GAINESVILLE, Fla. – No. 2 Florida gymnastics makes its third trip of March to the state of Alabama and this time, the Gators are looking for a ticket to the Longhorn State for the April 14-16 NCAA Championships.
Florida closed Southeastern Conference regular-season action at Auburn on March 4 when the two teams tied at the nation’s leading total of 2022, 198.575. Then UF returned to the state for the March 19 SEC Championships in Birmingham, Ala., where the Gators claimed their 11th SEC Championship meet title. Now they return to Auburn for NCAA Regional competition, looking for a NCAA Championships berth.
Florida opens regional competition Thursday, March 31 in the Auburn Regional’s second session. A top-two team finish advances the Gators to the four-team NCAA Regional final. The top two teams in the regional final advances to the Ft. Worth, Texas, for the NCAA Championships.
This is the third year for the current NCAA regional/national championships format.<https://urldefense.proofpoint.com/v2/url?u=https-3A__youtu.be_aQ8Rh3mZbtw&d=DwIFAg&c=sJ6xIWYx-zLMB3EPkvcnVg&r=o5LKAX7slotfFMyE71jI7L22NYBIi1-KbRGNSXudTPo&m=Wz0j2XePrfJupc4qgRQUY3teqy7Ex_JxgNEviRJqux-xffk672vtrb3FWudsQ76Z&s=qSpfl2emV-jE5TqtcIFDZK1CjGSJJI28-RUqx9EZGqE&e= >
Auburn Regional Info:
Four Southeastern Conference teams are in the Auburn Regional – Florida, Auburn, Georgia and Kentucky. The Seattle Region also has four conference rivals with the Pac-12’s Utah, Oregon State, Stanford and Washington. Florida faced each of the SEC teams in the Auburn Regional in road action. Florida closed SEC regular-season action at Auburn on March 4, with the two teams tying with school-record totals of 198.575.
Auburn Regional Start Events
March 30 – Opening Round at 4 p.m. ET
Starting Event
School
Vault
No. 28 Iowa State
Bars
No. 36 Western Michigan
March 31 – Second Round at 2 p.m. ET
Vault
No. 10 Kentucky
Bars
No. 23 Georgia
Beam
No. 27 Southern Utah
Floor
No. 7 Auburn
March 31 – Second Round at 8 p.m. ET
Vault
No. 15 Denver
Bars
No. 17 Ohio State
Beam
Iowa State/Western Michigan
Floor
No. 2 Florida
April 2 – Final at 6 p.m. ET
Vault
Session 1, Team 1
Bars
Session 1, Team 2
Beam
Session 2, Team 2
Floor
Session 2, Team 1
How to Follow the Gators:
All Auburn Region competition from Neville Arena<https://urldefense.proofpoint.com/v2/url?u=https-3A__auburntigers.com_facilities_auburn-2Darena-2Dgymnastics_13&d=DwIFAg&c=sJ6xIWYx-zLMB3EPkvcnVg&r=o5LKAX7slotfFMyE71jI7L22NYBIi1-KbRGNSXudTPo&m=Wz0j2XePrfJupc4qgRQUY3teqy7Ex_JxgNEviRJqux-xffk672vtrb3FWudsQ76Z&s=xXuz_aZTDM2kb7snrG6tHeZwrThjFFFZAfsy1_XCyJA&e= > is streamed.
Steve Schlanger and past U.S. Senior National Team member Ashley Miles Greig call the Auburn Regional second and final round action.
