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Florida gymnastics will be back in the O’Dome tonight dressed in pink in its ninth annual Link to Pink meet. The team will be competing against the 25th ranked Kentucky Wildcats. Florida coach Rhonda Faehn says they are excited to be back at home for this meet.
“It’s going to be one of our most inspirational and incredible competitions that we host… to raise awareness for the fight against breast cancer.”
The Gators are coming off a road loss to LSU last week. However despite the loss, there were still highlights across the board. Freshman Alex McMurtry took home her fourth vault title with a score of 9.975 and Kytra Hunter’s season best bar routine gave her the second place title. Faehn says she’s not disappointed in the team’s performance.
“I would say that it was definitely a step forward, but it’s a great learning experience.”
The Wildcats are coming off an upset win over then number 14 Arkansas last Friday. The team took home both beam and floor wins but has not had an all-around competitor yet this season. In last year’s meeting between Kentucky and Florida, the Gators won by a margin of more than a point and a half. At that meet, Bridget Sloan became one of only two Gators in Florida’s history to score a perfect 10.0 on beam. Faehn says the team is preparing to put its best foot forward in tonight’s match up.
“I think what the athletes are going to be doing, of course, is looking back, evaluating, and seeing from this point on what we still need to work on to get better.”
Junior Bridget Sloan was back in the competition against LSU and is expected to appear in tonight’s meet as well; she is hoping to be back competing full time in a few weeks after suffering an injury in Florida’s opening meet of the season.
Tonight’s meet will begin at 6:45 pm and stream live on the SEC Network.
To listen to Rhonda Faehn’s audio clips, click below.
Rhonda Faehn talking about the Link to Pink meet
