The Florida Gators women's gymnastics team represents the

University of Florida The University of Florida (Florida or UF) is a public land-grant research university in Gainesville, Florida. It is a senior member of the State University System of Florida, traces its origins to 1853, and has operated continuously on its ...

in the sport of

gymnastics Gymnastics is a type of sport that includes physical exercises requiring balance, strength, flexibility, agility, coordination, dedication and endurance. The movements involved in gymnastics contribute to the development of the arms, legs, s ...

. The team competes in Division I of the

National Collegiate Athletics Association The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) is a nonprofit organization that regulates student athletics among about 1,100 schools in the United States, Canada, and Puerto Rico. It also organizes the athletic programs of colleges and ...

(NCAA) and the

Southeastern Conference The Southeastern Conference (SEC) is an American college athletic conference whose member institutions are located primarily in the South Central and Southeastern United States. Its fourteen members include the flagship public universities o ...

(SEC). The Gators host their home matches in the

O'Connell Center The Stephen C. O'Connell Center, also known as the O'Dome, is a 10,500-seat multi-purpose arena located on the University of Florida campus in Gainesville, Florida. The facility is named for the sixth president of the university, Stephen C. O' ...

on the university's Gainesville, Florida campus, and are currently led by head coach Jenny Rowland. The Gators women's gymnastics program has won nine SEC championships, and four national championships: the 1982 AIAW national tournament and the 2013, 2014, and 2015 NCAA championships.

History

The University of Florida first fielded a women's varsity gymnastics team in the fall of 1973. Gymnastics was one of the first women's sports added at the University of Florida and achieved early success by winning the 1982 Association for Intercollegiate Athletics for Women (AIAW) championship (the AIAW was the governing body for women's college sports from 1971 to 1982). Since the NCAA assumed sponsorship for women's sports championships in 1982, Florida has advanced to the NCAA championships (top twelve) every year but one. The Gators have advanced to the "Super Six" finals of the NCAA championships nineteen times. Florida has finished twice as runner-up (1998 and 2012)Laura Owens,
UF gymnastics finishes second at NCAAs
" ''The Gainesville Sun'' (April 21, 2012). Retrieved May 14, 2012. and won NCAA championships in 2013, 2014, and 2015. Ernestine Weaver was the head coach of the Gators gymnastics program from 1980 to 1992 and was responsible for much of the team's early success in AIAW, NCAA, and SEC competition. Under Weaver, the Gators won five SEC championships, the AIAW national championship in 1982, and appeared in thirteen consecutive NCAA championships; Gators gymnasts won five AIAW and NCAA individual national championships. Judi Markell succeeded Weaver as head coach in 1993 and her teams qualified for nine NCAA championships in ten seasons, including three Super Six appearances and a second-place finish in 1998; Markell's Gators won three individual national championships. The Gators were coached by Rhonda Faehn from 2003-2015; they won four SEC championships and appeared in the NCAA championships every year, including ten Super Six appearances, a national runner-up performance in 2012, and three straight national championships from 2013-2015. The 2014 NCAA championship team scored the highest total ever at an NCAA championship with a 198.175. Faehn's Gators won nine individual national championships. Marissa King won the vault title in 2011, Kytra Hunter won the all-around and vault title in 2012 and the all-around and floor titles in 2015, Alaina Johnson won the uneven bars title in 2013, and Bridget Sloan won the all-around and balance beam titles in 2013 and the uneven bars title in 2014. After Faehn's resignation following the 2015 national championship, Florida hired Auburn assistant Jenny Rowland to be the new head coach. In Jenny's first year as head coach she led the Gators to their 10th SEC title and fourth in seven years.

Individual national champions

Twelve Florida Gators gymnasts have won a total of thirty-one individual national college championships, including Ann Woods (1982 AIAW all-around, floor exercise, uneven bars), Lynn McDonnell (1982 AIAW balance beam), Maria Anz (1984 NCAA floor exercise), Susan Hines (1997 NCAA vault; 1998 NCAA vault), Betsy Hamm (1998 NCAA balance beam), Marissa King (2011 NCAA vault), Kytra Hunter (2012 NCAA all-around and vault title, 2015 all-around and floor title), Alaina Johnson (2013 NCAA Bars), Bridget Sloan (2013 NCAA all-around, beam; 2014 NCAA Bars; 2016 NCAA All-Around, Bars, and Beam), Alex McMurtry (2017 NCAA all-around and bars; 2018 NCAA vault), Alicia Boren(2019 NCAA Floor), and Trinity Thomas (2022 NCAA all-around, floor exercise, and uneven bars).

Roster

Below is a roster of gymnasts on the team for the 2022–2023 season. *Head Coach: Jenny Rowland *Assistant Coach: Adrian Burde *Assistant Coach: Owen Field *Volunteer Assistant Coach: Jeremy Miranda *Assistant to Head Coach: Brittany Arlington *Athletic Trainer: Janet Taylor *Student Coach: Vanasia Bradley

Future recruits

Below are gymnasts who have committed to Florida. 2023–24 Commits *

Skye Blakely Skye Amiel Blakely (born February 4, 2005) is an American Artistic gymnastics, artistic gymnast. She was a member of the teams who won gold at the 2022 World Artistic Gymnastics Championships, 2022 World Championships, silver at the 2022 Pan Ame ...

