No. 2 Florida Gymnastics Drops Close Decision at No. 1 Oklahoma

NORMAN, Okla. – As always, it was a close one.

No. 2 Florida gymnastics dropped a close meet to No. 1 Oklahoma Friday in front of a season high 9,541 at the Lloyd Noble Center.

The Sooners won the meet at 197.95 and the Gators posted a 197.70.

The 0.25 margin was typical of recent UF-OU duals as it was the smallest of the last three duals between these two top programs. UF won by 0.350 in 2022 in Gainesville and OU took the dual win 0.300 win in 2019 when UF last visited the Noble Center.

TONIGHT’S MEET
Sophomore Sloane Blakely got the Gators started off with a stuck uneven bars landing, matching her collegiate-best of 9.925 for the second consecutive Friday to share third overall. Thomas won uneven bars with her third consecutive nearly-perfect 9.975 bars mark.

Vault marks of 9.95 from Leanne Wong and Kayla DiCello helped boost Florida’s vault total to a season-best 49.525. That mark tied for second overall with OU’s Danielle Sievers. Olivia Trautman won the event with the Sooners’ second consecutive vault 10.0 (Katherine Levasseur with first last week). Senior Payton Richards led off the lineup with a stuck Yurchenko 1.5 that went 9.90.

At the midway point of the meet, Florida trailed OU by 0.075.

Leanne Wong’s 9.95 led the Gators on floor Friday as she shared the event title with OU’s Faith Torrez. A couple of out-of-bound deductions dinged the floor total as UF put up a season low 49.175. For the first time since Florida’s season opener, Thomas wasn’t part of the floor lineup. After seven consecutive floor appearances, she was given a break, as was DiCello, who competed all-around in the last four meets.

Just as she opened the meet, Blakely led off Florida’s closing lineup with a collegiate best. Her balance beam mark of 9.95 equals her best and sets her season high. She shared the win with OU’s Jordan Bowers. Ellie Lazzari followed her with a season-high 9.925 to tie for third with the Sooner’s Ragan Smith.

The only Gator competing as an all-arounder Friday, Wong took the event title at 39.675. It was her fourth all-around win of the season. OU’s Audrey Davis was second at 39.575 and Bowers took third (39.425).

GATOR PERFORMANCE NOTES:

* Leanne Wong set her season vault best of 9.925 last Friday versus Kentucky. She upped her 2023 best to 9.95 tonight.
* Freshman Kayla DiCello raised her collegiate vault best from 9.90 to 9.95 Friday. She twice turned in a previous high 9.9 vault score.
* It’s a near-perfect trend. Trinity Thomas posted her third consecutive and sixth near-perfect 9.975 uneven bars mark at Oklahoma. It was the 16th 9.975 of Thomas’ career on the event.
* Wong’s four all-around wins set her collegiate season high. She won three all-arounds as a freshman.
* A Gator won the all-around in each of Florida’s nine meets this season – Thomas and Wong (4 each), DiCello (1)

* Collegiate bests equaled or set tonight:
* Sloane Blakely – 9.925 (bars), 9.95 (beam)
* Lori Brubach – 9.85 (floor)
* Kayla DiCello – 9.95 (vault)

COACH ROWLAND SAID:
“It was a really good night here in Norman, Okla., in front of really a spectacular crowd. Really exciting to see everybody come out and support some great gymnastics.

“The Gators started off super strong today with some good, aggressive bars routines. Moving into vault, we had some great momentum going. There were some spectacular stuck vaults tonight.

“It was really important that we gave some Gators a rest as they competed as all-arounders in four consecutive meets. For us to have our best success at the end, it was important that we gave them a break on floor. That opened new opportunities to other Gators. There were little mistakes here and there – which is uncharacteristic. Finished off the meet with a solid beam rotation. A couple Gators who are super solid on a week-to-week basis had some uncharacteristic wobbles, mistakes here and there but yet is great to see others start us off well.

“Number one versus number two. It’s not anything that we particularly talk about as a team. Really, it’s the Gators versus the Gators every meet we go into. However, I do know there were some emotions, heightened emotions, heightened feelings. A little bit more adrenaline, a little bit more wanting to do the best that they can be. And sometimes when you try to be perfect, that’s when those little mistakes happen. It was a great learning opportunity and something that we’re going to carry with us, learn from and continue to move on.” – Florida Head Coach Jenny Rowland

RECORDS: Florida (9-2, 6-1 SEC), Oklahoma (13-0, 3-0 Big 12)

THE SERIES: Florida leads 17-13-1.

National Rank:
Florida – Florida is No. 2 in the Feb. 27 Road to Nationals rankings<https://roadtonationals.com/results/standings/season/2023/1/0/5>
Oklahoma – The Sooner are No.<https://roadtonationals.com/results/standings/season/2023/1/0/5> 1

UP NEXT:
Florida’s regular season closes with a road quad meet at Texas Woman’s University on Sunday, March 12. The meet also includes North Carolina State and Washington.

When: Sunday, March 12 at 2 p.m. ET
Venue: Kitty Magee Arena (2,700)<https://twuathletics.com/sports/2022/6/1/dgl-kitty-magee.aspx>
TV: None
Stream: Blue Frame (purchase)<https://vcloud.blueframetech.com/broadcast/ppv/490797>
Tickets: $12 – $20<https://twuathletics.com/sports/2021/12/22/gymnastics-tickets.aspx>

No. 2 Florida at No. 1 Oklahoma
Final Team Totals

March 3, 2023 ● Lloyd Noble Center (9,541)

Team

Vault

Bars

Beam

Floor

Total

Oklahoma

49.600

49.525