Kayla DiCello Claims Another SEC Freshman of the Week Honor

Pair of Gators Claim Final SEC Weekly Gymnastics Honors

GAINESVILLE, Fla. – The Gator duo of Riley McCusker (Bradenton, Fla.) and Kayla DiCello (Boyds, Md.) claim honors in the final Southeastern Conference weekly gymnastics awards for the 2023 season.

McCusker is the SEC Specialist of the Week after setting her collegiate balance beam best of 9.95 to win Sunday’s quad meet at Texas Woman’s University. It is the first SEC Weekly honor for the sophomore.

This is DiCello’s eighth overall and sixth consecutive SEC Freshman of the Week honor, extending her league high season totals.

DiCello’s been honored in nine of the 10 SEC weekly awards of 2023. In addition to her eight Freshman of the Week honors, DiCello was the Week 2 Specialist of the Week. The last Gator with nine SEC weekly honors in a single season was teammate Trinity Thomas in 2019 (3 gymnast; 6 freshman of week). Thomas was an eight-time SEC Gymnast of Week in 2020, including seven consecutive.

Riley McCusker – SEC Specialist of the Week

* Collegiate best 9.95 took Texas Woman’s University quad balance beam title – first win of Gator career
* Opened meet with a 9.925 on uneven bars to share second with teammate Kayla DiCello
* One of two SEC non-all-arounders with two marks of 9.925 or better in last weekend’s competition (other was teammate Sloane Blakely)
* Set collegiate uneven bars (9.95) and balance beam (9.95) highs in UF’s last three meets

Kayla DiCello – SEC Freshman of the Week:

* Shared second with teammate Trinity Thomas at 39.625 to complete a Gator all-around sweep at TWU quad
* Top all-around total among league freshmen last weekend and second among nation’s freshmen
* Shared second on bars (9.925)
* Anchored with a 9.925 to take third in a Gator sweep of the floor competition

A Gator picked up at least one SEC Weekly award in each of the 10 announcements of 2023.

SEC Gymnast: Leanne Wong (Week 2), Thomas (Week 6 & 7)

SEC Specialist: Thomas (Week 1, 4), DiCello (Week 2), McCusker (Week 10)

SEC Freshman: DiCello (Week 1, 3, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10)

UP NEXT FOR THE GATORS:
Postseason action starts Saturday at the 42nd Annual Southeastern Conference Championships. Florida is the defending SEC Championship meet champion and enters the 2023 event as the top seed.