Florida Gators
NCAA Super Six (Team Final)
UF Gymnasts Take Fifth in NCAA Super Six
Saturday, April 17, 2004 | Gymnastics
The No. 6 seeded University of Florida gymnastics team finished fifth in the NCAA Super Six Friday evening in front of a Pauley Pavilion crowd of 4,167. UCLA claimed its second-consecutive and fifth national title overall with a NCAA Super Six record total of 198.125. Georgia was second at 197.20, while Stanford and Alabama shared third at 197.125.Utah rounded out the team results at 195.775.
Florida has now finished fifth in two of its four NCAA Super Six appearances (also fifth in 1997). The Gators were second in 1998 and sixth in 1994 Super Six appearances.
For the fifth consecutive NCAA Championships' competition, UF drew the bye before uneven bars rotation. Steps on landings hurt the Gators uneven bars team score, as UF tallied a season-low 48.80 on the event. Erinn Dooley led all Gator bar competitors with her mark of 9.825, while both Samantha Lutz and Erin Pendleton turned in scores of 9.775.
Florida then moved to the balance beam, where it turned in a solid 49.30 team total – the second-highest beam score of Friday's competition. Dooley shared high score honors on the event with junior Orley Szmuch at 9.90, which tied for sixth among Friday's performers. UF also got a 9.85 from freshmen Breanne King and Samantha Lutz.
The Gators tallied a 49.30 on the floor exercise. Dooley anchored the UF lineup with a team-high 9.90 to tie for sixth among the Super Six competitors. Freshman Savannah Evans turned in a 9.875, while classmates Lutz and Katie Rue each turned in a 9.85.
Florida finished with its second-highest vault total of the season of 49.40. Szmuch and Dooley each matched their season-best marks of 9.95 and 9.925, respectively, to top the Gator scoring on the event. Szmuch tied for second among all vault performers Friday with her 9.95. King also turned in a collegiate-best 9.90 on the event.
"I think that was a tough hole for us to dig ourselves out of from the start with bars. We did a very respectable job there, but it was obvious that you need to stick all of your landings to be getting the top scores. We didn't have that, so we were starting from a deficit from the start," UF Head Coach Rhonda Faehn said. "But I felt the team stuck with it and rebounded really strong on beam and especially on floor. We finished really tough on vault. It showed in the scores that it was extremely close. If we had hit 24-for-24 that showed much potential for us to be in the running for one of the top positions.
"I'm really proud of all the athletes," she continued. "Many of the freshmen got their first taste of what it is like to be in the Super Six so now they know how hard they have to go back to work next year to challenge for the national title."
UCLA's Jeanette Antolin and Kristen Maloney shared top honors in the Super Six all-around with totals of 39.725. Florida's top all-arounder was Dooley in sixth at 39.55, while Szmuch tied for ninth at 39.40. Antolin topped the vault competition with her 9.975 and shared top honors on balance beam with teammate Kate Richardson at 9.95. Bruin senior Jamie Dantzscher posted the evening's top uneven bars mark of 9.95. Three gymnasts turned in a 9.95 floor mark to lead that event – Richardson, Alabama's Ashley Miles and Georgia's Chelsa Byrd.
"We came out here showing a lot of heart and we did our best – that's all anybody can ask for. It was really exciting to be in the Super Six – there is nothing better. I think we performed really well. People stepped up and performed really well. For everyone's first Super Six, it went really well," Dooley said. "We gave away some points in the first event. You always have to get your jitters out in the first event, but as each event went, we got more confident. We were kept being told to have fun and enjoy it. So we kept that in our heads and went out there and did what we've been doing all year."
Florida will advance four gymnasts to the NCAA Individual Event finals, set for Saturday, April 17 in Pauley Pavilion. Erinn Dooley and Chantelle Tousek will compete in the vault final. Three Gators will contend for the balance beam title – Dooley, Samantha Lutz and Orley Szmuch. The draw for NCAA Individual Event finals can be found at the end of this story.
| No. 6 seed Florida at the NCAA Championships | ||||||
| Pauley Pavilion – Los Angeles, Calif. – April 16, 2004 | ||||||
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| Vault | Bars | Beam | Floor | Rank | Total |
| UCLA | 49.525 | 49.425 | 49.600 | 49.575 | 1 | 198.125 |
| Georgia | 49.425 | 49.125 | 49.200 | 49.450 | 2 | 197.200 |
| Alabama | 49.375 | 49.050 | 49.225 | 49.475 | 3 | 197.125 |
| Stanford | 49.350 | 49.200 | 49.250 | 49.325 | 3 | 197.125 |
| Florida | 49.400 | 48.800 | 49.300 | 49.300 | 5 | 196.800 |
| Utah | 49.150 | 48.325 | 49.225 | 49.175 | 6 | 195.875 |
| NCAA Individual Event Final Draw | |||
| Saturday, April 17 – Pauley Pavilion – Los Angeles, Calif. | |||
| Vault | Uneven Bars | Balance Beam | Floor Exercise |
| Flight One | Flight One | Flight One | Flight One |
| Kate Richardson, UCLA | Jamie Dantzscher, UCLA | Elise Ray, Michigan | Melissa Vituj, Utah |
| Chantelle Tousek, Florida | Ashley Miles, Alabama | Samantha Lutz, Florida | Jeanette Antolin, UCLA |
| April Burkholder, LSU | Elise Ray, Michigan | Lindsay Wing, Stanford | Courtney Bumpers, North Carolina |
| Chelsa Byrd, Georgia | Natalie Foley, Stanford | Lindsey Bruck, Michigan | Alexis Maday, Iowa |
| Erinn Dooley, Florida | Nicolle Ford, Utah | Yvonne Tousek, UCLA | Flight Two |
| Flight Two | Caroline Fluhrer, Stanford | Ashley Kelly, ASU | Caroline Fluhrer, Stanford |
| Ashley Miles, Alabama | Flight Two | Flight Two | Alexis Brion, Alabama |
| Janet Anson, Iowa St. | Kate Richardson, UCLA | April Burkholder, LSU | Natalie Foley, Stanford |
| Annabeth Eberle, Utah | Kristen Maloney, UCLA | Erinn Dooley, Florida | Ashley Miles, Alabama |
| Natalie Foley, Stanford | Jeana Rice, Alabama | Nicolle Ford, Utah | Chelsa Byrd, Georgia |
| Tiffany Willin, Oklahoma | Jeanette Antolin, UCLA | Jeana Rice, Alabama |
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| Erin LaBarr, Oklahoma | Orley Szmuch, Florida |
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| Cory Fritzinger, Georgia | Kristi Esposito, Nebraska |
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| Libby Landgraf, Nebraska |
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