No. 1 Gator Gymnasts Clinch Share of SEC Title with Win Over Auburn

GAINESVILLE, Fla. – It’s three straight Southeastern Conference gymnastics titles now for No. 1 Gator gymnastics.

Florida used the nation’s season-high of 198.275 Friday in win over No. 18 Auburn (197.025) to clinch at least a share of the 2021 title.

A pair of perfect marks by junior Trinity Thomas on uneven bars and floor exercise makes her the second Gator to achieve perfection twice in a single meet.

SEC TITLE:

* Florida claims its 13th SEC title and third consecutive (1982, ’83, ’84, ’85, ’89, ’07, ’10, ’12, ’13, 16, ’19, ’20, ‘21). This is the fifth year for the awarding of a regular-season SEC gymnastics title. From 1981-2016, the winner at the SEC Championship meet was considered the league champion.
* Two Gator team raised SEC trophies Friday as men’s swimming & diving collected their ninth consecutive league title in Columbia, Mo.
* Those wins up Florida athletics overall SEC total to a league-high 249 titles. <https://urldefense.proofpoint.com/v2/url?u=https-3A__floridagators.com_sports_2015_12_10_-5Foverview-5F.aspx&d=DwIFJg&c=sJ6xIWYx-zLMB3EPkvcnVg&r=o5LKAX7slotfFMyE71jI7L22NYBIi1-KbRGNSXudTPo&m=ZuhMcI44KASchnW3snRgbADPzh3JRjIs-MPcUM5G2vY&s=X9KN75FVe8-LyznS5yFUzzyDzGLVyj-junqqPzlWo7g&e= >
* Tonight’s titles are Florida athletics first SEC title of 2020-21. Florida’s picked up at least one SEC team title for 43 consecutive seasons – the league’s longest current streak

Florida’s win tonight clinches at least a share of the SEC title with one league meet remaining. No. 7 Alabama needs a win when the two teams meet March 5 to share the 2021 title with Florida. The Tide won 197.325 – 197.00 at Arkansas Friday night to keep their SEC titles hopes alive.

School

SEC Record

Overall

Florida

6-0

7-0

Alabama

5-1

6-1

Kentucky

4-2

4-3

LSU

3-3

4-3

Arkansas

2-4

2-5

Missouri

2-4

2-5

Auburn

1-5

1-6

Georgia

1-5

2-5

TWO 10.0S FOR THOMAS
A pair of 10.0 by junior Trinity Thomas set the following notables:

* Joins Alex McMurtry as the only Gators with two 10.0s in a single meet. McMurtry posted 10.0 for vault and beam in a home win over Oklahoma on Jan. 16, 2018.
* Her floor 10.0 is the 50th in Florida history. Those 10.0s belong to 17 gymnasts and the gymnast with the first Gator 10.0 (Pam Titus, floor, Jan. 25, 1991) was in the arena Friday to applaud Thomas’ performance.
* Thomas is the nation’s only gymnast with a 10.0 on two events in 2021. Only Florida has two different gymnasts among the nation’s eight with 2021 perfect marks as Leah Clapper posted a beam 10.0 last Friday.
* Now has seven career 10.0 – bars and beam (twice each) and floor (three times). Florida career leaders for 10.0s:
Alex McMurtry 9
Bridget Sloan 8
Trinity Thomas 7
Kytra Hunter 6

TONIGHT’S MEET
Four collegiate or season best vaults opened the meet for Florida. Savannah Schoenherr won the meet by equaling her collegiate best of 9.95 for her Yurchenko 1.5. Senior Megan Skaggs upped her collegiate best for her Yurchenko full to 9.925. Payton Richards (9.90) and Jazmyn Foberg (9.85) also posted season bests.

A 10.0 by Thomas – her second on uneven bars – anchored the UF rotation. Skaggs was runner-up with her second straight 9.925 on the event. Alyssa Baumann, making her second consecutive bars appearance, shared third at 9.90 with Auburn’s Aria Brusch and Derrian Gobourne.

Two near-perfect 9.975s by freshman Ellie Lazzari and senior Leah Clapper helped the Gators post a school-record 49.70 on balance beam. Florida also got a 9.925 from Baumann and Thomas plus a 9.90 from Skaggs.

Thomas’ floor 10.0 was her second on the event this season. Baumann shared second at 9.95 with Auburn’s Derrian Gobourne.

Thomas and Skaggs went one-two in the all-around. Thomas posted a 39.75 and Skaggs equaled her collegiate-best of 39.60. Four of the nation’s top six all-around totals of 2021 belong to Thomas (No. 1: 39.90; No. T3: 39.75 three times).

