Florida Gymnastics Prepares For Second Quad Meet
No. 4 Florida gymnastics heads to Denton, Texas, for its second quad meet of the season. Coming off a close win on the road against Georgia on Friday, the Gators aim for a more assertive victory against three non-conference foes.
On Friday, Florida (7-2) will face Texas Woman’s University (7-9), Arizona State (5-5) and Fisk University at 8 p.m. While unfamiliar foes, the Gators have actually faced these teams a combined 35 times, though Arizona State accounts for 30 of those matchups. This quad meet will also break Florida’s six-meet streak of contests with top-25 teams.
Arizona State has proved to be the Gators’ biggest threat going into the meet as they have a losing record (14-16) against the Sun Devils. Safia El Mammann has proved to be a major competitor for ASU, earning Big 12 specialist of the week on February 17. However, Texas Woman’s University (TWU) is coming off a major quad meet win in which they beat the Sun Devils. TWU also reached a season high on beam during this meet scoring a 49.025, proving them to be a real competitor in the event.
Fisk University on the other hand, comes in with a different kind of motivation. After announcing that they would discontinue the gymnastics program after the 2026 season, these gymnasts are going into the meet with more than just perfect scores on their mind.
In its meet against Georgia, Florida matched its season high on vault, scoring a 49.425. Vault is the Gators’ weakest event, leaving it ranked No. 10 in the country — its lowest ranking among the individual competitions. However, they shine on the uneven bars, where they’re No. 1 in the nation. Florida stuck five of its six landings against Georgia on Friday. Luckily, the Gators could have a strong start this Friday, as they will begin their rotation on the uneven bars.
It’s also worth noting Florida significantly outranks its opponents on all four apparatuses.
With only the lowest score dropped for each event, consistency from each of the gymnasts will be crucial. Though no Gator has earned a perfect score this season, their individual and team scores have continuously improved. Against Georgia, Kayla DiCello won the uneven bars with a 9.95, and her teammate Selena Harris-Miranda claimed the beam title (9.95) as well as the all-around title, with an impressive 39.50.
“Everybody followed through,” coach Jenny Rowland said after the Gators’ win against the Bulldogs. “[They] did their job, trusted their training, trusted each other, and really came out and that is why we came out with a win.”
Rowland and the Gators look to continue this momentum into the final stretch of the season as they start to prepare for the SEC Championships on March 21.
Category: Gator Sports, Gators Gymnastics
