I am excited to be at the Stephen C. O’Connell Center in Gainesville to bring you this top 10 matchup between No. 2 Florida and No. 8 Alabama. This is the annual “Link to Pink” meet which aims to raise awareness about breast cancer prevention and treatment, and there will be a pink light show prior to the start of the meet, which should be cool to see.
Coming into this meet, Florida is the only team with a perfect record in the SEC while Alabama is the only team with one loss, so a win tonight will guarantee the Gators the SEC regular season title. While that’s certainly nothing to sneeze at, the Gators are on track to contend for much bigger goals—first the SEC championship and then the NCAA team title.
The Gators have no weaknesses; they are currently ranked in the top four on every event and have yet to count a single fall the entire season. Alabama meanwhile has counted falls on beam twice, including last week against Arkansas. If the Crimson Tide is to have any hope of an upset here, beam consistency is a good place to start.
Alabama has had more injury concerns lately, with Makarri Doggette limited to bars last week and Griffin James going down with an Achilles injury. It’s doubtful we’ll see Doggette back in the all around tonight, but even having her back on beam would be a big boost to that lineup. Florida, meanwhile, has been missing Nya Reed for the last three meets due to a particularly long-lasting flu recovery, but the team has been cruising without her so it’s not particularly urgent to see her return.
Nearly every gymnast competing in this meet has star potential, but the headliners are of course Trinity Tomas, Lexi Graber, Shallon Olsen, Rachel Gowey, Amelia Hundley, Luisa Blanco, Alyssa Baumann, Savannah Schoenherr…wait, how can I possibly narrow this list down? Regardless, both rosters are full of stars, and this is a must-see meet.
A stream can be found at SECN and live scores are here.
Nya Reed only warmed up a layout on vault, but it looked like she did a full floor routine (I missed the last pass), so take that for what it’s worth. UPDATE: she’s not in lineups. Doggette is only in bars and beam, as expected.
Rotation One: Florida Vault, Alabama Bars
Foberg VT: Y-full, lots of distance and sticks it. 9.85
Dickson UB: Very nice bail handstand, controls it well. HUGE Ray. Nice FTDT with a college stick. 9.875
Skaggs VT: Y-full, pretty in the air, not a ton of distance and has a small slide back on the landing. 9.85
Gaskins UB: A little short on first handstand. Loses her grip after a low Pak but somehow stays on the bar. Short on last handstand, then her DLO is very close to the bar. Lands upright and slides back. 9.525
Alexander VT: Huge, beautiful Y-full, amazing height and distance. Opens it up beautifully and sticks it. Hard to find any faults there. And the judges agree–it’s a perfect 9.95!
Graber UB: Leg separation on Gienger. Good bail handstand. Gorgeous handstands throughout! FTDT with a small foot adjustment. 9.8
Schoenherr VT: Y-1.5, soft knees in the air. Small slide forward with the left foot but otherwise a gorgeous vault. 9.9
Givens UB: Nice straddled Jaeger but short on next handstand. Bail is a bit uncontrolled. DLO is a little piked down but stuck. 9.85
Thomas VT: Y-1.5, a little lower in amplitude than her usual I think and she has to take a hop forward on the landing. 9.9
Mahoney UB: A little short on her first handstand. Good bail handstand. Nice Tkatchev but a couple more short handstands before her FTDT, which is stuck. 9.875
Richards VT: Comes up a little short on her Y-1.5 and has to take an uncontrolled step back after an awkward landing. 9.85
Doggette UB: Huge Tkatchev to Pak, a little hesitant on the half pirouette. Maybe a touch short on her last handstand but great DLO and a stick. 9.95
After 1: Florida 49.450, Alabama 49.350
Florida still has a few landings to clean up on that vault rotation, but they’ll certainly take a 49.450 and the lead. Alabama will be happy to not count that miss from Gaskins and be within a tenth of the Gators.
Rotation Two: Alabama Vault, Florida Bars
Burgess VT: Piked down Y-full and has to wave her arms around to save the stick, but save it she does. 9.8
Richards UB: Leg separation on her Maloney but good bail. More leg separation on her DLO and a small slide back on the landing. 9.825
Desch VT: Another Y-full, a little less pike down than Burgess but she has to take a small hop back. 9.825
Gowey UB: Tkatchev was a little close to the bar but she caught it well. Beautiful Pak! Nice handstand on the high bars. DLO with a small step back. 9.85
Mahoney VT: Good Y-full with another hop back. 9.825
Hundley UB: Beautiful Maloney to Pak. Great handstands, nice Van Leeuwen. Maybe a touch short on her last handstand. FTDT with staggered feet on the landing but STUCK. 9.9
Blanco VT: Beautiful Y-full STUCK. 9.85
Skaggs UB: Great, high Tkatchev, some leg separation on her Pak I think? Hard to tell from this angle. Hop back on her DLO. 9.85
Olsen VT: DTY is piked down but stuck! 9.85
Thomas UB: Holds her first handstand for days. Great Maloney, beautiful Pak. Van Leeuwen is gorgeous as well. All handstands look good. DLO with a hop back but that was the only deduction I saw. 9.9
Graber VT: Y-1.5 with a TON of distance and STUCK. Wow! 9.975
Schoenherr UB: A little short on first handstand. Gorgeous toepoint on her Jaeger! Bail handstand is well controlled. A little short on her last handstand too. Double front half out with a hop. 9.85 feels a little high…
After 2: Florida 98.800, Alabama 98.675
Florida didn’t pull ahead that rotation as much as I expected them to. It wasn’t a bad rotation, just not what they’re capable of. Alabama had a couple of stellar vaults to keep them close. This is a great meet so far!
This arena is LOUD, y’all.
