BATON ROUGE, La. –Just a tenth of a point gave No. 2 LSU the win over No. 7 Florida gymnastics in Friday's Southeastern Conference opener for both teams.
LSU won at 197.55 while Florida turned in a season-best 197.45. In the last 35 meetings, a half a point or less decided 23 contests. Friday's meet was the ninth of the last 27 that a tenth or less was the winning difference.
This is the seventh consecutive season that the Florida-LSU dual is the nation's top meet of weekend. Including Friday's meet, 10 of the 13 meetings since 2013 stood as the nation's top dual of the weekend.
A Gator won a share of three of Friday's event titles. Senior
Sloane Blakely's floor exercise routine earned a 10.0 in one judge's eyes. Her final floor score of 9.95 shared the win. On the next and final rotation,
Sloane Blakely matched her collegiate best of 9.95 to tie for the balance beam win. Junior transfer
Selena Harris-Miranda tied for win at 39.50 in her first all-around performance as a Gator.
Event winners:
Aleah Finnegan, LSU 9.95 Vault
Konnor McClain, LSU 9.925 Uneven Bars
Sloane Blakely, UF 9.95 Balance Beam
Haleigh Bryant , LSU 9.95 Balance Beam
Sloane Blakely, UF 9.95 Floor Exercise
Aleah Finnegan, LSU 9.95 Floor Exercise
Selena Harris-Miranda, UF 39.50 All-Around
Aleah Finnegan, LSU 39.50 All-Around
TONIGHT'S MEET
Some uneven bars handstand issues and steps on landings dinged Florida's marks on its opening event.
Leanne Wong led with a 9.85 followed by 9.825 from
Anya Pilgrim and
Selena Harris-Miranda.
Skye Blakely also edged her season best up to 9.775 in her second performance since tearing her Achilles tendon at the 2024 U.S. Olympic Trials training day.
Season-high vault marks from five Gators cut into the Tigers lead, as UF trailed by 0.175 at the midway point. Pilgrim got the lineup started off at 9.925, a mark Wong equaled as both shared second overall in the final vault standings. Harris-Miranda (9.90) also was among evening's five gymnasts with a vault of 9.9 or better.
Sloane Blakey's 9.95 led the Gators on floor exercise. She was one of three Gators who raised or equaled their season floor bests, joining
Victoria Nguyen (9.9) and
Taylor Clark (9.875). Two Gators made their 2025 floor debuts, with
Danie Ferris earning 9.875 and Harris-Miranda posting a 9.90 in her first UF floor performance. Florida greatly improved on its Jan. 10 event total, tallying the nation's fifth-highest floor total of 49.50 Friday.
Sloane Blakely equaled her collegiate best with her second 9.95 of the evening to share the balance beam win. Her performance was followed by a pair of 9.9s by Pilgrim and Nguyen. The Gators cut the Tigers two-tenths three-event lead in half in the final rotation.
Event winners:
Aleah Finnegan, LSU 9.95 Vault
Konnor McClain, LSU 9.925 Uneven Bars
Sloane Blakely, UF 9.95 Balance Beam
Haleigh Bryant , LSU 9.95 Balance Beam
Sloane Blakely, UF 9.95 Floor Exercise
Aleah Finnegan, LSU 9.95 Floor Exercise
Selena Harris-Miranda, UF 39.50 All-Around
Aleah Finnegan, LSU 39.50 All-Around
GATOR PERFORMANCE NOTES:
- Florida's 197.45 improves its season best team total of this young season. It is the nation's seventh high total of 2025.
- Florida's team total of 197.45 is the second-highest ever for the program in a season road-opener. The top road opener total of 197.50 was set at LSU in 2019 and equaled at Auburn in 2021.
- Two season-best event totals for the Gators Friday: vault (49.45) and floor exercise (49.50).
- Sloane Blakely upped her career event titles total to 15 in winning her fifth beam title and fourth for floor. She is the first SEC gymnast to win at least a share of a dual meet floor title in the PMAC since 2023 when UF's Trinity Thomas and Kayla DiCello shared the floor win with LSU's KJ Johnson at 9.95.
- The 9.95 beam mark equaled Sloane Blakely's collegiate best for the sixth time. She closed the 2024 season with a 9.95 on beam in the NCAA Team Final.
- Selena Harris-Miranda won a share of the meet title in her Gator all-around debut. The All-American transferred to UF this summer after competing for UCLA as a freshman and sophomore. The win is the 45th event title of her collegiate career and the 13th all-around win.
- Tonight's attendance of 13,515 is No. 3 among Pete Maravich Assembly Center gymnastics crowds.
- Three Gators equaled or set collegiate bests Friday:
FLORIDA COACH JENNY ROWLAND SAID:
"It's always a battle when we come to LSU. So much fun, so much adrenaline and excitement. Really proud of the Gators for their performance tonight. We started off a little conservative, a little hesitant on our first event, but truly on the second, third, fourth rotations, they just kept doing what they do in the gym day after day.
"Really proud of their strength, their courage and their commitment to continue fighting all the way through the competition. I love finishing on beam here and I love to see this team just rise to the occasion and fight. Couldn't have been more proud of that beam team tonight for their fight and courage. They'll be ready to do it all over again next Friday." – Florida Head Coach
Jenny Rowland
RECORDS:
Florida (3-1, 0-1 SEC)
LSU (4-1, 1-0 SEC)
THE SERIES:
Florida leads LSU 78-47
NATIONAL RANK:
Florida – No. 7 in the
Jan. 13 Road to Nationals standings
LSU – No. 2
UP NEXT:
Florida returns home next Friday to face No. 15 Georgia for the Ninth Annual Alumni Night presented by Publix.
Georgia (3-1, 0-0 SEC) defeated Boise State 196.825 – 193.60 tonight in Athens, Ga.
Meet: No. 7 Florida vs. No. 15 Georgia
When: Friday, Jan. 24 at 6:15 p.m. ET
Venue: Exactech Arena at the Stephen C. O'Connell Center
TV: SEC Network
Stream: SEC Network
Tickets: $15-$30
No. 7 Florida at No. 2 LSU
Final Team Totals |
| Jan. 17, 2025 ● Pete Maravich Assembly Center (13,515) |
| Team |
Vault |
Bars |
Beam |
Floor |
Total |
| LSU |
49.350 |
49.300 |
49.525 |
49.375 |
197.550 |
| Florida |
49.450 |
49.025 |
49.475 |
49.500 |
197.450 |
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