Florida Gymnastics Hosting NCAA Gainesville Regional

The No. 4 Florida Gators gymnastics team is hosting the NCAA Gainesville Regional which starts on Thursday and ends on Sunday.

Competing alongside Florida are No. 5 Utah, No. 10 Michigan State, No. 13 Missouri, No. 20 Georgia, No. 21 Towson, Maryland, Clemson and Iowa State.

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Rankings Breakdown

Teams are ranked by their National Qualifying Scores (NQS). This is found by taking a team’s top six scores, three of which must be from away meets, then dropping the highest score and averaging the remaining five.

The highest score a team can get is 200. For context, Oklahoma is in first place with an NQS of 198.500, while Hamline is last with an NQS of 181.615.

Round One

Thursday’s matchup will feature the Clemson Tigers and Iowa State Cyclones at 2 p.m. The winner of this matchup will advance to the second session of day two.

Quick Look

The Cyclones had limited success during the regular season and finished with an NQS of 196.405. They placed fourth in the Big 12 Championship with a score of 196.350.

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In their last regular season meet they lost to the Gators with a score of 195.825- 197.700.

On the other side of round one is Clemson who finished its season with a NQS of 196.705. The Tigers placed second in the ACC Championship with a score of 196.425.

Round Two

Round two is on Friday and is split into two sessions. The day starts at 1 p.m. with Utah, Michigan State, Towson and Maryland. The second session begins at 7 p.m. and features the Gators, Georgia, Missouri, and the winner of round one.

Session One

From Out West

The Utah Utes are a strong team to look out for. They have an NQS of 197.895 and won the Pac-12 Championship for the fourth year in a row. They are led by Maile O’Keefe who was last year’s all-around and balance beam champion.

Champions of the North

The Michigan Spartans are another team not to take lightly. They have won 24 straight meets which included this year’s Big 10 Championship. Skyla Schulte led the way winning the all-around title in that meet by scoring a whopping 39.600.

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They have an NQS of 197.625 and are coached by Mike Rowe who was awarded his third straight Big 10 Coach of the Year award.

Mighty Tigers

Towson has an NQS of 196.935 and won its second straight East Atlantic Gymnastics League Championship. The Tigers dominated on the balance beam in the championship meet with four gymnasts scoring at least a 9.900.

Northern Underdogs

Last up for session one is the Maryland Terrapins who have a NQS of 196.790. They placed fifth in the Big 10 championship. Alexa Rothenbuescher put up a strong performance with a 9.900 on both floor and uneven bars.

Session Two

Home Sweet Home

The Gators improved their score every meet for the first seven meets of the season. With an NQS of 197.905, the Gators have proved they’re the team to beat. They placed fourth in the SEC Championship and beat both Missouri and Georgia in that meet and in the regular season.

“This team is very unique from any other team we’ve had,” Gators Head Coach Jenny Rowland said.

Freshman Anya Pilgrim has been an absolute star for Florida with season highs of 9.950 on the vault, 9.950 on uneven bars, 9.975 on the balance beam and a perfect 10 on the floor. Leanne Wong leads the team and has gotten a 10 on every event throughout her career.

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Florida Head Coach Jenny Rowland talks about the team’s drive to get better every day.

Tiger Town

The Missouri Tigers placed fifth in the SEC Championship but is no team to take lightly. They have an NSQ of 197.420. Mara Titarslej tied for the SEC bars title with a score of 9.950. They had three more gymnasts score a 9.900 on the floor to share the event title.

Red and Black

The Georgia Bulldogs struggled this season finishing last in the SEC Championship. They have an NSQ score of 197.030. They have a freshman duo that had great performances on the balance beam in the championship meet. Both Anya Turner and Lily Smith scored a 9.950 on the event, which was the highest of the night for Georgia.

Regional Final

The top two teams of session one and session two will compete on Sunday at 5 p.m. in the regional final. Out of those four teams, the two with the highest scores will move on to the national semifinal in Fort Worth, Texas.

See what the Gators can do at 7 p.m. on Friday, and who will make it to Sunday’s regional final.