Florida Gators gymnastics advances to NCAA finals gatorcountry.com - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from gatorcountry.com Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
Plotting out Florida’s recipe for Four on the Floor success
Share this story
Jerome Miron-USA TODAY Sports
Florida’s gymnastics team will be competing for a national championship their first since 2015 at the NCAA Championships on Saturday.
They’ll also take to the various apparatuses in Fort Worth knowing exactly how fortunate they are to be getting to perform on the last day of this season.
In their first NCAA semifinal as a team since 2018, the Gators finished with a 197.4375 behind Michigan (197.8625), and well below their ceiling, but ahead of California (197.3625), and Minnesota (197.1875) and thus enough to power the Gators to the final.
Senior Alyssa Baumann noted after the NCAA Regional in Athens, Georgia, that Regionals can be harder than the NCAA National because there is not as much excitement; teams don’t win titles at Regionals, so it is harder to get as motivated to compete at a high level, and teams can suffer because of that. As the Florida Gators entered the National Semifinal, they needed to avoid a similar situation.
The National Final was a mere 24 hours away, the meet where a national champion will be crowned. However, the Gators had not booked a ticket yet; Florida needed a top-two finish at the National Semifinal on Friday, April 16, to advance. The Gators would compete against Michigan, Cal. Berkeley and Minnesota; after another up-and-down performance, Florida did just enough to secure a spot in the National Final with a score of 197.4375.
Florida gymnastics seeks Four on the Floor berth at NCAA Championships
Share this story
The last four years have been a roller-coaster ride for Florida Gators gymnastics in postseason competition.
In 2018, Florida headed to the NCAA Championships as the No. 5 team and finished third behind UCLA and Oklahoma.
In 2019, the Gators went into NCAA Regionals ranked No. 4 in the country, but fell to Oregon State at the Corvallis Regional, missing a chance to make nationals after having to count a fall on beam.
In 2020, Florida showed consistency and earned high scores all season long, looking like the strongest contender to upset No. 1 Oklahoma for the NCAA title when the season was cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Bears make NCAA Championships for 4th team appearance in program history dailycal.org - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from dailycal.org Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.