March 30
Opening Round
SEC Network +
March 31
2pm/Second Round
March 31
8 p.m. / Second Round
April 2
Regional Final
Florida in NCAA Regionals:
Gators are 19-time NCAA Regional meet winners: 1982, ’84, ’85, ’87, ’97, ’05, ’06, ’07, ’08, ’09, ’10, ’12, ’13, ’14, ’15, ’16, ’17, ’18, ’21
In the Gators’ Last Meet:
Florida gymnastics made it a sweep of 2022 Southeastern Conference trophies. The Gators won the league regular-season title (6-0-1) and then added the SEC Championship meet trophy on March 19 after tallying the second-highest team total in the event’s 41-year history.<https://urldefense.proofpoint.com/v2/url?u=https-3A__floridagators.com_news_2022_3_19_no-2D2-2Dflorida-2Dgymnastics-2Dwin-2Dsec-2Dchampionships-2Dmeet.aspx&d=DwIFAg&c=sJ6xIWYx-zLMB3EPkvcnVg&r=o5LKAX7slotfFMyE71jI7L22NYBIi1-KbRGNSXudTPo&m=Wz0j2XePrfJupc4qgRQUY3teqy7Ex_JxgNEviRJqux-xffk672vtrb3FWudsQ76Z&s=5am-eIiFAhhqJk8BDPCdr9nIkcPEIAeak9_BIPu5cc0&e= >
The Gators won its 11th SEC Championship meet title in front of a Legacy Arena crowd of 10,180 with a 198.20 – the highest team total in 26 SEC Championship meets. Alabama was second (197.825), followed by Auburn (197.225), LSU (196.725), Missouri (196.875), Arkansas (196.45), Kentucky (196.35) and Georgia (195.80). Florida led from the meet’s opening rotation and turned in the evening’s highest team totals for vault, beam and floor. The 49.70 on balance beam raised the Gators’ meet record for the event.
A Gator won four of the meet’s individual event titles. Gator senior Trinity Thomas won the all-around (39.825), vault (9.975) and floor exercise (9.975). Freshman Leanne Wong also used a near-perfect 9.975 to win the balance beam. Auburn’s Sunisa Lee claimed the uneven bars win at 10.0. Wong and graduate Megan Skaggs shared second (39.65) to complete a Gator all-around sweep – the first since Georgia went 1-2-3 in 1992.
Awards for the Gators:
Trinity Thomas earned her second SEC Gymnast of the Year honor<https://urldefense.proofpoint.com/v2/url?u=https-3A__floridagators.com_news_2022_3_23_gymnastics-2Dtrinity-2Dthomas-2Dis-2D2022-2Dsec-2Dgymnast-2Dof-2Dthe-2Dyear.aspx&d=DwIFAg&c=sJ6xIWYx-zLMB3EPkvcnVg&r=o5LKAX7slotfFMyE71jI7L22NYBIi1-KbRGNSXudTPo&m=Wz0j2XePrfJupc4qgRQUY3teqy7Ex_JxgNEviRJqux-xffk672vtrb3FWudsQ76Z&s=Dec3G-744YEZ4US71xjfGQPyncPOxZHpVfB-7Z_s9vs&e= > and is the first Gator with multiple honors. Alyssa Baumann, Nya Reed, Megan Skaggs and Leanne Wong joined her on the All-SEC team.
Four Gators earned 11 Women’s Collegiate Gymnastics Association (WCGA) Regular-Season All-America honors<https://urldefense.proofpoint.com/v2/url?u=https-3A__floridagators.com_news_2022_3_24_gymnastics-2Dfour-2Dgators-2Dearn-2D2022-2Dwcga-2Dregular-2Dseason-2Dall-2Damerica-2Dhonors.aspx&d=DwIFAg&c=sJ6xIWYx-zLMB3EPkvcnVg&r=o5LKAX7slotfFMyE71jI7L22NYBIi1-KbRGNSXudTPo&m=Wz0j2XePrfJupc4qgRQUY3teqy7Ex_JxgNEviRJqux-xffk672vtrb3FWudsQ76Z&s=9VNKWgKMGX8EfTqqpyP5Ge62Az9h8LyAoHP1T7bEfns&e= >. Thomas is the nation’s only gymnast to earn first team honors in each apparatus. Also collecting All-America honors were Reed (vault & floor), Skaggs (all-around) and Wong (all-around, bars, beam, floor).
Wong is one of three freshmen in the nation with four or more All-America honors and each of those three won individual medals in either the 2020 Olympic or 2021 World Championships action (Jade Carey – 2020 Olympic floor gold, Sunisa Lee- 2020 Olympic all-around gold, bars bronze, Wong – 2021 World Championships all-around silver, floor bronze).
