Florida (5-0, 2-0 Southeastern Conference) beat out No. 13 N.C. State (1-2) and No. 23 Penn State (1-4, 0-2 Big Ten) with its score which stands 12th all-time for the Gator program. The Nittany Lions finished in second (195.3) and the Wolfpack (194.075) came in third.
It’s the fourth time in as many meets UF has posted a 196 or better. The team entered the meet with three of the nation’s top five total scores of this season, which is now in its fourth weekend of competition.
“Tonight, it felt like all four events were balanced,” UF Coach Rhonda Faehn said. She also noted how calm her team was. “They’re more relaxed; they’re trusting each other.”
The home win came in front of 8,272 fans—the fifth-largest gymnastics crowd in school history—at the Gators Link to Pink meet. The “pink” meets are part of a SEC initiative to raise awareness about breast cancer and all league team will compete in a pink meet this season. The three teams put aside their school colors and wore pink to show their support in the fight against breast cancer.
“The crowd was awesome,” UF sophomore Marissa King said. “Link to Pink was my favorite meet last season.”
Minutes before the opening, Pam Clevenger, a two-time breast cancer survivor, spoke to the crowd.
UF opened on vault and set the tone early.
Starting with a 9.8 by Dali Lemezan, the Gators never slipped and rounded out the event with a 9.95 by freshman Alaina Johnson and King received a 9.9 for her first Tsukahara one and a half layout vault of the season. Just like that, Florida led with a 49.425—the eighth highest vault total in program history—more than five-tenths of a point ahead.
Young guns bolstered the uneven bars lineup to keep the pace. The Gators closed out the bar rotation with resounding back-to-back collegiate-bests of 9.925 and 9.95 from freshmen Mackenzie Caquatto and Johnson, respectively. It’s the third time this season Johnson has scored 9.925 or above on bars.
UF led by more than one point after two events.
“The team just seems to be getting better and better,” King said. “Huge congratulations to our freshmen, because our freshmen definitely stepped up this competition. They did phenomenally well.”
| Florida Event Winners Friday | ||
| Vault | Alaina Johnson | 9.95 |
| Uneven Bars | Alaina Johnson | 9.95 |
| Balance Beam | Ashanée Dickerson | 9.975 |
| Floor Exercise | Alaina Johnson | 9.925 |
| All-Around | Alaina Johnson | 39.60 |
Still, the Gators hardly slowed on balance beam, opening with a 9.85 and 9.825 by Elizabeth Mahlich and Randy Stageberg, respectively.
A miss on beam put the focus on the Florida’s final two performers and both responded with collegiate-bests. Caquatto posted a 9.90 and Dickerson’s exclamation-point routine in the anchor position had fans begging for a 10.0.
Only one judge acquiesced. The other judge awarded Dickerson a 9.95.
With the meet in hand, the Gators finished strong on floor exercise. Again, it was the freshman tandem of Caquatto and Johnson that packed the hardest punch. Macko, as she is nicknamed, débuted her floor routine with a 9.9.
“I had more numbers under my belt for each routine,” said Caquatto, who dedicated her floor routine to her grandmother, Jeanette Johnston, who battled breast cancer a few years ago. “Getting out there and competing floor was just an amazing feeling.”
“Knowing in the back of my head that I was doing this for her and also just for everyone else out there who has been diagnosed with breast cancer,” Caquatto said. “There was a little more meaning behind this meet and you did it more for them - more than your school, your team, yourself. Just something else that dug really deep in my heart and helped me do as well as I did.”
Johnson ended the meet with a 9.925. She wasn’t originally penciled in to compete all-around, but her success on the first three events prompted Assistant Coach Adrian Burde to ask her if she wanted to do floor.
“I got my mind ready and my body ready to compete floor,” Johnson said. “I’ve done floor so many times, so I was fine just going out there and doing it.”
The pink-clad crowd also was a boost for Johnson.
“I love big crowds,” Johnson said. “I’m used to big crowds from competing at championships and big crowds don’t really bother me. They get me pumped up and looking up in the stands and seeing all the people wearing pink and supporting the cause just made it even more exciting.”
The Gators only had one all-around competitor, and it’s all they needed. Johnson won her first collegiate all-around title with a 39.6 – the highest total by a Gator this season. She nabbed the event title in three of the four events she participated: vault, uneven bars and floor.
Dickerson claimed the beam title with her near-perfect score. Faehn was thrilled when the sophomore stuck her double-back dismount cold for the second time this season.
“Phenomenal, once again. Her beam dismount is the hardest dismount being thrown in college gymnastics,” Faehn said. “If we were worried about the score all the time I could have her do something easier to stick, but she wants to be true to her natural power and show that she can do this.”
The Gators continue their home stand when they play host to No. 6 Alabama on Friday, Feb. 4. Meet time is set for 7 p.m. in the O’Connell Center.
