Georgia at Florida

Recap

The Big Storyline: Trinity Thomas led the Gators to their highest score of the season in record-setting fashion by earning her 23rd career perfect 10 and surpassing Maggie Nichols and Kyla Ross for sole possession for fourth-most 10s in NCAA history. Thomas also became the first gymnast ever to earn four Gym Slams.

Implications: Florida maintains its place as the clear SEC frontrunner and holds onto second place in the national rankings over No. 3 Michigan by a little under a tenth, yet it still trails top-ranked Oklahoma by nearly three tenths. Georgia hangs onto the No. 17 spot nationally and seventh in the SEC with its fourth consecutive score of 196.125 or better, though No. 18 Arkansas is hot on its heels. 

Records: In addition to Thomas’ records, junior Victoria Nguyen—who transferred from Georgia in the offseason—earned a career high on floor while sophomore Sloane Blakely scored a career high 9.925 on bars.

Preview

Current Rankings: No. 17 Georgia at No. 2 Florida

Why You Should Cancel Plans for It: Georgia comes into the meet looking better than expected this early in the season, beating Kentucky last week and scoring just a tenth below (197.225) what Florida did against Alabama (197.325) in the process. While it will be tough for the Gymdogs to get a similar upset in front of the O’Dome’s raucous crowd, they will look to capitalize on upward momentum, the likes of which they haven’t seen in several seasons now. Speaking of the Gators, they left a lot of tenths on the table at Alabama last week, so they’ll want to resurge tonight. 

What We’re Watching: It’s always interesting to see the Gators’ flirtations with depth early in the season. It’s resulted in unexpected twists like Morgan Hurd anchoring the floor lineup for the past few weeks. We’ll see if the same decision is made tonight. In similarly surprising lineup decisions: highly anticipated but elusive former five-star Jacquie Moran cracking Georgia’s beam lineup (and hitting) last week. Moran has tons of potential, so we’ll see if she returns in this big meet tonight. 

What Else to Know Before Tuning in: The O’Dome has sold out for the seventh consecutive meet, so this should be a loud one in Gainesville.