MEET INFORMATION GATOR SOCIAL DID YOU KNOW MEET 6 Gainesville, Fla. What's Happening?
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3 NCAA Championships ● 10 SEC Championships ● 8 with 19 NCAA Individual Titles MEET INFORMATION MEET 6 Gainesville, Fla. Date: Friday, Feb. 9 / 6:45 p.m. ET No. 5 Florida Gators No. 9 Alabama Crimson Tide Site: Exactech Arena at the Stephen C. Head Coach: Jenny Rowland Head Coach: Dana Duckworth O’Connell Center (9,166) Career (3rd season): 33-6 Career (4th season): 74-31 Television: Live on SEC Network At UF: same At UA: same Video: SEC Network + Live Stats: FloridaGators.com 2018: 4-1 / 2-1 SEC 2018: 3-2 / 3-1 SEC Tickets: General admission - $5. Children 12 & 2017 NCAA Finish: 3rd 2017 NCAA Finish: 6th under and UF Students with Gator1 admitted free. Contact UF Ticket Office at What’s Happening? 352-375-4683 for more information Each of Florida’s two previous home meets were the nation’s top dual of the weekend. Friday’s meet continues Series Record UA leads 73-43-2 (last meeting: UF was that trend when perennial power and current No. 9 Alabama visits the Exactech Arena at the Stephen C. (all-time): third in in 2017 NCAA Super Six (197.70) O’Connell Center for the nation’s only dual of the weekend featuring top-10 teams. The meet kicks off the SEC and Alabama was sixth (196.00) Network’s Friday Night Heights action at 7 p.m. ET. Olympic medalists Bart Conner and Kathy Johnson Clarke Promotions: Giveaway – 1,000 Gators Gymnastics Pop call Friday’s action with Gator alum Laura Rutledge adding sideline reports. Sockets; Green Meet - Join the Gators in their efforts for a Sustainable UF. Green Florida returns home after posting its top road score in a 197.40 – 197.00 win at No. 17 Auburn. Two Gators took facts will be displayed on the GatorVision each of the individual event titles. Senior All-American Alex McMurtry opened the competition by winning the boards throughout the meet; uneven bars with a near-perfect 9.975 and then won her second consecutive vault title with a perfect 9.95 for her #NationalPizzaDay - UF students can Yurchenko full (start value: 9.95). The bars mark sets Florida’s season high and the vault win was her second celebrate #NationalPizzaDay at the Gate 3 consecutive with a perfect mark. In the final dual of January, McMurtry’s 10.0 for her Yurchenko double (start student tailgate. Free pizza for the first 300 value: 10.0) was her third career 10.0 for the event. Florida’s vault 49.50 is UF’s high for the 2018 and stands UF students, plus fun prizes, games, and third in the nation. more! Then it was junior All-American Alicia Boren’s turn. She equaled her collegiate-best of 9.95 to win her second floor exercise title of 2018. She finished the meet with a 9.925 to take her second win of 2018 on balance beam. GATOR SOCIAL Boren’s winning total of 39.55 gave her the second all-around win of 2018 and was just 0.025 off her season high. Florida Gators Gymnastics In the meet that marked the midpoint of Florida’s regular season, eight Gators posted or equaled 11 season-best Florida Gators marks. @GatorsGym The only 2018 Southeastern Conference losses for both Florida and Alabama came versus No. 2 LSU in @FloridaGators consecutive January weekends (UF: Jan. 12, 197.25-197.125; Alabama: Jan. 19, Jan. 19, 197.45-196.725). The @JennyRowlandUF Tide is coming off a 197.00 – 196.35 upset home win over then No. 8 Arkansas. Senior Kiana Winston, a Texas gatorsgym Dreams club teammate of Florida’s Kennedy Baker, picked up three of the five SEC Specialist of the Week floridagators honors of 2018, including the latest announced Feb. 6. The Gators were third in 2017 NCAA Super Six competition, won the NCAA Gainesville Regional and was runner- up to LSU in both Southeastern Conference regular-season and championship action. McMurtry won the NCAA Florida Communications Contact: all-around with a NCAA semifinal record of 39.8125 and was among a six-way tie for the uneven bars title. McMurtry received several awards, including the Honda Award (awarded to top collegiate gymnast), SEC Mary Howard Gymnast and SEC Gymnastics Scholar-Athlete of Year. She is the first Gator to receive the NCAA Elite 90 award, Phone: 352-375-4683 x6100 given to the student-athlete with the highest grade point average at each of the 90 NCAA Championship sites. Email: [email protected] Of the 12 teams at the 2017 NCAA Championships final site, only Florida returns all 24 routines competed. Bolstering Florida’s lineup options in 2018 is the addition of four freshmen. Three bring experience from the U.S. DID YOU KNOW national team program. This trio brings