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Gator Softball

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March 24, 2025

Gator Softball

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Skye Blakely Sweeps as Gators Earned Mixed Results at U.S. Classic

The reigning world all-around silver medalist Leanne Wong was limited to beam due to a hand injury sustained in practice earlier in the week. Still recovering, she wore a wrist brace and changed her routine to avoid using her hands.

However, her routine was off from the start, bobbling on her switch-leap mount before completely missing the beam and falling on her aerial-back layout, a series she hadn’t competed in some time. Still, the former Gator scored an 11.9 with a 4.8 difficulty score.

Incoming freshman Simone Rose looked steady through her first two events, but a fall on beam ended her all-around competition. Withdrawing from the floor exercise, Rose still won bronze on bars, 0.5 back from Blakely.

Future Gator Dulcy Caylor joined Blakely and Wong on the 2025 U.S. World Championship team in Jakarta, competing in the world all-around finals. But this time out, she struggled on every event as she works her way back from an injury earlier this year. 

“It took me longer than I wanted to be okay with where I am right now, but I’m finally feeling like myself again and motivated to finish this season as strong as possible,” Caylor posted on Instagram ahead of the meet. “I have a renewed outlook, and I’m thankful to be healthy enough to do what I love.”

Starting on bars, her hands peeled off, resulting in a fall for a 11.9 on a 6.9 execution score. She fell on both her dismount on beam and first pass on floor before simplifying her vault to complete the all around. 

Caylor will join the Gators in 2028, deferring her enrollment from this summer after attempting to make Team USA for the L.A. Olympics. 

Also announcing her deferral ahead of the U.S. Classic, Jayla Hang told Inside Gymnastics that instead of coming to Gainesville for the fall, she will take the extra time to prepare to make the Olympic team.

“I was definitely going back and forth with going to college or not, but we came to the conclusion that’s what’s best for how my gymnastics journey will go right now and just overall my body, my mental health, everything,” she said.

In the all-around competition, future LSU Tiger Reese Esponda shocked the competition with the hardest floor routine in the world to win over Oregon State alumnus and two-time Olympian Jade Carey.

Making her second elite appearance since 2013, 2019 UCLA graduate Katelyn Ohashi competed on beam and floor. She needed a 26.8 to earn a spot in the championships, but she missed it by just 0.4, as her 4.8  difficulty on floor could not make up for her 7.8 execution on beam.

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Taurean Green Launches Charity Golf Event for Local Youth

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The team’s work started long before Saturday, playing a key role in securing sponsors. The players gained networking experience, reaching out to businesses in-person and over email. 

“It was like a learning lesson that nothing gets handed to you and we had to work for our sponsorships and go out and get them,” Ruby Hampton, a P.K. Yonge volleyball player, said

Hampton enters her second year on the varsity squad, but will play her first season with her older sister Lucy Hampton, who took a year off. Lucy enjoyed riding around on the golf carts with her teammates while checking in on participants throughout the day and appreciated sharing the experience with Ruby.

“The ability to feel empowered by the rest of the community along with my sister is very important to me,” Lucy said. “It really brings a lot of joy and life to the community around us.” 

Green appreciated the team’s stewardship and hoped the event allowed them to forge new connections within the community. Some of Green’s players from the Gators participated, including Alex Condon, CJ Ingram, Alex Lloyd and Alex Kovatchev even participated. 

“There were a lot of grown ups here playing golf,” Green said. “[It was] a chance to meet different people. A lot of important things in life, it isn’t just what you know it’s who you know.”

Green won three NCAA men’s basketball championships with Florida, earning two as a point guard in 2006 and 2007, and one as an assistant coach in 2025. Drafted 57th overall by the Portland Trail Blazers in 2007, he played one NBA season (2008-09) in Portland and Denver. Before returning to Gainesville in 2022, he spent nine seasons overseas. 

He launched his foundation in 2023 with the aim of empowering the youth in his local community. The foundation already has another event in the works, hosting their fourth annual Back-to-School Basketball Camp Aug. 1. 

“Our foundation is built off of wanting to provide these types of opportunities for the city of Gainesville,” he said. “Everything is going to go back to the kids.”