Florida Gymnastics Seeks Revenge Against Missouri
On Feb. 6, Gators gymnastics will face off against the Missouri Tigers, a necessary rematch. The teams’ last competition ended with the Tigers upsetting Florida and cutting their championship run short. By just one-tenth, Missouri beat the Gators (197.30-197.20) for the second time in the school’s history, and at the perfect time for them to advance to the final four.
The meet started well for Florida, as they entered the third rotation in second place, just enough to qualify for the championship meet. Uncharacteristically, the Gators stumbled on vault and had their lowest scoring rotation all season (49.075). Missouri capitalized on Florida’s falter and moved to second going into the final rotation.
It came down to the final gymnasts in the final rotation for a nail-biting finish: Riley McCusker for Florida and Helen Hu for Missouri. Both gymnasts were ending the meet on their highest-scoring events, with McCusker on bars and Hu on beam.
Hu competed first and completed her second-best beam routine of her season, scoring a 9.9875. McCusker followed shortly after, but her 9.8625 was not enough to top Hu’s performance. Hu not only clinched Missouri’s bid to the finals, but also won the national beam title with that routine.
Head coach Jenny Rowland acknowledged before the competition that the team with the most mistakes would not advance. While Florida’s vault rotation played a major role in the team’s downfall, Rowland attributes their loss to their performance throughout the entire meet.
“There’s no one event that’s going to make or break everything,” she told reporters following the semifinals. “It’s the little things that add up, and the Gators had too many mistakes tonight.”
However, a new season means a new start for Florida and Missouri. Both teams will be adjusting to new rosters and the loss of vital gymnasts that made their past seasons successful.
Florida’s depth took a massive hit with the loss of all-arounders Victoria Nguyen, Sloane Blakely and world champion Leanne Wong. All three gymnasts competed in multiple events and provided high scores for each. Wong and Blakely have been perfect as well during their time with the Gators, with Wong scoring 10s on each of the four events multiple times.
However, Florida’s new roster additions show promise of filling in these missing roles.
eMjae Frazier transferred this off-season from the University of California-Berkeley, where she contributed to the team’s 2024 second-place finish. Her all-around capability mirrors those of Wong and Nguyen, having three perfect scores so far in her career and finishing last season ranked 17th nationally.
Sloane Blakely may have graduated, but her younger sister is just getting started here at Florida. Five-time US Senior National team member Skye Blakely has fully recovered from an Achilles tendon tear earlier this year. Blakely will likely compete in the bars and beam lineup, where she is a national champion on beam and has scored 9.95 on bars. Blakely has also been seen training vault in the preseason, potentially contributing to the Gators there as well.
While not yet confirmed, Kayla DiCello will be another all-arounder who can fill the shoes of the gymnasts before her. The world champion won the SEC Freshman of the Year in 2023 and has already been perfect twice on bars. If fully recovered by the regular season, DiCello can provide high scores on all events.
For the Tigers, four crucial gymnasts will be missed this season, with each being a major key to their fourth-place finish last season.
Mara Titarsolej, a member of the uneven bars first team, scored the Tigers’ highest bars score in the semifinals (9.945). Missouri gained its edge over Florida during the bar rotation, where Titarsolej’s bronze-winning routine moved the team into the lead.
Missouri also lost floor second team members Amari Celestine and Jocelyn Moore. Celestine also made the second team for the all-around. Both gymnasts made the floor and vault lineups every meet, with Celestine competing in all four events in the semifinals.
Statistically, vault was Missouri’s weakest event last season, being their lowest-scoring event in 12 out of 16 total meets. Celestine and Moore combined have scored 9.9+ on vault 41 times throughout their careers, key gymnasts the Tigers’ vault lineup will have to fill.
Finally, the Tigers lose heavy-hitter Hu. She made the first team for balance beam, averaging a 9.970 all season, and is notably one of the best beam workers in the SEC.
On the other hand, according to Rowland, Florida has no weak event even with the roster changes. Gymnasts like Selena Harris-Miranda and Anya Pilgrim are high-scorers on all four events and regularly compete in three to four events in a meet. Incoming freshmen Jayla Booker, Amelia Disidore, Jocelyn Sasson and Maddy Dorbin also deepened the Gators’ event lineups.
With a fresh start, the Gators seek revenge not only against the Tigers but a national title as well.
Category: Gator Sports, Gators Gymnastics, Gymnastics
