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No. 3 Florida gymnastics wraps up its regular season Friday night with a top 10 matchup against SEC rival No. 10 Kentucky. As the last home meet of the season, the Gators will celebrate its two graduate students and four seniors – Bri Edwards, Ellie Lazzari, Leanne Wong, Sloane Blakely, Victoria Nguyen, and Riley McCusker – in a post-meet ceremony.
Last Time Out
The Gators have won their last two meets, posting consecutive 198s. Most recently, Florida got its first SEC road meet win against then No. 14 Alabama 198.025-197.45. Despite being tied halfway through the contest, the Gators pulled away in the third rotation on floor. Wong and Selena Harris-Miranda highlighted the rotation with a pair of 9.925s. The two later posted matching 9.95s on beam.
https://twitter.com/GatorsGym/status/1898202560936268278
Wong notched her 20th career win in the all-around, tying for sixth place all-time for Florida. Scoring a 198 away from home was a huge confidence boost for the Gators, as they had yet to prove their consistency on the road. Last week was good practice for Florida ahead of the SEC Championship in Birmingham, Alabama, and eventually the NCAA Championship.
“It was a great team effort last week,” associate head coach Owen Field said. We know that’s what this team is capable of.”
Celebrating Seniors
As is tradition for the last home meet of the season, the Gators will celebrate their seniors in a post-meet ceremony. This year, two graduate students and four seniors will be honored. Wong, Edwards, Blakely, Lazzari, Nguyen and McCusker boast many accolades between them.
They advanced to the NCAA team final in 2021 (4th), 2022 (2nd), 2023 (2nd) and 2024 (4th). They won four consecutive SEC regular-season trophies (2021-24). The group also helped sweep the 2022 and 2023 SEC regular-season and Championship meet titles.
In terms of individual titles, Wong was the 2024 NCAA bars champion. Three have also claimed SEC event titles: 2023 Blakely – vault, 2021 Lazzari – beam, 2022 & 2023 Wong – beam. They have also earned 29 All-America honors – Blakely (1), Lazzari (2), McCusker (1), Nguyen (3) and Wong (22).
Nguyen said she’s trying not to think about how this will be her last time competing in the Stephen C. O’Connell Center and that she’s been holding back tears.
“I’m just really taking in every moment this week and enjoying the people I’m around and the sport that I love,” Nguyen said. “I know senior night is going to be hard for me, but I’m excited.”
Kentucky on a High
The Wildcats are coming off a season-high 197.925-197.725 win over Arkansas last week. Kentucky posted season highs on vault and beam, while setting the program floor exercise record (49.725). Sophomore Creslyn Brose also posted the first perfect 10.0 of her career, earning her the title of SEC Specialist of the Week.
https://twitter.com/UKGymnastics/status/1898356461891141902
Fifth year Isabella Magnelli also had an outstanding night, putting up a 9.95 on vault and a near-perfect 9.975 on beam.
Focus on Friday
Friday’s conference contest is set to begin at 6:45 p.m. and will air on SEC Network+. The Gators will then prepare for the SEC Championship on Saturday, March 22, where eight of nine teams will compete for the conference title.