Rotation Three: Florida Beam, Alabama Floor
Richards BB: BHS LOSO LOSO, well controlled. Good extension on her leaps. Side aerial back full dismount with a lean forward but holds the stick. 9.9
Klopfer FX: Double tuck to open, solid. Good leaps! Back 1.5 to front layout, really nice. Double pike to close, a bit of an uncontrolled lunge out of it but I don’t know if the judges will take for that. 9.85
Johnson-Scharpf BB: Front tuck with a check. BHS LOSO and she falls off. She looked off after the BHS so she didn’t have much of a chance. Another check after the full turn. Leaps are good! Small hop on her dismount. Not the routine she wanted. 9.3
Olsen FX: Double double, slightly low chest on the landing and a very small hop forward. Front tuck through to double tuck, a little short on the landing with a hop forward. 9.775
Baumann BB: Gorgeous leaps to open. BHS LOSO, solid. Switch half is well controlled, same with the side aerial. RO 1.5, STUCK. 9.9
Blanco FX: Double pike, possibly a little overrotated but manages to just take one step out of it. Lands double tuck with chest down but sticks it. Front full to front layout, not a ton of amplitude but well controlled. 9.85
Gowey BB: Her leaps looked a little bit short? BHS LOSO LOSO, right on. Front aerial to Sissone, a slight check in between but I think they’ll give her the connection. Gainer full STUCK. 9.95
Mahoney FX: Huge double tuck, great landing! Alberta is dancing along right in front of me and trying to distract me… Front full to front lay, some soft knees on the front full and a little low. Double pike to finish, great. 9.925
Thomas BB: Beautiful extension on her opening leaps. One-handed BHS LOSO is right on. Front aerial to beat jump to Korbut, solid. Side aerial to back full with a small adjustment with her right foot. 9.95
Desch FX: Double pike with a bit of an uncontrolled lunge back. Back 1.5 to front layout half to split jump to front tuck, very bouncy landing. Double tuck, solid. This is a good rotation so far for the Crimson Tide. 9.875
Clapper BB: BHS LOSO LOSO, a little hesitant but otherwise solid. Back leg a little low on her leaps. Side aerial to back full, STUCK. So they’ll drop SJS’s fall! 9.975, wow.
Graber FX: FTDT, a little messy in the air and a hoppy landing. Front tuck through to double pike, some flexed feet but otherwise good. 9.925
After 3: Florida 148.475, Alabama 148.100
Now the Gators are starting to pull away a bit more after that 49.675 beam rotation. I’m not really sure that Clapper had the best routine in that lineup but that’s being nitpicky because they were stellar outside of that SJS fall. Alabama didn’t have a bad rotation, just not
Just got word this is a sellout with 9,301 in attendance and the largest crowd for a Link to Pink meet ever. It’s also the first time ever that any collegiate team has gone 49.5+ on beam in five consecutive meets.
Rotation Four: Florida Floor, Alabama Beam
Klopfer BB: Wolf turn a bit hesitant but avoids a wobble. Front aerial BHS is solid. Cat leap to side aerial, right on. RO 1.5 is STUCK. Great routine to start the rotation for Alabama! 9.9
Richards FX: Lands her DLO with her chest down a bit and bounces in place. Nice leaps. Front tuck through to double tuck, a little cowboyed in the air but good landing. 9.85
Gaskins BB: Candle mount and the crowd gasps–I sometimes forget the public isn’t used to candle mounts. Side aerial to beat jump, solid. Finesses a possible balance check after the full turn. Nice leaps. BHS LOSO with definite leg bend. Some hesitation between her next leap series and her back leg also looked a little low. Gainer full dismount with a couple of steps. 9.8
Gowey FX: Front layout to Rudi to double stag jump to open. Some flexed feet on her leaps. Double tuck but she bounces backward out of it after landing with her chest low. 9.9 is way too high…
Olsen BB: Leap positions looked okay. BHS LOSO is solid. Front aerial with maybe a slight check. BHS BHS double pike with a hop back after a low landing. 9.875
Hundley FX: Whip to double tuck, chest up on the landing! Double pike is great too. Back 1.5 to front layout, solid. Great routine! 9.9
Blanco BB: Front aerial with a slight check. BHS LOSO gorgeous but she has to take a couple steps back. Definitely short of horizontal on her second leap. Beautiful scale! RO double twist with maybe a small hop in place. 9.8
Johnson-Scharpf FX: Double arabian with a LOT of momentum in the step out of it, definitely overpowered it. Back 1.5 to front layout, again a lot of momentum on the landing. Double tuck to finish. Good routine overall but some uncontrolled landings. 9.9
Doggette BB: BHS LOSO, solid. Nice leaps. Side aerial to back full dismount with a small step. 9.85
Thomas FX: DLO is a dream. It’s so floaty and beautiful! Front full to front lay to split jump, great. Double pike is a little short and she has to take a large step forward. 9.9
Graber BB: BHS layout two feet to beat jump–much better after her fall last week! Great leaps. Cat leap to Liukin and the crowd loves it. Gainer full dismount is STUCK. Fantastic routine! 9.925
Baumann FX: Great double tuck, really well controlled on the landing. Back 1.5 to front full, solid. Good leaps. Double pike maybe a little short and a hop in place? It was difficult to see. 9.975
Final: Florida 198.050, Alabama 197.450
Honestly, that was a great meet. Florida is deservedly the SEC regular season champions after that huge 198+ performance. Alabama also had a great meet and will happily take that 197.450.
There is a LOT of confetti out on the floor. This was a fun meet, y’all. Thanks for joining me!
VT Winner: Graber 9.975
UB Winner: Doggette 9.950
BB Winner: Clapper 9.975
FX Winner: Baumann 9.975
AA Winner: Thomas 39.650
Live blog by Jenna King
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