The No. 3 Gator
gymnastics team (1-0, 0-0 SEC) opened the 2013 season Friday with a win over
Ball State (0-1, 0-0 MAC) in front of a Stephen C. O’Connell Center crowd of
3,768. The Gators matched their third-highest season opening total, 196.575, to
take the win over the Cardinals, who earned a 190.55.
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Florida’s
Event Winners Friday
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Vault
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Ashanée
Dickerson
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9.925
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Bridget
Sloan
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9.925
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Uneven Bars
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Kytra
Hunter
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9.900
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Balance
Beam
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Mackenzie
Caquatto
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9.875
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Floor
Exercise
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Kytra
Hunter
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9.900
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All-Around
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Ashanée
Dickerson
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38.90
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It was a strong opening
for the Gators, but the team showed that there will be areas to polish as the
season progresses. And that is perfectly fine with Florida head coach Rhonda
Faehn. Tonight was a chance to see how newcomers would perform in the collegiate
arena. Only one of Florida’s freshmen competed Friday - Bridget Sloan. And
it was an opportunity to see how the team reacted to a competition setting
after months of pre-season training.
“I wasn’t looking at the scores. I was more concerned
with how Bridget would do. I know she’s incredibly talented and she has this
competitive experience, but she’s in a completely new environment,” Faehn said.
“I was really pleased with how the team did and the energy that they had.”
With Sloan’s opening
competitive routine, she also set another first. Thirty World Championships’
all-around crowns have been awarded since 1938. Sloan is the first World
all-around titlist to compete as a collegiate. The six-time (and current)
member of the U.S. Senior National Team won the 2009 World title and was the
youngest member of the U.S.’s silver medal Olympic team in 2008.
She stuck her vault to
earn a 9.925 and shared the evening’s event title with senior All-American Ashanée
Dickerson. Even if she didn’t win, Sloan would have categorized tonight a
success because of the experience of sharing the competition with the team she’s
been training with since fall.
“It was a shock. I had no
idea what it was going to be like on the competition floor, because when you’re
in the stands it looks like ‘oh that’s so much fun’ but when you’re out there
it’s a blast. I know I’ve never had that much fun at a meet. I really enjoyed
every minute of it and I wished I could do it again and just have home meets
all the time,” Sloan said. “Having that team behind you - it’s just awesome. It
was absolutely incredible and I loved it.”
The shared vault title pushed
Dickerson’s career total of vault wins to 15. Dickerson also won the evening’s
all-around at 38.90. The win raised her career total of event titles to an even
60, which continues to place her fifth on Florida’s career list.
Florida’s first to claim
the NCAA all-around title, Kytra Hunter, added two more event titles to
her career tally with identical marks of 9.90. The score equaled her best on
bars set in 2012 NCAA Championships’ semifinal competition and she used the
mark to anchor Florida’s floor set for the sophomore’s eighth title on the
event.
Hunter wanted to use
tonight to get a feel for competition again and to get ready for Florida’s road
opener at No. 8 LSU next Friday.
“My
main focus was to get out there and get my nerves out. We have a road meet next
week and we need a good road score,” Hunter said. “I think the lineups the
coaches put out were perfect for us considering we were coming back from break
and had a short amount of time to train with the team. I think we did excellent
job tonight.”
A
Gator who was thrilled to be in the opening meet lineup was junior All-American
Mackenzie Caquatto. The opening few meets of her last two seasons saw
her sitting out due to injury. Last year, she only competed on bars during the
season due to a severe injury suffered in the fall of 2011. She sprained both
ankles at the U.S.’s final camp as she was looking to earn her second
consecutive World Championships roster spot.
Tonight,
Mackenzie took the evening’s balance beam title at 9.875. It was her first appearance
in UF’s beam lineup since the 2011 NCAA Championships.
