No. 4 Florida Gymnastics Wins Ameritas Master’s Classic

LINCOLN, Neb. – No. 4 Florida gymnastics won the Ameritas Master’s Classic quad meet held Saturday evening in front of 3,842 at the Bob Devaney Center.

The Gators took the win at 197.70, followed by No. 27 Nebraska at 197.15, Lindenwood (196.325) and Eastern Michigan (193.600).

THIS EVENING’S MEET
Four marks of 9.850 or better were used toward Florida’s 49.400 on uneven bars. Victoria Nguyen and Gabby Disidore posted 9.875’s and Wong anchored the lineup with a near-perfect 9.975. Freshman Skylar Draser also added a career-high on bars with a 9.825.

A collegiate best of 9.95 by Nguyen led the Gators on balance beam, with three more scores over 9.90 from Wong (9.925) and 9.90s by Draser and Ellie Lazzari. Florida posted the meet high across all events of 49.55 for the rotation.

Florida led by 0.4 with a 98.950 at the meet’s midpoint.

Nguyen’s 9.875 led Florida on floor exercise, with 9.85s from Kaylee Bluffstone and Morgan Hurd as UF tallied a 49.225.

Florida closed with its second-highest vault total (49.525) of the season to clinch the meet win. Buoying that total was four marks of 9.90, led by Pilgrim’s collegiate-best 9.95. Nguyen also added a 9.925 in addition to 9.9s from Lazzari and Draser.

Nguyen won the all-around with a career-high at 39.625. Nebraska’s Emma Spence was second at 39.55 while a pair of Gator freshmen – Draser and Pilgrim – shared third at 39.45.

Apparatus winners:
Anya Pilgrim, UF 9.950 Vault
Leanne Wong, UF 9.975 Uneven Bars
Victoria Nguyen, UF 9.950 Balance Beam
Emma Spence, NU 9.950 Floor Exercise

GATOR PERFORMANCE NOTES:

* Victoria Nguyen wins her second all-around title of her career. Her first all-around title came in the opening meet of her freshman year at Georgia on Jan. 8, 2021.
* Leanne Wong won the 19th bars title of her career Saturday and leads Florida this season with 19 event titles.
* Skylar Draser’s 39.45 equals the eighth highest for a Gator making her all-around debut.
* Nguyen is the third Gator to win all-around this season. Wong has won all-around five times and Anya Pilgrim won the season opener.

* Four Gators equaled or set collegiate bests Saturday:
* Skylar Draser – 9.825 (uneven bars), 9.90 (balance beam), 39.45 (all-around)
* Victoria Nguyen – 9.95 (balance beam), 39.625 (all-around)
* Ellie Lazzari – 9.900 (vault)
* Anya Pilgrim – 9.950 (vault)

FLORIDA COACH JENNY ROWLAND SAID:
“Great win on the road and great score from the Gators tonight. Our intention of the week was control. The Gators took control of everything that they were able to control ourselves. Really proud of the resilience shown from the first routine to the last routine all the way through. We had some new players step in to different roles and different parts of the lineup today. So lots of new, lots of different and yet this team stepped up to the challenge and accepted what they needed to do tonight.” – Florida Head Coach Jenny Rowland

RECORDS:
Florida (14-1, 6-1 SEC)
Eastern Michigan (7-8, 2-3 MAC)
Lindenwood (9-9)
Nebraska (11-8, 4-5 Big Ten)

THE SERIES:
First meeting with Eastern Michigan
Florida leads Lindenwood 3-0
Florida leads Nebraska 23-10

NATIONAL RANK:
Florida – No. 4 in the March 4th Road to Nationals standings<https://roadtonationals.com/results/standings/season/2024/2/0/5>
NU – No. 27

UP NEXT:
Florida returns home to play host to Senior Night presented by Auto ER on Friday, March 15. The quad meet includes No. 21 North Carolina State, Iowa State and LIU.

Following Friday’s meet, Gator fans can celebrate the career of Florida’s seniors and Super Senior – Chloi Clark, Ellie Lazzari, Michala Magee, Victoria Nguyen, Payton Richards and manager Shea Wheeler.

Iowa State (7-10, 2-2 Big 12) lost 196.45 – 196.175 to Iowa in Friday’s home dual.

LIU (11-9) competes at Temple Sunday afternoon.

Florida’s Senior Night will be No. 21 North Carolina State’s (9-4, 6-0 EAGL) fourth consecutive quad. The Wolfpack plays host to Penn State, Pennsylvania and Texas Woman’s University on Sunday.

Meet: No. 4 Florida vs Iowa State, LIU and No. 21 NC State
When: Friday, March 15 at 6:45 p.m. ET
Venue: Exactech Arena at the Stephen C. O’Connell Center <https://www.oconnellcenter.ufl.edu/events/gymnastics-vs-iowa-state-nc-state-liu-senior-night/>
TV: None
Stream: SEC Network +<https://www.espn.com/watch/player/_/id/74d778b4-35e9-476f-8d47-5eaeccc4c4eb> with Kyle Crooks and two-time Honda Award winner Trinity Thomas<https://floridagators.com/sports/womens-gymnastics/roster/trinity-thomas/15416> calling the action
Live Stats: StatBroadcast<https://stats.statbroadcast.com/broadcast/?id=497233>
Tickets: $15<https://floridagators.com/sports/2015/12/10/_tickets_gymnastics_.aspx>. UF students admitted free

No. 4 Florida at Ameritas Master’s Classic
Final Team Totals

March 9, 2024 ● Devaney Center (3,842)

Team

Vault

Bars

Beam

Floor

Total

Florida

49.525

49.400