– WOGA – 2019 Junior World bronze medalist (team)

All-American selections

All-American selections through the 2012 season.
Florida Gymnastics 2012 Media Supplement
', University Athletic Association, Gainesville, Florida, pp. 55–56 (2012). Retrieved May 14, 2012. * Maria Anz (1984) * Mackenzie Caquatto (2012) * Amanda Castillo (2007, 2008) * Ashanee Dickerson (2010, 2011*, 2012) * Erinn Dooley (2003*, 2004, 2005*) * Savannah Evans (2004*, 2006, 2007) * Amy Ferguson (2012*) * Courtney Gladys (2010*) * Alicia Goodwin (2009, 2010*) * Jaime Graziano (1997*) * Kristin Guise (1993*, 1994, 1995, 1996) * Betsy Hamm (1998) * Corey Hartung (2006, 2007, 2008, 2009) * Susan Hines (1996*, 1997, 1998) * Kytra Hunter (2012) * Alaina Johnson (2011, 2012*) * Colleen Johnson (1993*) * Janice Kerr (1988^) * Breanne King (2004*, 2007*) * Marissa King (2010, 2011, 2012) * Samantha Lutz (2004, 2006*) * Elizabeth Mahlich (2009*) * Lana Marty (1982) * Christina McDonald (1991) * Lynn McDonnell (1981, 1982) * Melissa Miller (1987, 1988, 1989) * Lindsey Miner (2002, 2003) * Tiffany Murry (2006*) * Amy Myerson (1994, 1995) * Lisa Panzironi (1994*) * Ashley Reed (2007, 2008) * Katie Rue (2004*) *

Elfi Schlegel Elfi Schlegel (born 17 May 1964) is a sportscaster for NBC Sports and a former college and national champion gymnast from Canada. She is generally regarded as a top 50 Canadian gymnast of all time, and maybe even the 3rd best of the late 1970s ...

(1983, 1984, 1985) * Melanie Sinclair (2007, 2008, 2009) * Maranda Smith (2009, 2010, 2011) * Tammy Smith (1985) * Sybil Stephenson (1995*, 1996*, 1997) * Kristen Stucky (2003*) * Orley Szmuch (2003*, 2004) * Hilary Thompson (2001, 2002*) * Pam Titus (1989, 1990, 1991) * Chantelle Tousek (2004) * Chrissy Van Fleet (1997, 1998, 1999*, 2000*) * Chrissy Vogel (1995, 1996, 1997*) * Kara Waterhouse (2001*) * Nicola Willis (2008) * Tracy Wilson (1990) * Ann Woods (1980, 1981, 1982) * Rebekah Zaiser (2010*) Second-team All-American honors are designated with an asterisk (*). H. Boyd McWhorter Award winners (top SEC male and female scholar-athletes) are designated with a caret (^).

Regular Season All-American Awards

The National Association of Collegiate Gymnastics Coaches (NAGCS) started awarding All-American honors for a gymnast's regular season performance. The top 8 gymnasts in each event and the all-around receive first team honors and gymnasts ranked 9 to 16 receive second team honors. The score is based on the National Qualifying Score (NQS) in th
RoadtoNationals.com
rankings.

Team Records

Top Team Total

Top Vault Total

Top Uneven Bars Total

Top Balance Beam Total

Top Floor Total

Past Olympians

* Christina McDonald (

1988 File:1988 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The oil platform Piper Alpha explodes and collapses in the North Sea, killing 165 workers; The USS Vincennes (CG-49) mistakenly shoots down Iran Air Flight 655; Australia celebrates its Bicenten ...

) *

Nicola Willis Nicola Valentine Willis (born 7 March 1981) is Deputy Leader of the National Party and Minister of Finance in a Coalition Government with ACT and New Zealand First. Willis entered the New Zealand Parliament in 2018, when she inherited Steve ...

( 2004) * Marissa King (

2008 File:2008 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: Lehman Brothers went bankrupt following the Subprime mortgage crisis; Cyclone Nargis killed more than 138,000 in Myanmar; A scene from the opening ceremony of the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing; ...

) *

Bridget Sloan Bridget Elizabeth Sloan (born June 23, 1992) is an American artistic gymnast. She is the 2009 world champion in the all-around, the 2009 United States national champion, and a silver medalist with the American team at the 2008 Summer Olympics in ...

(2008)

Kayla DiCello Kayla Kecia DiCello ( or or ) (born January 25, 2004) is an American artistic gymnast. She is the 2021 World all-around bronze medalist. On the junior level, she is the 2019 Junior World vault champion and the 2019 U.S. Junior national all-a ...

(

2020 2020 was heavily defined by the COVID-19 pandemic, which led to global social and economic disruption, mass cancellations and postponements of events, worldwide lockdowns and the largest economic recession since the Great Depression in t ...

alternate) * Leanne Wong (2020 alternate)

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Florida Gators Women's Gymnastics Sports clubs established in 1973 1973 establishments in Florida