DULUTH,
Ga. – Right from the start on Friday night there was something
different about Florida's gymnastics team.
The
confidence oozed and smiles beamed as the Gators entered the Gwinnett Center through
a fog machine. If the Gators felt pressure, they sure weren't showing it.
Once
Session II of the NCAA Championships began – three berths to Saturday's Super
Six were at stake – the Gators pounced on their prey.
In
this instance, they started on the vault and did so with two freshmen leading
off: Rachel Spicer and Kiersten Wang.
Spicer
and Wang each nailed their routines and the scores only got better from there
as upperclassmen Ashanée Dickerson, Alaina Johnson, Marissa King, and freshman
Kytra Hunter each scored 9.90 or higher on vault.
The
Gators' final score (49.575) was on the vault was a program-best for NCAA
competition.
The
tone was set.
Florida
followed its stellar opening with a program-best score on the uneven bars at
the NCAA championship site.
"They
came out with such fight,'' Florida coach Rhonda Faehn said. "I loved the
enthusiasm, the energy and the focus."
If
what happened a year ago in Cleveland ever weighed on the Gators' minds, it
weighed no more than a feather. The Gators finished with 197.650 points, a
school record for an NCAA meet.
Florida
maintained a slim lead throughout the first three events until Randy Stageberg
and King drifted out of bounds on the floor.
"Other
than that, the team competed really aggressively, had a lot of fun, started out
strong a vault and just carried that momentum on through,'' Faehn said.
The
out-of-bounds calls allowed Alabama to officially claim the Session II title by
the slimmest of margins: 197.675 to 197.650.
Hunter
said they were a little disappointed in the final outcome but not enough to
lose any sleep over.
Still,
both Florida and Alabama were better than Session I winner UCLA (197.400),
which advanced to the Super Six along with Utah and Stanford. Arkansas was the
final team from Session II, setting up an SEC vs. Pac-12 showdown for the
national title.
More
than anything, Friday was about redemption. The Gators struggled early in last
year's NCAA semifinals and failed to advance to the Super Six for only the
third time in Faehn's 10 seasons.
They
talked all season about how this year was going to be different. They were
healthier, more confident, more focused and had a deeper roster infused with
the arrival of another No. 1 recruiting class.
They
went out and proved it on Friday as Hunter won the individual all-around
national title and each of the 10 athletes who saw the floor did their jobs.
And
did them well.
"I
just kind of stayed in my bubble and the team's bubble,'' Hunter said. "We
had fun. We fed off each other."
Hunter
said the Gators were so loose that they danced in the locker room during their
bye but never took their eye off the prize.
That
goal – advancing to Saturday and earning a shot at joining UCLA, Alabama,
Georgia and Utah as the only schools to ever win an NCAA title – has been there
since the day they started practice last fall.
They
took a step they had to take Friday, missteps and all.
"We
had a few mistakes, but tomorrow is the day to fix those mistakes,'' Hunter
said. "This is the day for the mistakes."
Once
her press conference was over and the lights started to go in the arena, Faehn
gave her final stamp of approval on Friday's performance.
The
Gators weren't perfect, but they were about as good as they have been all
season.
If
they can duplicate their performance in the Super Six, that first national
championship might become a reality.
"They
don't get caught up thinking outside what's going on,'' Faehn said. "It's
only about the Florida Gators. They are mentally on a different path and
different page that we've ever had."
"It
was a very good warm-up for [Saturday]."