GATOR PERFORMANCE NOTES:

* Florida now has five of the nation’s top 12 team totals of 2021 – No. 1 (198.275), No. 3 (198.15), No. 5 (197.85) and No. 11 (197.50 – twice). No other team appears more than twice among the top 12 totals for 2021.
* Florida reached its school record on beam for the second consecutive meet. Last Friday, UF equaled its record of 49.675. Tonight, UF raised that mark to 49.70.
* Thomas moves to No. 6 on Florida career all-around wins chart at 18.
* Now with 73 event titles, Thomas is No. 7 on the Gators Career Events Titles list
* Eight marks tonight equaled or set collegiate bests:
* Leah Clapper – 9.825 (floor)
* Ellie Lazzari – 9.975 (beam), 9.90 (floor)
* Savannah Schoenherr – 9.95 (vault)
* Megan Skaggs – vault (9.90), all-around (39.60)
* Trinity Thomas – 10.0 (bars), 10.0 (floor)

SENIOR NIGHT:
The Gator careers for seniors Alyssa Baumann, Jazmyn Foberg and Megan Skaggs were celebrated in a post-meet ceremony. This trio:

* Advanced to NCAA Super Six team final in 2018 (3rd)
* Won 2019, 2020 and 2021 Southeastern Conference regular-season trophies
* Earned six All-America honors
* Two SEC balance beam titles (Baumann – 2018; Baumann and Skaggs – 2019)
* Each of Florida’s three seniors are WCGA Scholastic All-Americans every season of their collegiate careers
* Competed 202 routines as part of Gator lineup, which is 20 percent of Florida’s routines since 2018 season.

RECORDS: Florida (7-0, 6-0 SEC), Auburn (1-6, 1-5 SEC)

THE SERIES: Florida leads the series 81-11.

HEAR FROM THE GATORS:
Gators’ performance tonight:
“What an unprecedented season with the most memorable team that will go down in history. It really has been a journey unlike any other year, and I couldn’t be more proud of the heart, of the passion, of the courage, of the resilience of this team.” – Florida Head Coach Jenny Rowland

On Senior Night:
“It’s been an incredible journey [with the seniors] and I always love to see these young women just grow throughout their four years here. Not just in the gym, but outside of the gym; and what they want to do, and what they stand for, and what they want to become. To see these three just continued to grow in their leadership roles and figure out who they are and how to own it, I really couldn’t be more proud.” – Florida Head Coach Jenny Rowland

“This senior class is super special. [Megan] Skaggs is just the sweetest and so inspiring and always so loud and cheerful, and she’s really awesome. [Alyssa Baumann] is a fighter. She works so hard in the gym, and I love to see every time that she steps up and does her thing. [Jazmyn Foberg] is so, so funny and so amazing. It’s so nice to see her comeback and just be able to do her thing. That is a fighting class and they are super, super awesome, so proud of them.” – junior Trinity Thomas

On Trinity Thomas’ Two Perfect 10’s:
“Very, very well earned and deserved. It really was a stunning performance and it made for a very special performance, for her I’m sure as well, having Pam Titus [first NCAA gymnast to score a perfect 10] in the house tonight.” – Florida Head Coach Jenny Rowland

“You could say that she is becoming the greatest Gator gymnast ever.” – Florida Head Coach Jenny Rowland

“[During my floor routine] I thought ‘Wow, that’s one of the best routines I’ve ever done in competition.’ And I honestly didn’t really care about the score because I knew in my heart that that was one of my best routines. Then I turn around, everybody was screaming, and I was like, ‘Oh yay!’ so I was definitely super excited.” – junior Trinity Thomas

On Alyssa Baumann’s return to the uneven bars:
“Her journey has really been unique, it’s been her own, and she’s really taken ownership, and that’s what is so exciting to see. It has not been an easy journey by any means.” – Florida Head Coach Jenny Rowland

National Rank:
Florida – Florida is No. 1 in the Road to Nationals standings<https://urldefense.proofpoint.com/v2/url?u=https-3A__roadtonationals.com_results_standings_season_2021_2_0_5&d=DwIFJg&c=sJ6xIWYx-zLMB3EPkvcnVg&r=o5LKAX7slotfFMyE71jI7L22NYBIi1-KbRGNSXudTPo&m=ZuhMcI44KASchnW3snRgbADPzh3JRjIs-MPcUM5G2vY&s=ClrRgfZpQFiP0wwW6liK–IPTV6NhlzZr0hmGqkr5AM&e= >
Auburn – The Tigers are No. 18

UP NEXT:
Florida finishes 2021 regular-season action next Friday when it travels to No. 7 Alabama.

When: Friday, March 5 at 8:30 p.m. ET.
Venue: Coleman Coliseum<https://urldefense.proofpoint.com/v2/url?u=https-3A__rolltide.com_sports_2016_6_10_facilities-2Dcoleman-2Dcoliseum-2Dhtml.aspx&d=DwIFJg&c=sJ6xIWYx-zLMB3EPkvcnVg&r=o5LKAX7slotfFMyE71jI7L22NYBIi1-KbRGNSXudTPo&m=ZuhMcI44KASchnW3snRgbADPzh3JRjIs-MPcUM5G2vY&s=2vOLiW3Jwi2ZtY__gFetfGKTpj_UtWH2jI-WYRkATKI&e= >
TV: SEC Network Alternate
Stream: Watch ESPN
Tickets: Sold out

No. 1 Florida versus No. 18 Auburn
Final Team Totals

Feb. 26, 2021 ● Exactech Arena at the Stephen C. O’Connell Center (2,109 – physically distanced sellout)

Team

Vault

Bars

Beam

Floor

Total

Florida