Florida Gators
NCAA Southeast Regional
Gymnasts 2nd at Regionals-Advance to NCAAs
Saturday, April 12, 2003 | Gymnastics
The No. 9 University of Florida gymnastics team avoided the upset by No. 27 North Carolina, taking the second qualifying position at the NCAA Southeast Region Championships Saturday evening in front of a Stegeman Coliseum crowd of 5,623. The Gators edged UNC 194.95-194.90 for the second spot that advances to the April 24-26 NCAA Championships in Lincoln, Neb. No. 4 Georgia easily won the meet at 197.125. Other team finals from Saturday's Southeast Regional include Maryland (193.825), Ohio State (193.65), and North Carolina State (193.575).
Florida has advanced to the NCAA Championships 21 times in the meet's 22-year history, missing only the 2000 event. The .05 margin over UNC for the second qualifying spot is the same margin that kept the Gators out of the 2000 NCAA Championships, as Penn State bumped UF to third at that year's regional event (195.925/PSU, 195.875/UF).
Two Gators were among a six-way tie for first in the region's final balance beam standings at 9.90 – Kristen Stucky and Erinn Dooley. It was the fifth title of the season for Stucky and the second for Dooley. Dooley was the Gators' top all-arounder, taking third with a 39.175. Senior Lindsey Miner and sophomore Orley Szmuch were among a four-way tie for third in the vault competition at 9.85. Georgia's Chelsa Byrd won vault (9.95) and floor (9.925), shared the bars crown with teammate Kinsey Rowe (9.90) plus claimed the all-around title at 39.625.
Florida opened the meet with a season-low total of 48.675 on the floor exercise. An uncharacteristic stumble off the mat by Miner hurt the Gators, as she currently is ranked 15th in the nation on the event with an average of 9.930. She earned a 9.30 and her score was not computed in UF's floor total. Florida's top floor performer was Szmuch, who posted a 9.80. Dooley posted a 9.775, while senior Jenny Carow and sophomore Kimberly Schatz each turned in marks of 9.75.
Florida didn't fare much better on the vault, turning in another season-low total of 48.675. It was the first time in six meets that the Gators didn't break 49.00 for their vault total. Schatz opened UF's vault set with a fall, her first of the season. Although the Gators didn't record another fall on the event, they were forced to use a 9.525 toward the vault team total. Miner and Szmuch finished off Florida's vault set with marks of 9.85.
At the midway point of the meet, Florida was third to Georgia (98.40) and NC State (97.50) with their two-event total of 97.35. North Carolina was fourth at 97.00, followed by Ohio State (96.875) and Maryland (96.80).
Florida needed to score well on its two final events – uneven bars and balance beam - its strongest events. But the Gators were forced to count a major break toward its season-low bars total of 48.40. Miner led UF on the event with a 9.80, followed by Erin Pendleton (9.75) and Stucky (9.75). Freshman Sherie Owens, making her first competitive appearance since dislocating a kneecap in the Feb. 21st meet, had trouble on one of her handstands and was forced to take an extra swing, resulting in a mark of 9.40. Szmuch missed her Geinger (release move) and her mark of 8.95 was the low score not added toward UF's event total. Both problems were unexpected, as Owens scored a 9.80 or above in her previous performances and Szmuch hadn't missed her release move in the team's previous 13 meets of the season.
Undoubtedly, the pressure was on the Gators for their final event, the balance beam. Florida's first five competitors each hit their routines, as UF posted its highest team total of the evening, 49.175. The Gators used marks ranging from 9.725 to 9.90 toward its final event total. Florida was led on the event by Stucky and Dooley's marks of 9.90. Miner also contributed a 9.85, Szmuch a 9.80 and Carow a 9.725.
"What I was proud of was that our team had to fight really hard on our last event, which was balance beam. We knew it was on the line - make it or break it," UF Head Coach Rhonda Faehn said. "Our athletes came through. They competed aggressively and didn't let the mistakes we had in the beginning of the night affect their competition. I was happy to see that."
The Gators were on bye for the meet's final rotation, forcing the team to wait to see if their score would hold up. North Carolina made a charge at the second qualifying spot, but the Tar Heels final event total of 48.90 on vault was just a fraction away from tying UF for the second spot.
"(Waiting for the final scores) was really nerve-wracking. We just had to sit there," Dooley said. "All you can do is keep a positive attitude, keep your head up and wish for the best. Yeah, we had some disappointments tonight, but you just have to wait and wish that everything will go your way, and it did."
"It is never fun to sit back and see where the cards fall. I didn't know exactly how close it was, I just wanted our gymnasts to go out and hit beam as solid as possible and hope that carried us through to the finish," Faehn said. "I have to say it was a tremendous competition. It is always great when you have that type of pressure because not only does it make better gymnastics, but it prepares the team especially for the first day of nationals when you are competing against five other really good teams.
"It is obviously disappointing," she continued when asked about the Gators' troubles on the first three events. "We would have loved to come in her and have done our best on every single event, but we try to look at everything as a learning experience. There are a lot of new things about this program and this team. We want to take from the mistakes that happened today and learn from them. The errors on vault were not typical at all. Kim has not missed a vault all year. Also on bars – Orley hasn't missed that Geinger all year. We don't look at it as a problem, just something we need to fix under the pressure situation."
The 12-team field for the NCAA Championships will be announced on Sunday, April 13.
| 2003 NCAA Southeast Region Team Totals | ||||||
| Vault | Bars | Beam | Floor | rank | Total | |
| Georgia | 49.275 | 49.275 | 49.425 | 49.150 | 1 | 197.125 |
| Florida | 48.675 | 48.425 | 49.175 | 48.675 | 2 | 194.950 |
| North Carolina | 48.900 | 48.250 | 48.750 | 49.000 | 3 | 194.900 |
| Maryland | 48.350 | 48.025 | 48.775 | 48.675 | 4 | 193.825 |
| Ohio State | 48.775 | 48.100 | 48.375 | 48.400 | 5 | 193.650 |
| NC State | 48.350 | 47.725 | 48.900 | 48.600 | 6 | 193.575 |
