The No. 1 Florida gymnastics team (5-1, 4-1 SEC) faces No. 9
Georgia (5-4-1, 3-0-1) in a sold-out Stegeman
Coliseum on Saturday, Feb. 16 for the GymDog’s annual
Pink Out Meet. This is the 37th
consecutive meeting between Florida and Georgia that both programs bring a
top-10 ranking into the competition. Meet time is set for 4 p.m.
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Saturday’s Meet Information:
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No.
1 Florida (5-1, 4-1 SEC) at No. 9 Georgia (5-4-1, 3-0-1 SEC)
Television: meet airs
tape-delayed on SUN Sports (Feb. 24 at 9 a.m. ET)
Series
Record (all-time): UGA
leads 91-38-1. Last meeting, Florida was second in 2012 NCAA Championships’
semifinal competition (197.65) and Georgia was fifth (196.50)
Tickets:
Meet
is sold out
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This is Florida’s third
appearance in a pink meet this season. These “pink” meets are part of a Southeastern Conference initiative to raise
breast cancer awareness and all of the league’s gymnastics teams will
participate in a “pink” meet this season. Team colors are set aside as each team will
wear pink (but in different shades).
Saturday’s meet will air
tape-delayed on SUN Sports on Feb. 24 at 9 p.m. A live video stream of the meet
is available – visit Georgia’s
All-Access site for complete information.
Florida returned home on Feb. 8
to face two-time defending NCAA champion and No. 5 Alabama. The Gators used the
nation’s top total of the season and UF’s second-highest total in school
history of 198.10 to take the win over Alabama, who posted a 196.85. Florida
now owns three of the nation’s top four scores of the 2013 season. The same
Gator pair who shared the all-around title at Arkansas on Feb. 1 was separated
by just 0.025 in Friday’s competition. Freshman Bridget Sloan posted a
collegiate-best 39.675 to take her second consecutive win while senior
All-American Ashanée Dickerson was just behind her with a season-best
39.65. Florida took three of the evening’s event titles. Sloan’s
collegiate-best of 9.95 on the bars gave her a share of the win with junior
teammate Mackenzie Caquatto. Mackenzie also picked up the balance beam
title at 9.925 to give her three wins for each event this season. Dickerson’s
near-perfect 9.975 on floor exercise, a collegiate-best, brought the Stephen C.
O’Connell crowd of 8,074 to its feet. Dickerson’s floor win brings her career
total of event titles to 66, which ties her for fourth with Ann Woods all-time
on the Gators’ career chart.
Sloan’s performance on Feb. 8, which was the
nation’s leading all-around score of the weekend, earned her Southeastern
Conference honors for the second consecutive week as she is the SEC Freshman
Gymnast of the Week. She is the only league freshman to claim the SEC Gymnast
of the Week honor, picking up the honor after her all-around win at Arkansas on
Feb. 1. This is her second SEC Freshman of the Week honor of 2013. Two other
Gators have picked up the SEC Gymnast of the Week in 2013 as Dickerson claimed
the Week 3 award and sophomore Kytra Hunter was the Week 4 recipient. A
total of four Gators have been honored this season, as Mackenzie Caquatto was
the Week 3 SEC Specialist of the Week.
Florida has at least one gymnast among the
nation’s top 10 in each of the five events. Sloan is No. 2 in the all-around
(39.55) and No. 8 in vault (9.895). Dickerson is No. 7 in all-around (39.440),
No. 2 in vault (9.933) and No. 4 in floor exercise (9.904). Hunter is No. 2 in
floor (9.925) and No. 3 in vault (9.925). In the uneven bars rankings,
Bianca Dancose-Giambattisto is No. 3 (9.892). Junior Mackenzie Caquatto
holds the No. 3 position in the balance beam rankings (9.896).
Georgia’s posted its season-best
total of 197.50 in its last home appearance on Feb. 1 to take the win versus
Alabama. Last Friday, Georgia and Kentucky tied in Lexington at 195.825 for the
first tie in the all-time series between the two programs. The GymDogs were
forced to count a fall on balance beam at Kentucky. Brittany Rogers won both
vault (9.925) and uneven bars (9.90) at Kentucky.
