Florida Gators

What Happened

FORT WORTH, Texas — The University of Florida gymnastics team failed to vault into the NCAA Finals on Thursday.

The Gators can blame their performance on the vault in the NCAA Gymnastics Semifinals at Dickies Arena.

Florida (197.2000) finished third behind Southeastern Conference rivals Oklahoma (197.5500) and Missouri (197.3000). The top two teams qualified for the NCAA Finals on Saturday afternoon, along with the two top teams from Thursday night's Semifinal Session II.

The Gators were in second place behind Oklahoma entering the third rotation. That's when Florida turned in a season-low vault score of 49.0750 at the worst possible time, allowing Missouri to move into second place heading to the final rotation.

The Gators still had a shot to advance until their final rotation of the season, a 9.8625 by senior Riley McCusker on the uneven bars. However, Missouri's Helen Hu posted a 9.9875 on beam to clinch the Tigers' spot in Saturday's finals.

No. 2 Oklahoma and No. 7 Missouri claimed the top two team finishes in the day's opening semifinal to move ahead to the team final. The Sooners topped the semifinal at 197.55 and Missouri was second at 197.30. The Gators were just a tenth away at 197.20. No. 11 Alabama rounded out semifinal I results at 196.825.

Selena Harris-Miranda posted Florida's best score of the meet with a 9.9500 on beam. She posted a 9.95 or better beam score in four of the Gators' last six meets. Her 9.95 equals the highest by a Gator in NCAA semifinal beam action, joining Mackenzie Caquatto (2013) and Bridget Sloan (2016)

What it Means

The last time Florida didn't advance to NCAA Team Final action from semifinal competition? That would be 2011 in Cleveland, which is also the last time the Gators opened semifinal action on the balance beam.  The Gators did not advance out of the regional in 2019, but in every season since 2011 when UF was in the NCAA Championships, they moved ahead to the final round until Thursday.
 

In the Spotlight

Harris-Miranda was Florida's top performer on Thursday, finishing third in the all-around with a 39.4625. Harris-Miranda capped her first season at Florida with a reminder of why she was so highly sought after leaving UCLA after her sophomore season.
 

Staggering Statistic

Senior Leanne Wong is one of the most-decorated performers in program history and will one day be inducted into the UF Athletic Hall of Fame. However, Thursday was not Wong's day in her final collegiate performance. She finished eighth in the all-around competition with a 39.2375, well below her typical score.
 

Gator All-Americans

Five Gators earned eight All-America honors in Thursday's NCAA semifinal competition.
 
Three Gators – Alyssa Arana, Gabby Disidore and Danie Ferris – earn their first All-America honors. Leanne Wong ups her total of All-America honors earned in NCAA action to 14 and 29 overall. Harris-Miranda now has seven All-America honors in NCAA competition as her overall total now stands at 15.
 

2025 Gator All-Americans
Name	Event	Semi II Score	All-America team
Alyssa Arana	Uneven Bars	9.9375	First
Gabby Disidore	Floor Exercise	9.8875	Second
Danie Ferris	Vault	9.900	First
Selena Harris-Miranda	Balance Beam	9.950	First
	Floor Exercise	9.8875	Second
	All-Around	39.4625	First
Leanne Wong	Uneven Bars	9.9375	First
	All-Around	39.2375	Second

 

Coach Rowland Said:

"There is a lot to process from today's performance. . I think first and foremost, is I'm so proud to be a Gator. I am always proud of my team and how they carry themselves, what they do, how they do it, and with the passion that they have.
 
"Tonight was not the Gators night. It did not go the way we expected it to go and it hurts. It's hard - there's a lot of tears. We have to remember that one meet doesn't define who we are, all the good that this team accomplished, all the memories that this team has accomplished this year and for the past four or five years for seniors and super seniors.
 
"We really don't have a weak event. We were a little tight today. Obviously, on the first two events, would love to have been a little bit looser, but they fought through and did a good job. We couldn't get that momentum going on vault and moving into bars, I just feel like we worked too hard. They fought, they tried. And I think, sometimes a little too hard. A little too much fight just changes the rhythm. That's how tonight went." – Florida Head Coach Jenny Rowland
 

 

Up Next

Florida's season is over and the Gators can only watch Saturday's NCAA Finals.
 

No. 3 Florida at NCAA Semifinal I Team Totals
April 17, 2025 – Dickies Arena
Team	Vault	Bars	Beam	Floor	Total
Oklahoma^	49.2750	49.4000	49.3500	49.5250	197.550
Missouri^	49.1250	49.4500	49.5000	49.2250	197.300
Florida	49.0750	49.4750	49.3000	49.3500	197.200
Alabama	49.1250	49.1625	49.2000	49.3375	196.825
NCAA Semifinal II
Utah^	49.3375	49.650	49.2125	49.5625	197.7625
UCLA^	49.2375	49.4250	49.55	49.525	197.7375
LSU	49.375	49.3250	49.325	49.500	197.525
Michigan State	49.3875	49.4500	49.1625	49.3625	197.3625
^ advance to Saturday's NCAA Team Final