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No. 4 Florida gymnastics team closed its regular season playing host to Iowa State, Long Island University and No. 18 North Carolina State on Friday.
The Gators won with a 197.90, with North Carolina State second at 196.825, followed by Iowa State (195.825) and Long Island (192.025).
See Ya Later Seniors
The Gators celebrated Ellie Lazzari, Chloi Clark, Michala Magee, Victoria Nguyen and graduate student Payton Richards on a sentimental Senior Night at the O’Connell Center.
The Quad-Madness Begins
The Gators began on vault, Iowa State on beam, NC State on bars and LIU on the floor.
Skylar Draser kicked things off with electricity for Florida. She earned a 10 from one judge, but it was not unanimous as Draser had to settle for 9.950.
Lazzari, deserves all the celebration for her accolades, but her accolades evaded her in the first go-round. She could not stick the landing and collapsed onto her backside. Lazzari recorded 9.100.
The only two Gators outside of Draser to record at or above that 9.900 mark were Anya Pilgrim and Danie Ferris. Pilgrim sat flat at the 9.900 mark while Ferris barely eclipsed that at 9.925.
Florida ended rotation one atop the four teams competing with a total score of 49.475.
The Mirror Round
In rotation 2, the Gators took to the bars, LIU was on vault, NC State jumped to the beam and Iowa State attacked the floor.
Sloane Blakely and Nguyen posted back-to-back 9.900s, extending Florida’s growing lead.
The Florida squad has synchronized itself beyond. Following the matching 9.900s, Pilgrim and Gabby Disidore equated one another’s scores by each recording an 9.825
Leanne Wong dazzled the crowd once more, but greatness is expected from this elite gymnast. Wong scratched the surface of perfection, but missed it by .25th’s of a point. She earned a 9.975.
Florida maintained its lead with a score of 98.900.
https://twitter.com/GatorsGym/status/1768788824392671658
Florida Inches Closer
In rotation 3, Florida moved to the beam, LIU took to the bars, NC State ran the floor and Iowa State began the vault.
Blakely’s steady climb of skill this season reached its peak. By scoring a 9.925, she matched her season high.
Lazzari looked to shine on Senior Night. She couldn’t do it on the vault by falling, she couldn’t do it on bars after scoring lower than a 9.700, but she found herself on the beam.
Being one of three Gators to reach that 9.900 mark, she matched it to record her meet-high thus far of 9.900.
Alyssa Arana tied the meet high on the beam with an impressive 9.925 after not performing all night.
Heading into rotation 4, Florida sat atop the scoreboard with a score of 148.300.
https://twitter.com/GatorsGym/status/1768792020183838757
9.925 …
Florida closed the night out on the floor, LIU on the beam, NC State on vault and Iowa State on the bars.
Nguyen continued Florida’s dominant night. Nguyen scored her event high of 9.925.
Lazzari’s night began in peril, but she pulled herself out. In her last two events, she shattered her meet high score. Her final regular-season event ended with a 9.925.
Blaklely and Morgan Heard each also recorded an impressive 9.925, marking rotation 4 the rotation of 9.925.
Florida ended with its fourth highest total score on the season at 197.90.
Unparalleled Dominance
Jenny Rowland, in her ninth season as UF’s coach, became the first active SEC coach to hold over 200 wins (201-36-1).
https://twitter.com/GatorsGym/status/1768811282948575597
Putting It All On The Line
The Gators (17-1, 6-1 SEC) look ahead to the SEC championships on March 23 at Smoothie King Center in New Orleans. Florida will compete in session two of the championships at 8 p.m. (SEC Network), a slot reserved for the top four seeds in the conference.
