GAINESVILLE, Fla. – Gators gymnastics adds a dynamic duo in the early signing period.
Two signed with the Gator gymnastics team today, UF head coach Jenny Rowland announced – Lily Bruce (Kingwood, Texas) and Taylor Clark (Orange Park, Fla).
Making it a trio of Gator freshmen for the 2025 season is 2022 and 2023 World Championships gold medalist Skye Blakely. She signed with the Gators in fall of 2022 and announced in the spring of 2023 that she would defer enrollment to pursue a spot on the 2024 U.S. Olympic team.<https://www.instagram.com/p/CvQriUJJ3dl/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link&igshid=MzRlODBiNWFlZA==>
Jenny Rowland Said:
“The Gators gymnastics team is thrilled to welcome these young women to the Florida family, They all bring high levels of skill, competitiveness and experience to our program. Not only are they extremely talented, they also welcome the opportunity to pursue their education at the number one public university. I can’t wait to have them perform in front of a sold-out O’Dome crowd!”- Florida Head Coach Jenny Rowland
Meet the New Gators:
Lily Bruce- Kingwood, Texas
IG: _.lilybruce TikTok: lilybruce
* College Gym News 5-star recruit<https://collegegymnews.com/recruit-database/>
* Second for uneven bars, sixth in vault and ninth in all-around at 2023 U.S. Development Program – Senior B National Championships<https://static.usagym.org/PDFs/Results/2023/w_23devchamps_srb.pdf>
* Third in all-around, fourth in vault, uneven bars, and floor exercise at 2022 U.S. Development Program – Junior E<https://static.usagym.org/PDFs/Results/2022/w_22dev_jre.pdf>
* 2019 Level 10 JO Nationals Junior A vault champion<https://static.usagym.org/PDFs/Results/2019/w_19jo_jra.pdf>
* Won eight Region Three titles since 2019 – all-around (2021, 2023), vault (2019, 2021, 2022, 2023), uneven bars (2021), floor exercise (2023)
* Eight Texas State Championships titles since 2019 – all-around (2021, 2022), vault (2019, 2021, 2022), uneven bars (2021) balance beam (2022), floor exercise (2022)
* Competed at 2023<https://static.usagym.org/PDFs/Results/2023/w_23nlc_sr.pdf>, 2020<https://static.usagym.org/PDFs/Results/2020/w_20nlc_jr.pdf> and 2019<https://static.usagym.org/PDFs/Results/2019/w_19nlc_jr.pdf> Nastia Liukin Cups
* Five-time Metroplex Challenge champion – all-around (2021), vault (2021), uneven bars (2021, 2023), floor exercise (2023); all-around winner in both 2020 Metroplex Challenge National Elite Optional and Elite Compulsory qualifiers
* Claimed 13 Biles Invitational titles since 2019 – all-around (2019, 2020, 2022, 2023), vault (2019, 2020, 2022), uneven bars (2019, 2020, 2022), balance beam (2020, 2022), floor (2023)
* 11-time WOGA Classic event titles since 2019 – all-around (2020, 2021), vault (2019, 2020, 2021, 2022), uneven bars (2020, 2022), balance beam (2019, 2021), floor exercise (2020)
* Trains at World Champions Centre (WCC) with Simone Biles and coached by Cecile and Laurent Landi
Coach Jenny Rowland says:
“The Gators are thrilled to officially welcome Lily Bruce to our Gator family. Lily is a fierce competitor and will bring so much talent and joy to this team. Her competitiveness is undeniable and Gator Nation is sure to fall in love with her bubbly personality. She will bring depth into this team as an all-arounder and should soar on bars.”
Taylor Clark- Orange Park, Fla.
IG: taylor.cl1rk or taylorclark_2024<https://www.instagram.com/taylorclark_2024/>
* College Gym News 4-star recruit<https://collegegymnews.com/recruit-database/>
* 2023 U.S. Development Program East All-Stars floor exercise runner-up<https://static.usagym.org/PDFs/Results/2023/w_23devchamps_allstareast.pdf>
* 2022<https://www.instagram.com/p/CcsSpVkul7W/?img_index=2> and 2023 Region Eight vault champion; won 2023 floor exercise title
* 2022 and 2023<https://www.instagram.com/p/CqT7m1WJ_bf/> Florida State floor exercise champion; 2023 all-around runner-up
* 2023 Magical Classic vault champion with a 10.0<https://www.instagram.com/p/CoqkkRpDVds/?img_index=2>
* Floor exercise runner-up and third in vault at 2023 Atlanta Crown meet
* 2022 U.S. Development Program National Championships Junior D floor exercise champion<https://static.usagym.org/PDFs/Results/2022/w_22dev_jrd.pdf>, fourth on vault<https://www.instagram.com/p/Cdrq-5DDYYk/>
* 2022 Alamo Classic all-around and floor exercise champion, second on vault, third on uneven bars, fourth on balance beam
* Fourth on vault at 2021 U.S. Development Program National Championships – Junior B<https://static.usagym.org/PDFs/Results/2021/w_21dev_jrb.pdf>
* Second on vault and fourth on floor exercise at 2021 Atlanta Crown meet
* Trains at Florida Elite Gymnastics and coached by Valentine Buse
Coach Jenny Rowland says:
“Gator Nation – get ready for Taylor! We are so excited to see her light up the O’Dome on Friday nights with her infectious smile and performance factor on Floor and her untapped power on vault. She will definitely be a crowd pleaser and we look forward to seeing her compete in Orange and Blue under the bright lights!”
