Senior Randy Stageberg,
a rock in Florida gymnastics coach Rhonda Faehn's lineup on the floor
and beam, was finished with a shoulder fracture.
Stageberg dislocated the
shoulder in practice leading up to Saturday night's NCAA Gainesville Regional,
ending her career and casting a shadow over the Gators with the season's
biggest meet on the horizon.
And then on Saturday, Faehn
spent much of the day texting the team's trainer and the parents of junior Mackenzie
Caquatto about Caquatto's root canal on Friday evening.
In a tragic twist to
Caquatto's emergency dental work, Faehn learned Friday that the team's dentist,
Thomas Weber, had died in a single-car accident only hours after Faehn saw him
Thursday night at her son's soccer practice.
The UF training staff
scrambled to arrange for another dentist to work on Caquatto as Faehn tried to
make sense of everything that was happening.
"We had a very
challenging week,'' Faehn said late Saturday.
Despite everything, when the
No. 1-ranked Gators took the floor at the O'Connell Center on Saturday night in
front of a boisterous crowd of 7,137, they did what they do best.
Florida's near-flawless
performance Saturday earned the Gators a berth in the NCAA Championships April
19-21 in Los Angeles. The Gators finished with a score of 198.400, the
second-best score in school history and easily enough to defeat the five other
teams in the competition.
Minnesota finished second (197.100)
to also advance.
"Not knowing if she was
going to be able to go was really making things a little sketchy heading into
tonight, but I was not concerned because I knew that anyone that was going to
step in would do an amazing job,'' Faehn said. "They were just lights
out."
The Gators' lineup dominated
from top to bottom. Sophomore Kytra Hunter won the all-around title and
shared the floor title with teammate Marissa King. Hunter also shared
the vault title with five others, including teammate Ashanée Dickerson.
Meanwhile, Gators freshman Bridget
Sloan won on bars with a career-best 9.975 score, and King took top honors
on beam (personal-best 9.950).
When it was all over, the
Gators celebrated by soaking up cheers from the home fans and relishing a
return trip to the national championships, where the Gators finished runner-up
to Alabama a year ago.
"There's not a doubt in
my mind about our lineup,'' said Sloan, the 2009 World Champion who finished
second to Hunter on Saturday for the all-around title. "We have the depth,
we have the talent. It's absolutely incredible to walk into the gym and know
that if you are not in the lineup, someone who goes in for you is going to
hit."
The loss of Stageberg hit
especially hard.
Instead of sulking,
Stageberg turned into a motivating force at practice and was the team's biggest
fan Saturday.
"Randy has been
amazing,'' Faehn said. "Our heart broke. It was a freak injury. It was
something she did as a senior in high school. She just took off twisting [at
practice] and her shoulder went out."
With Stageberg out, junior Alaina
Johnson returned to the lineup for the first time since January. Johnson
missed three months due to a stress fracture in her lower back.
If there was any rust to
shake off, she must have done it at practice.
Johnson finished tied for
sixth on the uneven bars at 9.875 and placed sixth on the vault with a 9.925,
just .025 points behind the five gymnasts who tied for first.
"This team is
incredible,'' Johnson said. "They have pushed me through practices and
they have helped me get back."
Florida's outing Saturday
was a true team effort.
Hunter credited the team's
focus and goal of winning a national title as helping the Gators stay sharp
despite some of the turbulence leading up to the meet.
"Everyone just stayed
in our bubble and we pushed each other,'' Hunter said. "It was a fun
night."
Caquatto did her part. She delivered
toothache and all, placing third overall on beam (9.90) and bars (9.925).
With Stageberg out, Rachel
Spicer led off on beam with a score of 9.80, and Kiersten Wang led
off on floor, scoring a 9.85. The younger Caquatto, Bridgette, stepped into the
floor lineup with a career-best 9.925.
Faehn urged the Gators to go
all out and leave nothing to chance in the final home meet for the four-member
senior class of King, Dickerson, Stageberg and Dali Lemezan.
"There were just so
many positives and so many things we overcame tonight to show our true
potential,'' Faehn said. "The team really responded well. They just knew
what they were capable of doing. It was just taking care of business."
The 198.400 team score was
the 10th-best in NCAA history and is surpassed only by the 198.425 the Gators
posted in a win over Minnesota earlier this season.
Gophers coach Meg
Stephenson, whose team is back in the NCAA Finals for the first time in 11
years, won't be surprised if Florida finally joins Utah, Alabama, Georgia and
UCLA as the only programs to win a national title.
Not after what the Gators
did Saturday.
"To have this type of
fan base, you have to be really spectacular,'' Stephenson said. "You have
to be something special to have that kind of support. They are a fantastic team
and they have a great shot of winning it all."
|
NCAA Gainesville Region Championships
Final Team Totals
|
||||||
|
April
6, 2013 ● Stephen C. O’Connell Center (7,137)
|
||||||
|
Team
|
Vault
|
Bars
|
Beam
|
Floor
|
Total
|
|
|
Florida
|
49.600
|
49.600
|
49.550
|
49.650
|
198.400
|
|
|
Minnesota
|
49.525
|
49.250
|
49.100
|
49.225
|
197.100
|
|
|
Auburn
|
49.375
|
49.150
|
49.075
|
49.100
|
196.700
|
|
|
Maryland-College Park
|
49.050
|
48.925
|
48.850
|
48.750
|
195.575
|
|
|
Pittsburgh
|
48.800
|
48.875
|
48.200
|
48.900
|
194.775
|
|
|
Bridgeport
|
48.675
|
48.400
|
48.225
|
48.925
|
194.225
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
| |
