No. 1 Florida Gymnastics Takes Win at Auburn Through Adversity
No. 1 Florida gymnastics made it out of Auburn, Ala., with its undefeated record alive Friday, outscoring the No. 11 Tigers 197.1-196.7.
The Gators were strong on three of four events in their first road trip of the season after taking a turn for the worst on vault. An injury, falls and stumbles out of landings played a role in the impending drop in next week’s Road to Nationals ranking.
Before they hit the vault, the Gators (5-0, 2-0 SEC) started hot on bars, where they tied the highest event score in the country this season. Three scores of 9.925 and a near-perfect 9.975 from fifth-year Riley McCusker contributed to Florida’s 49.625 on the apparatus.
Despite being No. 4 in the country on the vault, the Gators recorded just a 48.6, one of the lowest team scores on the event in recent history.
Florida sophomore Ly Bui, a 17 year old from Swisher, Iowa, suffered an apparent knee injury on vault, the only event she was slated for. Freshman Amelia Disidore followed with another fall, scoring a 9.3, which would count toward the team total.
Junior Danie Ferris turned the momentum with a 9.925 in the fifth spot in the lineup ahead of senior Selena Harris-Miranda’s meet-winning 9.95. Following the rotation, Florida trailed by 0.075 despite starting with a 0.45 lead.
“I’m so extremely proud of my team,” sophomore Skye Blakely said. “These girls, we stuck together so hard. It’s not easy to watch one of your teammates go down, like these are our girls. We love each other and we train with each other every day, so for us to bounce back and have each other’s backs the way that we did, I’m just so proud of them and so happy for them.”
That deficit did not last long. Blakely led her Gators with a collegiate-best 9.925, giving them a steady lead of 0.25 going into the final rotation. This is her third college appearance on floor, debuting at the season opener on Jan. 9 after suffering an Achilles injury at the 2024 U.S. Olympic Trials.
“It’s just so nice to be healthy again and back doing what I love,” Blakely said. “And being able to contribute more in a different way for my team, I’m just extremely grateful. And I have had so much fun in the gym training, so it’s just super fun now that it’s competition season to be able to show all what I’ve been working on with this team.”
Harris-Miranda is the No. 1 beam worker in the country, earning a 9.95 to prove why she is SEC Co-Specialist of the Week. She followed Blakely’s 9.9 and Cal transfer eMjae Frazier’s 9.925.
There were no Gators in the all-around competition, which was a first since 2013 up until last week. That win went to Auburn (1-2, 0-2) sophomore Marissa Neal, who recorded a 39.375 on all four events to best her junior teammate Olivia Greaves, a former Gator commit.
The Gators return home next week to meet No. 8 Arkansas (2-1, 1-0) at 7:15 p.m. (ESPN2).
Category: Feature Sports News, Gator Sports, Gators Gymnastics, Gymnastics, NCAA, SEC
