Gators Gymnastics Making 40th NCAA Championship Appearance

The No. 4 Gators gymnastics team has made it into the NCAA semifinals once again.

The semifinals are being held in Fort Worth, Texas, on Thursday and Saturday. The three-time NCAA title holders are making their 40th championship appearance.

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Schedule

At 4:30 on Thursday, No. 2 LSU, No. 19 Stanford , No. 12 Arkansas and No. 3 California kickoff the first semifinal session.

The second semifinal will be at 9 p.m. on Thursday, with No. 1 Oklahoma, No. 8 Alabama and No. 5 Utah joining the No. 4 ranked Gators.

Florida will begin its semifinal session on the floor.

The Team Final is on Saturday at 4 p.m. and is dependent on the scores from Thursday. The two top-scoring teams from each session will advance to the final.

The Gators have advanced from the semifinals into the team final in 16 of their last 18 NCAA appearances.

Gainesville Regional Championship

The championship seeds were determined by the outcomes of regional championships. The Gators won first place in theirs on April 7.

Florida recorded a season-high score of 198.325 at the Gainesville Regional Championship. This pushed the team into the NCAA Championship.

Of the eight teams in the semifinals, Florida’s 198.325 score was the second highest among all regional scores. Only No. 1 Oklahoma’s 198.400 topped the Gators.

Words from Rowland

Gators head coach Jenny Rowland spoke about the competition and her team’s success.

“The staff knew that this team definitely had the ability to have a lot of success this year,” Rowland said about having six freshmen on the team.

She said the freshmen met Florida’s standards.

Rowland said that having beat Utah previously gives the team some confidence going into the semifinals. Utah came in second at the Gainesville Regional, but will have a chance to top the Gators this time around, as the two are in the same semifinal session.

“We beat them before, we can do it again,” she said.

She said winning is about control, handling emotions and being able to focus during competitions.

Rowland said it is an honor to make it to the national championship because only eight teams make it.

“Even just being amongst the best of the best on the floor at any given time is something that I don’t take for granted,” she said.

The semifinals can be watched on ESPN2 or streamed on ESPN+.