No. 3 Florida Gymnastics to Compete at SEC Championship

Gators gymnastics is in Birmingham, Alabama, to fight for an SEC Championship. No. 3 Florida competes in the second session of the meet Saturday night at 8 p.m. EST.

What’s at Stake for the Gators

Florida did not receive the regular-season SEC title for the first time since 2018. After winning the SEC Championship meet in 2022 and 2023, the Gators finished fourth last year.

Senior Leanne Wong and junior Selena Harris-Miranda will appear in the all-around competition for Florida. Wong was named an AAI Award finalist and a member of the SEC Community Service Team this week. She was also the SEC beam champion in 2022 and 2023, and the NCAA bar champion in 2024. Going into her first SEC Championship, Harris-Miranda is the SEC Gymnast of the Week for her league-leading score of 39.875 against Kentucky.

https://twitter.com/GatorsGym/status/1903102381119676565

The third-seeded Gators begin on the floor exercise in the evening session.

SEC Competitors

In this meet, eight teams compete in two separate sessions for one title. The bottom four seeds go head-to-head in the afternoon session before the top four begin later in the evening. The scores from both sessions are used for team and individual titles.

Session one airs on the SEC Network at 3:30 p.m., and session two airs at 8 p.m.

Oklahoma

This is the Sooners’ first appearance in this meet, as they are new to the conference this year. Oklahoma received the top seed, as they now hold a share of the SEC regular-season title.

During the week, Audrey Davis and Jordan Bowers were named AAI Award finalists. Davis also represents the Sooners on the 2025 SEC Community Service Team.

Oklahoma begins on the vault Saturday, which is the event that kept the Sooners from advancing to last year’s NCAA Championship final.

LSU

The defending SEC and NCAA champion Tigers are the two-seed in this year’s meet. They come into this meet with a share of the regular-season title, their third in program history.

Fifth-year Haleigh Bryant looks to defend her title in the all-around and on the vault. She won the events last year with a 39.8 and 9.975, respectively. Ashley Cowan tied for the bars with a 9.95 last year, winning her first SEC title. Konnor McClain scored a 10 on beam, winning her the event title in her freshman season. KJ Johnson also shared the floor title after scoring a 9.975.

Senior Aleah Finnegan was honored as an AAI Award finalist this week. Bryant received the award last year.

LSU begins on bars and ends on vault, the event on which the Tigers are the top-ranked team.

https://twitter.com/LSUgym/status/1903176956935274576

Missouri

In what might be its best season yet, Missouri makes the second session as the fourth-seeded team. Last season, the Tigers finished sixth and Mara Titarsolej tied for the bars title for her first SEC win.

Missouri defeated Arkansas last week on the road. The second-highest score in program history (197.8) earned coach Shannon Welker the 100th win of his career.

Kentucky

The Wildcats just missed out on the second session, receiving the five seed. Kentucky ended its regular season with a loss in Gainesville, but it put up its season’s best road score (197.725). It will kick off the first session on the vault.

Georgia

After finishing in last place at last year’s meet, the Gymdogs are back as the sixth seed. Now led by Simone Biles’ coach Cécile Canqueteau-Landi, Georgia posted a season-high 197.975 in its loss to Oklahoma last week.

Gainesville native Brooke Gleichowski was recognized as a member of the SEC Community Service Team Friday.

Auburn

The Tigers are the seven seed in this year’s meet, which is exactly how last year’s competition ended for them. Despite losing to LSU at home last week, a score of 197.55 would allow Auburn to compete at the SECs, where it will begin on beam.

On Friday, senior Sophia Groth was named SEC Scholar-Athlete of the Year in addition to making the SEC Community Service Team.

https://twitter.com/AuburnGym/status/1903100815486697882

Alabama

The Tide has taken a turn this season. After finishing second in last year’s SEC Championship meet, the eight-seed Alabama finds itself barely making it this year.

Bama finished the regular season with a 197.05-196.675 win at Michigan.

On the Outside

Previously, all eight teams automatically competed for the league title. However, with the addition of Oklahoma to the SEC, one team had to miss out on this year’s championship.

No. 16 Arkansas did not receive an invite to the meet, trailing Alabama’s national qualifying score (NQS) by 0.105. Many are disappointed by this, as freshman Joscelyn Roberson, 2024 Olympic replacement athlete, will not have the opportunity to compete for an individual title.

Further controversy has risen for the Gymbacks. In an attempt to raise its NQS, Arkansas submitted a request to NCAA Gymnastics to compete at Oregon State this weekend for a final regular-season meet, according to head coach Jordyn Wieber. However, this request and an appeal were not accepted.