NCAA
Regional Gymnastics action is set for this Saturday in the Stephen
C. O’Connell Center and the No. 1 Florida gymnastics team (15-2, 6-1 SEC) will
look for a top-two team finish to advance to the NCAA Championships. Start time
for Saturday’s Regional is set for 6 p.m.
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Saturday’s Meet Info:
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No. 1 Florida (15-2, 6-1 SEC) at NCAA
Regional Championships
Date & Time: Saturday, April 6
at 6 p.m. ET
Site: Stephen C. O’Connell Center (10,126)
Television: none
UF
NCAA Region Titles (all-time): UF has won 12 NCAA region titles (1982,
1984, 1985, 1987, 1997, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2012)
Internet: live streaming
video (free) available on NCAA.com; live
stats available on GatorZone.com
Tickets: range in price from
$10 to $5. UF students with Gator1 identification are admitted free. Visit
the Gainesville
Regional Ticket site for further information or call 352-375-4683 x6800
Parking Shuttle: A complimentary
parking shuttle transports fans from the UF Commuter Lot on Gale Lemerand
Drive to the O’Connell Center. Look for Parking &
Directions at Florida NCAA Regional site.
Need
more info? Visit
the Gainesville Regional site
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Tickets for Gainesville NCAA
Regional action range in price from $10 to $5. UF students with a Gator1
identification are admitted free. Visit the Gator
Ticket Office site to reserve tickets or stop by their office
at Gate 1 of the Ben Hill Griffin Stadium between hours of 8:30 a.m. – 5 p.m.
Monday through Friday. O’Connell Center ticket windows at Gate 1 and 2 open Saturday
at 4 p.m.
Each
of the six regions have three teams ranked among the nation’s top 18 and the
two coming to Gainesville – No. T12 Auburn and No. T12 Minnesota - are making
return trips to the O’Connell Center. Florida defeated Auburn 197.65-196.025 on
Jan. 25 and Minnesota 198.425-197.175 on March 1. The other three teams in the
Gainesville Regional are No. 24 Maryland, No. 29 Bridgeport and No. 36
Pittsburgh.
What the teams
are vying for at each of the nation’s six NCAA Regional sites is a top-two
finish, which advances those teams to the NCAA
Championships, set for April 19-21 in Los Angeles, Calif. Florida has
advanced to the NCAA Championships 30 times in the meet's 31-year history,
missing only the 2000 event.
Florida is the
only team among the 2013 Gainesville Regional field to advance to the 2012 NCAA
Championships. The Gators equaled the program’s top finish in NCAA competition
of second overall in 2012. Auburn will be seeking its first NCAA Championships
berth since 2003 while Minnesota last advanced in 2002. Maryland, Bridgeport
and Pittsburgh have not yet advanced from regional competition to the NCAA
Championships.
The NCAA began
seeding regional fields in 1999 and UF has been a region's top seed in each of
the last eight years. Florida won six consecutive NCAA Regional titles from
2005-10 and claimed the program’s 12th regional win in 2012.
Each of the nation’s
six region’s top seeds begin competition on the vault. The competitive rotation
for the Gainesville Regional is as follows:
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2013 NCAA Southeast
Region Competition Order
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Vault
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Bye
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Bars
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Beam
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Bye
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Floor
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Florida
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Minnesota
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Bridgeport
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Pittsburgh
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Auburn
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Maryland
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II
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Maryland
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Florida
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Minnesota
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Bridgeport
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Pittsburgh
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Auburn
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III
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Auburn
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Maryland
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Florida
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Minnesota
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Bridgeport
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Pittsburgh
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IV
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Pittsburgh
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Auburn
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Maryland
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Florida
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Minnesota
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Bridgeport
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V
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Bridgeport
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Pittsburgh
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Auburn
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Maryland
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Florida
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Minnesota
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VI
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Minnesota
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Bridgeport
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Pittsburgh
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Auburn
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Maryland
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Florida
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In their last
competition, the Gators’ collected their second consecutive and ninth overall Southeastern
Conference team title on March 23 in North Little Rock, Ark. Florida’s winning
total of 198.00 stands as the nation’s top road score of 2013 and UF is the only
team to reach 198 multiple times this season. It was a tightly contested meet,
as the lead moved among the teams through the opening three rotations and 2013
is the first time four posted final team totals of 197 or better. Alabama was
second at 197.80, followed by LSU (197.70), Georgia (197.325), Auburn (196.55),
Arkansas (196.40), Missouri (195.525) and Kentucky (194.60). For the second
consecutive year, a Gator freshman claimed the SEC all-around title, as Bridget
Sloan shared the win at 39.75 with LSU’s Rheagan Courville. That total
equals Sloan’s collegiate best and stands behind teammate Kytra
Hunter’s 39.80 as the nation’s second-highest of season. Marks of 9.95
also earned Sloan shares of two apparatus titles. She and Hunter were among a
five-way first-place tie for the floor exercise title. Sloan also shared the
uneven bars win with Georgia’s Brittany Rogers. Both earned spots on the
All-SEC team and Sloan is also part of the SEC All-Freshman team.
Sloan became the
fourth consecutive Gator to be named the SEC Freshman of the Year, joining
current teammates Ashanée
Dickerson (2010), Alaina
Johnson (2011) and Hunter (2012). After her SEC win, Sloan now owns
five all-around wins in 2013. She is the fourth UF freshman to claim the
league’s top all-around spot (Hunter/2012, Elfi Schlegel/1982 and Lynn
McDonnell/1981). Rhonda Faehn is the 2013 selection for SEC Coach of the
Year honor. It is her fourth consecutive and sixth such honor in her 11 seasons
as head of the Gator program.
Florida has at least
one gymnast among the nation’s top 10 in each of the five events. Three are
among the nation’s top 10 all-arounders – Sloan (No. 2/39.655 regional
qualifying average), Hunter (No. 3/39.615) and Dickerson (No. 10/39.510). Sloan
is also No. 1 in bars (9.955), No. T2 in beam (9.920) and No. T15 in vault
(9.915). Hunter is No. 2 in vault (9.965), No. T5 on floor (9.930), No. T10
bars (9.910) and No. T20 beam (9.885). Junior Mackenzie
Caquatto is No. T2 on bars (9.945) and No. 5 on beam (9.91). Senior Marissa
King checks in at No. T9 on floor (9.92) and No. 25 on bars (9.885).
Hunter, Nebraska’s Emily Wong and UCLA’s Vanessa Zamarripa are the only three
ranked among the nation’s top 25 on each of the five events.
