GAINESVILLE, Fla. — Florida opened its season Friday night with a big performance, rolling to a quad-meet victory behind the second-highest season-opening score in program history and the current national leader at the Exactech Arena at the Stephen C. O'Connell Center.
The preseason No. 3 Gators posted a 197.725 to win Kids Night presented by GFL Environmental, finishing just shy of the program's opening-meet record of 197.75 set in 2023. North Carolina, ranked No. 24 in the preseason, finished second with a 196.675, followed by Temple (193.875) and West Virginia (193.45) in front of a crowd of 7,237.
Florida gymnasts equaled 2026 national highs to win three meet event titles. Sophomore Ly Bui equaled her collegiate best of 9.925 to win her first vault title. Senior All-American Selena Harris-Miranda set the season's high of 9.95 for uneven bars and matched the high of 9.975 for beam.
TONIGHT'S MEET
Florida led the meet throughout, including turning in a 2026 national highs for team (197.725), vault (49.425) and uneven bars (49.475). A trio of Gators turned in marks of 9.9 or better on uneven bars (Selena Harris-Miranda 9.95; Riley McCusker and Kayla DiCello 9.9). The other events saw a pair of Gators open the season at 9.9 or better:
Vault: Ly Bui (9.925) and Selena Harris-Miranda (9.90)
Beam: Harris-Miranda (9.975) and DiCello (9.90)
Floor: eMjae Frazier (9.925) and Jayla Booker (9.90)
Competing Again
Florida saw two key gymnasts make long-awaited returns to competition Friday as Skye Blakely and Kayla DiCello appeared in multiple events for the Gators.
Both Blakely and DiCello suffered Achilles tears at the 2024 U.S. Olympic Trials, injuries that ended their bids for spots on the U.S. Olympic team after entering the summer as Paris favorites.
Blakely competed only on uneven bars for Florida last season while continuing her recovery. She returned to elite competition in the summer of 2025, winning the uneven bars title and finishing second on beam at the Xfinity U.S. Championships. She earned a place on her third World Championships roster, where she competed on bars and beam at the October championships in Indonesia and advanced to the uneven bars final, finishing fourth.
Friday marked Blakely's first competitive floor exercise since the 2024 U.S. Championships — a span of 587 days. She scored a 9.875 on floor, made her first appearance in a collegiate beam lineup (9.85) and added a 9.875 on uneven bars.
DiCello's return followed an even longer absence. After earning five All-America honors and Southeastern Conference Freshman of the Year recognition in 2023, she took a gap year to pursue an Olympic berth. Her absence extended another season as both Achilles required surgery. Friday was DiCello's first collegiate competition in 1,001 days, dating back to the 2023 NCAA Championships team final. She competed in three events, scoring a 9.825 on vault and 9.90 on both uneven bars and beam.
Selena Harris-Miranda's 9.975 matches the second-highest beam score in a season opener in program history. She joins Ellie Lazzari (2024) and Trinity Thomas (2020). Thomas set event record with a 10.0 to open in 2023 beam action.
Selena Harris-Miranda's9.95 matches the program's second-highest bars mark in a season-opener. She has some good company in second, as two of Florida's NCAA bars champions – Trinity Thomas (3 times) and Leanne Wong (2x) – also opened a season with a 9.95 bars mark. Melanie Sinclair set the high season-opening bars mark of 9.975 to win the 2007 Super Six Challenge in Fayetteville, Ark.
The Gators first competitor of the season – sophomore Ly Bui – started off with posting the winning vault mark of 9.925. That score equals her collegiate high for the third time and also marks her first collegiate event win.
Friday's crowd of 7,237 is the 10th largest home opener in the program's 54 seasons.
THEY SAID: On Gators' performance:
"I would say the Gators showed up and showed out today. That was their intention this week. And really we had 28 routines, and we had 28 hit routines. That's not too bad. We intentionally didn't have too many all arounders. We ended up having one tonight, and just a lot of a lot of new faces on different events. Extremely proud of this team for coming together and just truly supporting each other, celebrating the wins tonight. It was a solid performance from the Gators, and really excited to see where the season is going to go." – Florida Head Coach Jenny Rowland
On her return to floor tonight:
"I was really excited. It's been a while. So just really happy. I really love my floor team this year. So just being able to go out in front of a home crowd and perform for them and with my team, they always cheer me on and allow me to have fun on the floor. Just really happy. I thought I handled it really well, and I think it's a great way to start off this season." – sophomore Skye Blakely
On her goals for her final collegiate season:
"We have some big goals as a team. That's really what I'm looking forward to. Really the biggest goal is to really be one with our team and to win every meet together. I just really want it to be like this (clasps both hands together tightly). I think that's my biggest goal."- senior All-American Selena Harris-Miranda Sisters Karleigh and Kayla DiCello both competed in Friday's season opener. Photo: Madilyn Gemme
UP NEXT:
Florida starts Southeastern Conference action with a home meet next Friday versus preseason No. 8 Alabama. The Tide are the first of four teams that advanced to the 2025 NCAA Championships site on the Gators' schedule. It is also the first of seven regular-season televised meets as Friday's meet airs live on ESPN2.
Alabama also opened its 2026 season tonight with a 197.475 – 196.55 win at preseason No. 19 Clemson.
