LOUISVILLE, Ky. – Three with Gator ties – Skye Blakely, Kayla DiCello and Trinity Thomas – chomped up three of the top four all-around spots Saturday afternoon at the U.S. Gymnastics Winter Cup in the Kentucky International Convention Center.
DiCello won all-around (56.85), followed by Blakely (54.65) in silver.
Thomas, making her first elite appearance since earning her fourth consecutive U.S. Senior National Team spot at the 1999 U.S. Championships, took fourth (53.25) Saturday. Her all-around total qualifies Thomas for the 2024 U.S. Championships.
Each also earned Winter Cup apparatus medals:
Vault
T1.
14.20
Blakely & DiCello
Uneven Bars
1.
14.30
DiCello
2.
14.05
Thomas
Balance Beam
T1.
14.50
Blakely
3.
14.30
DiCello
Floor Exercise
1.
14.05
DiCello
About the Gators at the Winter Cup:
DiCello claimed the 2023 Southeastern Conference Freshman of the Year honor, led the nation’s freshmen with two 10.0s and earned five All-America honors in her first season with the Gators.
She announced after the 2023 season she would take a gap year to pursue a spot on the U.S. Olympic team. DiCello was alternate for the U.S. gold medal team at the 2023 FIG World Championship. Later in October 2023, DiCello led the U.S. to Pan Am Games team gold and won the all-around.
Blakely signed with Florida in the fall of 2022 and announced in spring of 2023 she would defer enrollment to pursue an U.S. Olympic berth. Blakely earned gold with the U.S.’s 2022 and 2023 World Championship teams.
Thomas finished her highly decorated Gator career in spring of 2023. Winner of the last two Honda Awards as the nation’s top collegiate gymnast, Thomas earned 34 All-America honors and her 28 10.0s shares the NCAA career record. Now she is a Gator student coach, enrolled in UF’s entrepreneurship master’s program and is training to pursue a spot on the 2024 U.S. Olympic team.
About the Winter Cup:
The Winter Cup is the first competition of the 2024 Olympic Year. The competition is the first step for U.S. athletes towards the 2024 Paris Olympic Games.
A part of the Team USA Champions Series, the U.S. Championships determines the women’s U.S. champions and U.S. National Team. Based on the results, international assignments will be awarded for the upcoming International Gymnix March 8-10 in Canada, DTB Pokal Team Challenge and Mixed Cup March 15-17 in Germany, as well as various FIG World Cup competition.
Complete Winter Cup results<https://myusagym.com/meets/live/89449/results/240248/>
Webcast Replay<https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9X5qkxLrzXc>
