The No. 1 University of Florida gymnastics team will begin conference competition on Friday, Jan. 14 with a home dual meet against No. 16 Kentucky. The meet will begin at 7 p.m. in the Stephen C. O’Connell Center.
The first 1,000 fans at the meet will receive a “Who’s your Gator?” promotional T-shirt. Pizza Vito is giving out free admissions coupons when you eat in or order delivery by Jan. 14, and half-off admissions coupons can be found in the Jan. 13 edition of the Gainesville Sun. Fans who donate two children’s books in new or used in good condition will also receive free admissions coupons.
In last week’s season opener, Florida posted the nation’s highest score of the opening weekend of competition and it was the second-highest opening score in Gator history. The Gators moved from a preseason No. 3 spot to No. 1 with last week’s 196.925 team score against then No. 10 Nebraska’s 194.95. Kentucky jumped from No. 24 in the GymInfo preseason poll to No. 16 following a win in their season opener against Northern Illinois and then-No. 17 Illinois.
Sophomore and two-time All-American Ashanée Dickerson picked up her eighth career all-around title last Friday. She totaled 39.55 points for the win, the highest opening total in the program’s history, and placed Dickerson at No. 1 among the nation’s all arounder.
Three of Florida’s newcomers produced seven of the 24 routines used in Friday’s win. Freshman Alaina Johnson opened her career with the win on the uneven bars (9.925) and her runner-up all-around total of 39.425 places her third in the early national standings. Mackenzie Caquatto produced a 9.85 on the uneven bars to take second, and Brittney Noble shared third on vault (9.825) and was also part of Florida’s floor lineup.
The Wildcats currently hold the No. 2 team spot in the nation for floor exercise behind the Gators. Kentucky’s Andrea Mitchell claimed the No. 1 spot in the national individual floor rankings with her 9.95 routine in last Saturday’s meet. She is followed by teammate Jasmine Minion and Florida’s Dickerson tied at second.
