Northern Illinois, Rutgers and Texas Woman’s at Florida

Recap

The Big Storyline: Former five-star recruit Sloane Blakely took the all-around crown in her collegiate debut as Florida hosted Northern Illinois, Rutgers and Texas Woman’s in its season opener.

Implications: The Gators looked strong in preseason and certainly came out swinging, posting their highest season opening score in program history. As of Saturday night, they’re leading the SEC standings (with only Alabama left to compete) and are ranked second nationally.    

Northern Illinois just missed out on a regionals berth last year and seem to be on pace to build on last season’s success. The Huskies were especially impressive on floor where they scored a 49.250, a full two tenths higher than their 2021 season high. Texas Woman’s made the most of its time in Gainesville, securing a pair of 48.900s on vault and floor to begin its quest to win the USAG national title in April. Despite an overall rocky performance, Rutgers gave a strong showing on vault, led by a 9.825 from sophomore Emily Leese.

Records: Blakely became the first Florida newcomer to earn the all-around title in her debut performance since Kytra Hunter in 2012. She and fellow freshmen Riley McCusker, Leanne Wong and Bri Edwards competed an impressive nine routines while sophomore Chloi Clark also made her collegiate debut, notching a 9.825 on vault. Fifth year Megan Skaggs also earned a 9.950 in the lead-off position on floor. 

Northern Illinois senior Kelsey Martz scored a career high 9.825 on floor while Alyssa Al-Ashari earned a career high on beam (also a 9.825). 2021 regionals qualifier Tara Kofmehl tied her career best (9.925) on floor. Texas Woman’s also earned its highest season-opening score en route to its third place finish while junior Mara Johnson notched a career high 9.850 on floor.

Preview

Current Rankings: Northern Illinois vs. Rutgers vs. Texas Woman’s at No. 2 Florida

Why You Should Clear Space on Your DVR: This quad meet will surely test the teams’ abilities to remain cool under pressure as a quad meet season opener is never easy. Constant action going on all around you in your first collegiate routine? No thanks. Freshmen classes from all teams will have to power through the sensory overload that this meet will provide, but when it comes down to it, the elite level experience of Florida’s freshmen will be enough for the Gators to come out on top. However, this will be a great opportunity for NIU, Rutgers and TWU to get some experience competing against a top-rated team in a noisy arena.

You Can Fast Forward, but not Through This: Of course, the highly anticipated potential collegiate debuts of Florida freshmen Riley McCusker, Morgan Hurd and Leanne Wong are must-see TV, so you definitely don’t want to miss those. Northern Illinois’ Tara Kofmehl is back for her senior season and is a steady all-arounder, so watch for her as well. Both TWU and Rutgers will be looking to showcase their depth here, with TWU more than likely putting up portions of their lineups from their Holiday Spectacular back in December. Rutgers will perform with something to prove and a chance this season to crack into the regionals top 36 for the first time in years.