the number of gymnasts with all-around potential on 2018 Gator roster to eight. Alyssa Baumann was part of the U.S.’s gold-medal team at the 2014 World Championships. She qualified th This is the 55 consecutive time both Florida and for the 2016 Olympic Trials, but an elbow injury while preparing for the Trials led Baumann to defer enrolling at Alabama bring a top-10 ranking into a meeting. UF until fall 2017 as she recovered. Megan Skaggs joined current Gator sophomores Rachel Gowey and Hundley on the 2015 Pan America Games gold-medal team. Jazmyn Foberg graduated high school in three Since 2003, Florida and Alabama have taken the years, allowing her enroll at UF in fall of 2017. Foberg is a two-time member of the U.S. Junior National Team, home win in each of their 15 dual meet competitions. representing the U.S. in Italy and Japan in 2015. Nicole Webb trained at the same club, Sonshine Gymnastics, as senior Rachel Slocum. Webb was second on beam and fifth on floor at the 2017 North Carolina Level 10 Five of the last seven NCAA Championships were won State Championships. This class ranks No. 1 on the 2018 CollegeGymFans.com Top Recruiting Classes by these two teams: list. In the last nine years, Florida’s recruiting classes have ranked No. 1 six times and No. 2 twice. Alabama: 2011, 2012 Florida: 2013, 2014, 2015 MEET COACH ROWLAND 2018 GATOR GYMNASTICS ROSTER Jenny Rowland, one of the nation’s rising coaching talents, is in her third season as NAME EVTS HT CL HOMETOWN (CLUB) University of Florida’s head gymnastics Sierra Alexander V, FX 5-7 SO Fort Lauderdale, Fla. (West Broward Gymnastics Academy) coach. Rowland is the seventh head coach Kennedy Baker AA 5-0 SR Dallas, Texas (Texas Dreams) for the Gator program, which is in its 46th Alyssa Baumann AA 5-1 FR Dallas, Texas (WOGA) season in 2018. Alicia Boren AA 4-11 JR Franklin Lakes, N.J. (North Stars Gymnastics Academy) Maegan Chant AA 5-3 SO Waterdown, Ontario (World Class Gymnastics) Amanda Cheney V, BB 5-5 JR Orlando, Fla. (Orlando Metro) She shared the 2016 Southeastern Conference Coach of the Jazmyn Foberg AA 5-2 FR Bayville, N.J. (MG Elite) Year honor with Arkansas’ Mark Cook. She joins volleyball’s Rachel Gowey AA 5-1 SO Urbandale, Iowa (Chow’s Gymnastics) Mary Wise (1991) as a Gator coach who claimed SEC Coach of Amelia Hundley AA 5-5 SO Hamilton, Ohio (Cincinnati Gymnastics) the Year honors in their first season at UF. Grace McLaughlin BB, FX 5-2 SR Allen, Texas (WOGA) Alex McMurtry AA 5-3 SR Midlothian, Va. (Richmond Olympiad Club) Rowland’s experiences from the sport’s highest level are the Megan Skaggs AA 5-3 FR Marietta, Ga. (Gymnastics Academy of Atlanta) same as many current Gators. She is a former U.S. National Rachel Slocum V, FX 5-3 SR Holly Springs, N.C. (Sonshine NC/Eastern Michigan) Team member, a collegiate All-American and was named a Nicole Webb UB, BB, FX 5-2 FR Morrisville, N.C. (Sonshine NC) 2015 National Collegiate Assistant of the Year. Staff: Pronunciation Guide: Rowland is a Category 3 International Brevet level judge. She Head Coach: Jenny Rowland Sierra Alexander – see-er-uh served on the judging panel for the 2008, 2012 and 2016 U.S. Assistant Coaches: Adrian Burde & Owen Field Alyssa Baumann – Bow-man Olympic Trials. Volunteer Coach: Jeremy Miranda Alicia Boren – uh-LEE-sh uh Bore-en Student Coach: Vanasia Bradley Vanasia Bradley - vuh-NAY-suh Rowland’s Coaching Career: Assistant to the Head Coach: Brittany Arlington Amanda Cheney – Chain-ee Managers: Tory Cohen & Casey McLaughlin Jazmyn Foberg – FOE-berg At Florida: Athletic Trainer: Kelly Fleming Amelia Hundley – Hund-lee Florida reached the NCAA Super Six team final in each of Student Athletic Trainer: Kim Dang Grace McLaughlin – Mick lawf-luhn Rowland’s first two seasons with the Gators, taking fourth in Alex McMurtry – Mick Murr-Tree 2016 and third in 2017. Rowland was named the 2016 Rachel Slocum – sloh-kuh m Southeastern Conference Coach of the Year after the Gators won that season’s team title. Jenny Rowland – ROE-lund Vanasia Bradley - vuh-NAY-suh Adrian Burde - bur-DAY Gators won NCAA individual event titles in each of the last two seasons. Bridget Sloan won the 2016 NCAA all-around and Five with 21 honors in NCAA competition shared that season’s uneven bars and balance beam titles. Returning All-Americans: Alex McMurtry is the reigning NCAA all-around champion and Kennedy Baker 2017 – floor^ shared that season’s uneven bars crown. The Honda Award for 2016 – vault*, floor*, all-around^, bars^ gymnastics went to Sloan (2016) and McMurtry (2017), 2015 - floor * distinguishing them as the nation’s top collegiate gymnast.