Nation’s Top Dual of the Weekend is Friday: No. 2 LSU at No. 5 Florida
GAINESVILLE, Fla. – The nation’s top gymnastics dual of the weekend is Friday’s No. 2 LSU at No. 5 Florida for Rowdy Reptiles Night presented by Florida Dairy Farmers. This is the 12th consecutive season both Florida and LSU bring a top-10 ranking into their annual dual meet.
The Southeastern Conference began recognizing a regular-season champion in 2017. Since then, that trophy went to either LSU (2017, 2018) or Florida (2019, 2020, 2021, 2022, 2023). With two league meets remaining on each of the eight SEC team’s 2024 schedules, three are tied at the top with 4-1 records – Florida, Kentucky and LSU.
There will be five gymnasts competing Friday with eight perfect marks this season – Haleigh Bryant – LSU (bars, beam, floor), Aleah Finnegan – LSU (floor), Kiya Johnson – LSU (floor), Konnor McClain – LSU (bars and beam) and Leanne Wong – UF (bars).
Florida vs LSU Rivalry:
Heating up more than the Florida sunshine or a plate of Cajun jambalaya is the Florida-LSU gymnastics rivalry.
Of the 31 meetings since 2013, less than a half a point decided 21 contests, including five of the last six dual meetings:
* LSU 0.125 home win (2023)
* Florida 0.325 home win (2022)
* Florida 0.1 road win (2021)
* Florida 0.075 road win (2019)
* LSU 0.125 road win (2018)
A tenth or less decided eight of the last 24 meetings since the 2015 SEC Championship meet.
Friday is the 32nd consecutive meeting both teams bring top-10 rankings.
The meet is a big draw, as five of the top 15 attendance totals for Florida and four of the top 20 for LSU were UF-LSU duals. This will be the third consecutive sellout when these two teams meet in Gainesville. The 2018 meeting was the first sellout for a Gator gymnastics meet (Jan. 12, 2018 – 9,661 attendance).
Arrive Early to Cheer Your Gators
Be in your Exactech Arena seat by 6:45 p.m. to take in the projection show which leads into the Gators entrance for this SEC dual. Get ready to raise your phone with Gator Lights during the floor projection.
Here’s some tips to expedite your trip to the Exactech Arena Friday:
Getting TO the Arena:
* Season parking holders can enter the O’Connell Center lot off Lemerand Drive OR SW 2nd Avenue.
* A complimentary parking shuttle transports fans from which originates at Garage 109 (located at corner of Archer Road and Lemerand Drive to the O’Connell Center. The parking shuttle begins at 5 p.m. Parking map for Gator Gymnastics<https://floridagators.com/sports/2015/12/10/_facilities_parking_gymnastics_.aspx>.
* Use the Waze app<https://www.waze.com/live-map/directions?to=ll.29.6517704%2C-82.3508596> to provide the best route to parking shuttle.
* For 5-10 minutes following Gator gymnastics meets, Lemerand Drive will close for north and south bound traffic from University Avenue to Stadium Road to provide pedestrians a safe exit.
* More information at 2024 Meet Guide<https://floridagators.com/sports/2015/12/10/_gameday_gymnastics_.aspx>
Getting IN the Arena:
* Friday’s meet is sold out. Shop for tickets by verified resellers<https://www.ticketmaster.com/florida-gators-gymnastics-vs-alabama-crimson-gainesville-florida-01-26-2024/event/22005F3DDA210E23>.
* Gates 1 and 2 will be open for each gymnastics meet. UF students should enter at Gate 3.
* All Gator Athletics tickets are mobile. Visit Mobile Ticketing Guide<https://spark.adobe.com/page/0oiC6OLlbeGQN/> to help expediate your entrance into the arena. To help zip through the entrance, be sure to add your tickets to your digital wallet in case of possible connectivity issues outside the gate. Then have tickets up on device to present for scanning.
* Bags are checked before entering the building. Everyone will go through the O’Connell Center metal detectors when entering. When using the metal detectors fans need to empty their pockets prior to screening, then walk through the detector. After that, tickets will be scanned and then you are ready to cheer your Gators!
Friday’s Promotions:
* Orange & Blue Illumination: – Light up sticks for all Exactech Arena lower bowl spectators.
* Gate 1 Giveaways – Be sure to pick up 2024 Gators Gymnastics season poster, schedule magnet and 10.0 fan cards when you enter at O’Connell Center Gate 1
* O2B Kid’s Corner – Located on the Practice Courts near Gate 4, kids can get free giveaways, photo/video booth, temporary tattoos, play games, make posters, meet the mascots & Dazzlers, and more!
* Feed Rowdy Reptiles Student Tailgate – First 200 UF students get free pizza!
How to Follow the Gators:
Follow the action live:
* ESPN2<https://www.espn.com/watch/player/_/id/34142aca-abb6-4dd2-a735-658cf5f6f599> – Olympic medalists Bart Conner and Gator Great Bridget Sloan<https://floridagators.com/sports/womens-gymnastics/roster/bridget-sloan/5091> calling the action with Taylor Davis providing sideline reports
* Live scores<https://stats.statbroadcast.com/broadcast/?id=497232>
Show Me a Season High:
A season-best 197.925 elevated No. 6 Florida to win the Mizzou at the Lou quad meet held in front of 5,995 at the Family Arena.<https://floridagators.com/news/2024/2/16/no-6-florida-gymnastics-wins-missouri-to-the-lou-quad.aspx> No. 14 Missouri was second at 197.475, followed by No. 27 Illinois (196.55) and Lindenwood (194.825). Florida is the nation’s only team to improve its score in each 2024 meet.
Four Gators set or matched collegiate bests, including freshman Gabby Disidore who led Florida on its opening event with an uneven bars mark of 9.925. Florida upped its season-high on its next two events – balance beam (39.55) and floor exercise (39.60). Junior All-American Leanne Wong led the Gators on both events, posting a near-perfect 9.975 to win beam and a 9.95 to share the floor win with Missouri’s Amari Celestine. Junior All-American Sloane Blakely set her season-best of 9.925 to win vault.
The Gators swept the all-around, with Wong claiming the 12th title of her career at 39.725. Blakely’s season best 39.55 was second and Anya Pilgrim shared third with MU’s Sienna Schreiber at 39.525.
Friday’s performance earned Pilgrim’s second consecutive and third overall Southeastern Conference Freshman of the Week honor.<https://floridagators.com/news/2024/2/20/gymnastics-anya-pilgrim-repeats-as-sec-freshman-gymnast-of-the-week.aspx>
LSU in 2024:
LSU set the nation’s high of 198.475 on Feb. 2 in its home win versus Arkansas. Three of the nation’s top seven team totals this season belong to the Tigers (No. 5 198.30 and No. 7 198.125).
Four Tigers posted 10.0 marks this season. Senior Haleigh Bryant twice turned in an all-around total 39.825, which ties for second in the nation in 2024. She shares the nation’s 2024 high (3) for 10.0s. Her Feb. 9 beam 10.0 made her the 14th in NCAA history to earn a Gym Slam [10 in each apparatus]. After earning a floor 10.0 last Friday versus Auburn, LSU junior Aleah Finnegan shared the SEC Specialist of the Week honor.
