GAINESVILLE, Fla. – Preseason No. 3 Gators gymnastics opened 2025 with a narrow home quad win versus No. 11 Michigan State, No. 23 Nebraska and Northern Illinois. The GNV & Club Gym Night presented by Cox was held Friday evening in front of 6,745 at the Exactech Arena at the Stephen C. O'Connell Center.
Florida posted a 196.675, just edging MSU (196.65). Nebraska was third (195.60), followed by NIU (191.95).
Florida gymnasts equaled 2025 national highs to sweep the meet event titles. Sophomore
Danie Ferris equaled her collegiate best of 9.95 to win vault. Senior All-American
Leanne Wong used 9.95s to win uneven bars, balance beam and floor exercise and matched the 2025 high of 39.725 to claim her 15
th career all-around title. That moves Wong to No. 10 on Florida's Career All-Around Wins list.
TONIGHT'S MEET
Florida led the meet throughout, including turning in a 2025 national high 49.50 on balance beam. A trio of Gators turned in marks of 9.9 or better on both uneven bars (
Sloane Blakely 9.90;
Anya Pilgrim 9.925; Wong 9.95) and beam (
Sloane Blakely 9.925, Wong 9.90;
Selena Harris-Miranda 9.90).
The 0.675 lead three-rotation lead dwindled when Florida was forced to count a miss and a pair of out of bounds toward its floor exercise total. The Gators swept the top three floor positions, led by a pair of All-American Gator seniors –
Sloane Blakely (9.90) and Wong (9.95) plus freshman
Taylor Clark (9.875) as the Gators held off the closing Spartans on the final event.
BLAKELY SISTERS
Sloane Blakely led off the Gators uneven bars lineup and her younger sister, Skye, made her Gator debut in the fourth position. It was the first pair of sisters in the same Gator line up since Florida won its second NCAA team title in 2014.
Both Bridgette and Mackenzie Caquatto competed vault and uneven bars in the final team meet of the 2014 season.
GATOR DEBUTS:
Four made their UF competitive debut Friday – three freshmen and transfer
Selena Harris-Miranda.
COMPETING AGAIN
Freshman
Skye Blakely returned to competition a day shy of 200 since suffering an Achilles tear during the final training day at the 2024 U.S. Olympic Trials. A member of the U.S.'s 2022 and 2023 World Championship gold medal teams, Blakely was considered a favorite to be part of the U.S. roster in Paris.
She underwent surgery on July 3 and then soon began her return to the sport she's been participating in since age 3.
"It was a couple of weeks after surgery, I knew I wanted to be back by the first meet of the season,"
Skye Blakely said. "Small steps forward led to getting closer and closer to having the full bar routine. But I think when I really knew in my head was last Friday [with first landing on hard surface]. I've been working really hard and it's been coming together nicely. [When I hit that landing], I knew I was ready to be out there."
GATOR PERFORMANCE NOTES:
- Danie Ferris' 9.95 matches the nation's high vault mark of this young season. Three others – LSU's Aleah Finnegan, Michigan State's Nikki Smith and Oklahoma's Keira Wells - opened last weekend with a 9.95 vault. It is Ferris' second vault win and equals her collegiate best.
- Wong opened two seasons with a 9.95 on uneven bars – which equals the second-highest bars mark in a Florida season opener. She also turned in a 9.95 in the 2023 opener to share the title with then teammate Trinity Thomas. Three of the defending NCAA uneven bars champion's 23 bars wins came in season openers.
- Two senior Gator All-Americans added to Florida's top-10 season-opening balance beam marks. Wong's 9.95 shares the No. 4 spot and Sloane Blakely's 9.925 shares No. 9. It is Blakely's second appearance on that list, as she opened her career in 2022 with a collegiate best 9.95 beam mark. Wong's 9.95 shares the 2025 high with Oregon State's Jade Carey, OU's Lily Pederson and Utah's Camie Winger.
RECORDS: Florida (3-0, 0-0 SEC), MSU (3-1), Nebraska (1-5), NIU (0-3)
THE SERIES: Florida leads MSU 14-0, Nebraska (24-10) and NIU (2-0).
NATIONAL RANK:
Florida – Florida is No. 3 in the preseason
Women's Collegiate Gymnastics Association preseason poll.
THEY SAID:
On Gators' performance:
"It was great to be back in the O'Dome with Gator Nation. This team has worked really hard this preseason. Very intentional, very focused and there's so much depth, so much talent on this team. It's going to be a lot of fun being able to see new faces here and there and Gator Nation got a glimpse of that tonight. The future looks really bright. Extremely proud of this team.
"It was a night to shine. That was the intention of the week for the Gators, and they did a fantastic job. Great starting point and of course, we didn't leave everything out there, which is okay. It was the first meet of the year and our team is just raring to go. We'll get back in the gym and keep tweaking. We don't need big changes. We don't need big things changed, just little tweaks here and there. So extremely proud of this team." – Florida Head Coach
Jenny Rowland
On her winning vault:
"I will say definitely today I was nervous going into the first meet and knowing I was just doing vault was a little nerve wracking. But when I stepped up, I tried to think about something we talk about a lot. It's an opportunity to be there, to step up on that runway and have a chance to perform to show everybody what I can do. To think about it like that really helped me. This is my chance to show all the hard work I've been putting into it. Hopefully the other events will come as looking for floor soon." – sophomore
Danie Ferris
Winning all-around matching nation's early season high:
"I'm really thankful for this opportunity to compete for the Gators again and just to start off strong this season.
"Right before I got on floor, I thought 'This is my last first routine in the O'Dome'. So I thought, 'All right, here we go!'" – senior All-American
Leanne Wong
UP NEXT:
Florida starts Southeastern Conference action at defending NCAA champion LSU next Friday. The Tigers (1-0) compete Saturday at the Sprouts Farmers Market Collegiate Quad versus No. 1 Oklahoma, No. 6 California and No. 4 Utah in Oklahoma City, Okla.
When: Friday, Jan. 17 at 7:30 p.m. ET
Venue: Pete Maravich Assembly Center
TV: ESPN 2
Tickets: $25 - $15
Purchase tickets to future home meets at
FloridaGators.com/Tickets
Preseason No. 3 Florida versus Michigan State, Nebraska, Northern Illinois
Final Team Totals |
| Jan. 10, 2025 ● Exactech Arena at the Stephen C. O'Connell Center (6,745) |
| Team |
Vault |
Bars |
Beam |
Floor |
Total |
| Florida |
49.200 |
49.325 |
49.50 |
48.650 |
196.675 |
| Michigan State |
49.025 |
49.425 |
49.300 |
48.900 |
196.650 |
| Nebraska |
48.825 |
48.950 |
49.175 |
48.650 |
195.600 |
| Northern Illinois |
48.700 |
46.925 |
48.100 |
48.225 |
191.950 |
