Gator Gymnastics Finishes Third in NCAA Championship

The Florida Gators are not your 2017 NCAA national champions in gymnastics but the team did put on an incredibly strong performance during the Super Six Saturday night in St.Louis.  The Oklahoma Sooners won the title for the second straight year while LSU and Florida were neck and neck during the last rotation to fight for second place and it looked like the Gators would take it until LSU senior Ashleigh Gnat secured a 9.5 on beam to push the Tigers ahead. Fitting for this Florida Gator team, junior All-American Alex McMurtry scored a perfect 10 on bars to finish up the meet for the Gators.

https://twitter.com/GatorsGym/status/853450899460694017

Overview

The Florida Gators took the bronze in the Super Six competition with a final score of 197.70. Oklahoma finished up the meet with an incredible score of 198.3875. LSU finished with a 49.725 on beam to earn them second place; the score tying for the highest beam score in LSU school history. LSU’s final overall score was a 197.7375. Florida junior Alex McMurtry won the all-around title after scoring a perfect 10 on bars and 9.95 on floor.

Florida is losing 0 routines next season. The Gators will be ones to watch one again for sure. Congrats on the 3rd place finish!#NCAAGym

— NCAA Gym News (@NCAAGymNews_) April 16, 2017

Up Next

While it was a disappointing loss for the Gators this time around, the future is bright in Gainesville. The Gators will be losing ZERO routines next year. Claire Boyce was the only senior on this team, and halfway through the season injuries took her out of the competition for Florida. Co-captains Alex McMurtry and Kennedy Baker will be the leading seniors on this team next season and Florida will definitely be a team to watch. Back-to-back national champions Oklahoma will be losing six seniors while LSU will be losing their leading scorer Ashleigh Gnat along with two other seniors.

The Gators could be preseason favorites in 2018 to once again win a national title. If so, it’d be their fourth time.