No. 3 Florida Gymnastics Opens Road Action with Win at Georgia

ATHENS, Ga. – No. 3 Florida gymnastics opened road action with a 196.975 – 194.475 win over Georgia Friday in front of a Stegeman Coliseum crowd of 6,759.

This was the 155th meeting between the two programs, as the Gym Dawgs are UF’s most frequent opponent. This is Florida’s third consecutive dual meet win in Athens (2022, 2020, 2018).

THIS EVENING’S MEET
A Gator won all but floor exercise tonight. Florida was led on its opening event by near-perfect uneven bars marks of 9.975 by Trinity Thomas and Leanne Wong. Megan Skaggs completed the Gator sweep with her 9.90.

Nya Reed was close to her near-perfect vault mark set in Sunday’s win over Alabama. Tonight, she claimed the vault title at 9.95.

Reed used that same score (9.95) to lead Florida on floor exercise. She finished third to Georgia’s Rachel Baumann’s 10.0 and Soraya Hawthorne’s 9.975.

The Gators closed on balance beam. In her first balance beam performance of 2022, Thomas took the event win at 9.95. Skaggs was runner-up with her lead-off mark of 9.875.

Skaggs collected her second consecutive all-around win, equaling her season best of 39.525.

GATOR PERFORMANCE NOTES:

* Thomas also posted a 9.95 in her first balance beam performance of the 2021 season. Today’s mark was the 15th beam score of 9.925 or above of her Gator career.
* Wong is the sixth Gator to post a 9.975 or better on bars as a freshman. Others include Melanie Sinclair (10.0; 2007), Alaina Johnson (9.975, 2011), Amelia Hundley (9.975, 2017), Bridget Sloan (9.975, 2013) and Thomas (9.975, 2019).
* Dating back to last season, Reed’s earned a 9.9 or above in four of her last five vault performances.
* Reed’s 9.95 was her 16th consecutive mark of 9.925 or better on floor.
* With wins on bars and beam, Thomas now moves to No. 5 on Florida’s Career Event Wins Chart with 79 titles.
* Skaggs claimed the third all-around win of her Gator career tonight, with all coming since 2021.

INJURED GATORS:
Two Gators – Ellie Lazzari and Halley Taylor – suffered injuries tonight. Lazzari’s injury occurred in pre-meet warm-up for floor exercise. Taylor was competing on floor in the anchor position and suffered her injury on her opening tumbling pass.

Both will be evaluated by team doctors when the team returns to Gainesville.

COACH ROWLAND SAID:

“First road trip at Georgia is a challenge as it’s always a really tough environment. This team handled it with a lot of grace, a lot of poise and a lot of fight tonight to come out with a win. We will just continue to take it one step at a time.” – Florida Head Coach Jenny Rowland

RECORDS: No. 3 Florida (5-0, 2-0 SEC)
Georgia (0-3, 0-1 SEC)

THE SERIES: Georgia leads the series 93-61-1.

National Rank:
Florida – Florida is No. 3 in the Road to Nationals Rankings<https://urldefense.proofpoint.com/v2/url?u=https-3A__roadtonationals.com_results_standings_season_2022_2_0_5&d=DwIFJg&c=sJ6xIWYx-zLMB3EPkvcnVg&r=o5LKAX7slotfFMyE71jI7L22NYBIi1-KbRGNSXudTPo&m=34O47vuMCEiHW3fDHu2N-EFh1PlYGke0NGSPSWEW820e1GAnmqIN5vZZ_HcG29xu&s=GEYu5ApLlC0PtAzOPFIgaCRSv97uk18nEG1ACx7GBww&e= >
Alabama – The Gym Dawgs are No. 29

UP NEXT:
A Florida fan favorite is next as the 16th Annual Gators Link to Pink is Friday in the Exactech Arena at the Stephen C. O’Connell Center.

When: Friday, Jan. 28 at 8:15 p.m. ET
Venue: Exactech Arena at the Stephen C. O’Connell Center<https://www.oconnellcenter.ufl.edu/events/gymnastics-vs-arkansas-link-to-pink/>
TV: SEC Network
Stats: Stats Link<https://urldefense.proofpoint.com/v2/url?u=http-3A__stats.statbroadcast.com_statmonitr_-3Fid-3D381439&d=DwIFJg&c=sJ6xIWYx-zLMB3EPkvcnVg&r=o5LKAX7slotfFMyE71jI7L22NYBIi1-KbRGNSXudTPo&m=34O47vuMCEiHW3fDHu2N-EFh1PlYGke0NGSPSWEW820e1GAnmqIN5vZZ_HcG29xu&s=EXR17hlDz9GPkWERJnFTEcHf44IcU3jak0UWS-Qqiew&e= >
Tickets: FloridaGators.com ticket site<https://urldefense.proofpoint.com/v2/url?u=https-3A__floridagators.com_sports_2015_12_10_-5Ftickets-5Fgymnastics-5F.aspx&d=DwIFJg&c=sJ6xIWYx-zLMB3EPkvcnVg&r=o5LKAX7slotfFMyE71jI7L22NYBIi1-KbRGNSXudTPo&m=34O47vuMCEiHW3fDHu2N-EFh1PlYGke0NGSPSWEW820e1GAnmqIN5vZZ_HcG29xu&s=7QC16dOZ7Liva2aaAw0FKx0vqODfDTZdIPbKQNoO934&e= >

No. 3 Florida at No. 29 Georgia
Final Team Totals

Jan. 21, 2022 ● Stegeman Coliseum (6,759)

Team

Vault

Bars

Beam

Floor