IOWA CITY, Iowa — The No. 6 Florida gymnastics team used a score of 196.775 to win the NCAA North Central Region Championships on Saturday evening in front of a Carver-Hawkeye Arena crowd of 1,740.
The win is Florida’s fifth consecutive region title.
The win also advances Florida to the NCAA Championships, set for April 16-18 in Lincoln, Neb. It will be Florida’s 27th NCAA Championship appearance in the meet’s 28-year history.
No. 7 UCLA took the other advancing position at 196.625.
Other team results Saturday included No. 23 Iowa State (195.65), No. 20 Denver (195.60), No. 18 Minnesota (193.775), and No. 28 Iowa (193.625).
The Gators placed four in the meet’s top six all-arounders, with senior All-American Corey Hartung taking second with a season-best total of 39.525. Junior Maranda Smith was fourth at 39.325, followed by freshman Elizabeth Mahlich (5th/39.20) and junior All-American Melanie Sinclair (6th/39.175). Denver’s Jessica Lopez claimed the all-around title at 39.60.
“The entire coaching staff is so proud of the athletes for once again showing their passion and their fight,” UF coach Rhonda Faehn said. “They just fought for every little thing.
“This is a really tough competition because there is so much pressure to do well so that the team can advance to the NCAA Championships.
“They started out a little bit rough on floor and were forced to count a small mistake. But they didn’t let that affect them and that was the true test. They did awesome on every other event and finished incredibly strong on beam.
“That is the best we’ve done all year on that event and that’s when the most pressure was on. That just shows how tough they really are and how much heart they are putting into this season.”
