shared third at 39.60.
| SUNDAY'S EVENT WINNERS: |
| Vault: |
9.975 |
Sage Kellerman, MSU |
| Bars: |
9.950 |
Grace McCallum, Utah |
| Beam: |
9.950 |
Ellie Lazzari, UF |
|
9.950 |
Sienna Schreiber, Missouri |
|
9.950 |
Maile O'Keefe, Utah |
| Floor: |
9.950 |
Anya Pilgrim, UF |
|
9.950 |
Leanne Wong, UF |
|
9.950 |
Kennedy Griffin, Missouri |
|
9.950 |
Jaylene Gilstrap, Utah |
|
9.950 |
Abby Paulson, Utah |
| All-Around: |
39.650 |
Ellie Lazzari, UF |
|
|
Anya Pilgrim, UF |
|
|
|
GATOR PERFORMANCE NOTES:
- Florida's 198.325 improves its previous season high of 198.225 which clinched the Southeastern Conference regular-season title at Kentucky on March 3. It was second only to Oklahoma's 198.40 in 2024 NCAA Regional competition.
- In both rounds of NCAA Regional action, Florida used seven competitors. That is the nation's slightest number in a 2024 team meet.
- Florida and Utah have met now three times in NCAA Regional action, with the teams taking the top two team spots each time. Utah won the 2004 NCAA Regional in Tucson, Ariz., with Florida winning the 2010 regional in Salt Lake City.
- Ellie Lazzari reset her collegiate best to 39.65 to win a share of her first all-around title. Her previous best of 39.525 was reached twice as a freshman in 2021
- Anya Pilgrim opened and closed her 2024 Exactech Arena appearances with all-around wins. In addition to sharing today's win with teammate Ellie Lazzari, she opened her Gator career by winning the Jan. 12 home quad
- Victoria Nguyen equaled her collegiate floor best of 9.925 for the eighth time and the fifth time as a Gator
- Skylar Draser's collegiate bars best of 9.90 today was her fourth collegiate best in NCAA Regional competition. In Friday's Second Round action, Draser turned in her previous bars high (9.85) and set her all-around best (39.50). She led off Florida's lineup in both rounds by matching her collegiate beam best (9.90).
- Freshman Danie Ferris turned in 9.9 or better routines in both events competed – vault (9.90) and floor (collegiate-best 9.925)
- Leanne Wong moves to a tie for 10th all-time among the Gators with 58 career event wins after sharing the NCAA Regional floor title
- Gators have claimed 21 Regional wins - 1982, '84, '85, '87, '97, '05, '06, '07, '08, '09, '10, '12, '13, '14, '15, '16, '17, '18, '21, '22, '24
- Florida drew 15,693 across the three days of regional action, almost double attendance of any other region site
- Collegiate bests tonight:
THEY SAID:
"It was a sweet night. Actually, it was more than sweet. It was sweet and savory – a great mix. Extremely proud of this team for leaving everything out on the floor tonight. Everybody stepped up from the very first competitor. Kudos to our beam team for setting a great standard of what tonight was going to look like. It allowed everyone to settle in and just do gymnastics. It really felt like an intrasquad for us. Nothing more, nothing less. Everyone was extremely present, calm and collected. Really proud that we get to keep dancing." – Florida Head Coach
Jenny Rowland
UP NEXT:
The 42
nd NCAA Championships are
April 18 & 20 in Fort Worth, Texas.
Florida competes in April 18 NCAA Semifinal II at 9 p.m. ET. Alabama, Oklahoma and Utah join UF in semifinal II.
The other semifinal includes Arkansas, California, LSU and Stanford.
| April 18 – NCAA Championships Semifinal I Rotation Order |
| Apparatus |
Vault |
Bars |
Beam |
Floor |
| School |
Oklahoma |
Alabama |
Utah |
Florida |
April 18 NCAA Semifinal I 4:30 p.m. ET
ESPN2
April 18 NCAA Semifinal II 9 p.m. ET
ESPN2
April 20 NCAA Team Final 4 p.m. ET
ESPN+
No. 4 Florida in NCAA Gainesville Regional Final
Team Totals |
| April 7, 2024 – Exactech Arena at the Stephen C. O'Connell Center (5,966) |
| Team |
Vault |
Bars |
Beam |
Floor |
Total |
| Florida^ |
49.575 |
49.500 |
49.600 |
49.650 |
198.325 |
| Utah^ |
49.500 |
48.975 |
49.475 |
49.625 |
197.575 |
| Missouri |
49.257 |
49.275 |
49.250 |
49.525 |
197.325 |
| Michigan State |
49.425 |
49.000 |
48.675 |
49.525 |
196.625 |
| ^advancing to NCAA Championships in Ft. Worth |