Also included in Florida’s freshman class for the 2025 season is Skye Blakely. She signed with Florida in November of 2022 but is deferring enrollment to fall 2024 to pursue a spot on the 2024 U.S. Olympic team.<https://floridagators.com/news/2022/11/9/gymnastics-gators-sign-four-wednesday>
Skye Blakely- Frisco, Texas
IG: skyeblakely X: skyeblakely_
* 2022<https://usagym.org/u-s-women-capture-record-sixth-straight-world-championships-team-title/> and 2023<https://floridagators.com/news/2023/10/4/gymnastics-us-win-world-championships-team-gold.aspx> World Championships gold medalist with Team U.S.A. Fifth in 2022 World Championships balance beam final
* 2023 Xfinity U.S. Gymnastics Championships vault<http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yz4AsS7IBM0>, uneven bars<http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NncCpekHKaE>, and balance beam<http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m2YtEwQZfpg> silver medalist; fourth in all-around<https://static.usagym.org/PDFs/Results/2023/w_23champs_sraa.pdf>
* 2023 Winter Cup balance beam champion<http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=slB0NA-RCeo>
* Member of 2023-24, 2022-23, 2021-22 U.S. Senior National<https://usagym.org/biles-becomes-all-time-all-around-champion-at-xfinity-u-s-gymnastics-championships/> and 2019-20 and 2018-19 U.S. Junior National teams<https://usagym.org/pages/women/history/past_nat_teams_jr.html>.
* Fifth on uneven bars, sixth in all-around and floor exercise at 2022 OOFOS U.S. Gymnastics Championships<https://usagym.org/PDFs/Results/2022/w_22champs_sraa.pdf>
* 2022 Pan American Championships all-around and floor exercise bronze medalist<https://usagym.org/PDFs/Results/2022/w_22panam_srevents.pdf>; team silver
* 2022 Winter Cup all-around and floor exercise runner-up<https://www.usagym.org/PDFs/Results/2022/w_22wc_sr.pdf>
* Seventh in all-around and eighth on balance beam at 2021 U.S. Championships
* 2021 American Classic all-around champion and took silver on beam.
* Older sister, Sloane, is a junior on 2024 Gators team. Fourth set of sisters to be part of Florida gymnastics team (Lynn and Karen McDonnell – both on 1983 & ’84 UF teams; Mackenzie and Bridgette Caquatto – both on 2013 & 2014 UF teams; Alyssa and Rachel Baumann – 2018-2022 & 2023 UF teams).
* Sign national letter of intent with UF in November 2022. Deferring UF enrollment to pursue Paris 2024 Olympic Games.
* Trains at World Olympic Gymnastics Academy (WOGA) and coached by Yevgeny Marchenko and Haiou Sun
* Graduated from Wakeland High School in spring 2023
Gators In 2023:
Florida swept the 2023 Southeastern Conference regular-season<https://floridagators.com/news/2023/2/24/gymnastics-no-2-gators-claim-fifth-straight-sec-title-with-win-over-no-12-kentucky.aspx> and championship meet<https://floridagators.com/news/2023/3/18/no-3-florida-gymnastics-wins-sec-championships-meet.aspx> titles.
The Gators took second in the NCAA Championships team final. Six with 20 All-America honors return in 2023 – Sloane Blakely, Ellie Lazzari, Riley McCusker, Payton Richards and Leanne Wong.
Get a preview of the 2024 Florida team at the Dec. 5 Gators Hype Night<https://floridagators.com/news/2023/10/26/gators-gymnastics-hype-night-is-december-4.aspx>.
The 2024 season begins January 12 with a home quad meet versus Fisk, George Washington and Talladega. <https://floridagators.com/sports/womens-gymnastics/schedule>
The Gators sold out all five home meets in 2023. Find season ticket information on FloridaGators.com<https://floridagators.com/sports/2015/12/10/_tickets_gymnastics_.aspx>.
