Tag: gymnastics

Florida gymnastics’ Leanne Wong earns 2024 Honda Award nomination

It should come as no surprise that this Florida standout is among the best in the nation.

The Florida gymnastics program got some great news on Tuesday when it was announced that [autotag]Leanne Wong[/autotag] is among the final four candidates for the Honda Award in her sport. The Honda Award goes to the top collegiate female athlete in 12 different sports each season.

The news comes short after the Gators finished fourth in the 2024 NCAA Championship Finals — a feat that would not have been accomplished if not for Wong’s contributions this season.

The junior from Overland Park, Kansas, won the NCAA uneven bars title last Thursday in Fort Worth, Texas. She was the only gymnast with three 2024 top-2 individual finishes in NCAA competition; the now 22-time All-American also took second in the all-around and vault.

The five-time U.S. Senior National team member will now train in Gainesville as she prepares to compete in the Core Hydration Classic, followed by the Xfinity U.S. Championships and then U.S. Olympic Team Trials.

Florida leads all programs so far in 2023-24 with three Honda Award nominees. In addition to Leanne Wong, freshman Bella Sims is a candidate for the swimming & diving award. Junior Parker Valby became Florida’s first Honda Award recipient for cross country in December.

A Gator has won the Honda Award in nine different sports in the award’s 48-year history, leading the nation’s programs.

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Florida gymnastics finishes 4th at NCAA Championship Finals

The Gators did not win the title on Saturday but still made an incredible run to the NCAA Finals.

Florida gymnastics finished fourth at the NCAA Championship Finals on Saturday, April 20, inside Dickies Arena in Ft. Worth, Texas. Despite a run that brought them all the way until the last meet, the Gators were unable to bring home their fourth title in the sport.

The LSU Tigers claimed its first national title with a final score of 198.2250, followed by runner-up Cal Golden Bears (197.8500), Utah Utes (197.8000) and Florida (197.4375), respectively. No 10.0s were awarded in the NCAA semifinal or team final competition; the last time no 10.0s were scored at the NCAA Championship site was 2021.

Take a look below at a few highlights from Florida gymnastics’ final match of the season.

Highlights as Florida gymnastics advances to NCAA Finals

The Gators moved on to the NCAA Finals where they will face three other programs for the title.

The No. 4-seeded Florida gymnastics team competed in the second semifinal of the 2024 NCAA Championships on Thursday night in Ft. Worth, Texas, putting up a performance that earned the Gators a trip to the NCAA Finals on Saturday.

The top-ranked Oklahoma Sooners, who are the two-time reigning national champion and record-setting program that dominated the regular season, were considered a slam dunk to bring home the bacon in a field that also included the No. 5 Utah Utes and No. 8 Alabama Crimson Tide. Only two of the four could advance, and Florida along with Utah were the winners.

The two remaining programs will face the No. 2 LSU Tigers and No. 3 Cal Golden Bears in the finals.

Below is a look at the best photos from Thursday night’s competition as the Orange and Blue vie for a national championship banner.

PHOTOS: Florida gymnastics’ Gainesville Regional Semifinals victory

Take a look at highlights from Florida’s big win in Gainesville on Friday night in the O’Dome. 

The Florida gymnastics team advanced to the 2024 Gainesville Regional Finals inside the O’Connell Center on Friday thanks to winning Session II with a team score of 197.925.

The Missouri Tigers were the runner-up after the Gators, which earned the two schools a shot at the regional title on Sunday. Both join the Utah Utes and Michigan State Spartans in Sunday’s regional championship.

A season-high five members of the Orange and Blue competed as all-arounders Friday. [autotag]Leanne Wong[/autotag] was third overall at 39.65 and [autotag]Victoria Nguyen[/autotag] was fourth (39.55), while Skylar Draser was sixth with a collegiate-best 39.50.

Four marks of 9.9 or better helped Florida amass the top total on the floor (49.475). Nguyen and Wong led the team with 9.925 with [autotag]Sloane Blakely[/autotag] and [autotag]Ellie Lazzari[/autotag] each earning 9.9s.

Take a look below at highlights from Florida’s big win in Gainesville on Friday.

Pair of Gators gymnasts earn WCGA Regular-Season All-America honors

These two Gators are keeping up the proud tradition of excellence for Florida’s gymnastics program.

The Women’s Collegiate Gymnastics Association announced its regular-season All-America honors for the 2024 season, which included five total selections for the Florida gymnastics program split between a pair of student-athletes.

Florida freshman [autotag]Anya Pilgrim[/autotag] and junior [autotag]Leanne Wong[/autotag] were the two who earned the accolades. The former earned multiple All-American honors, landing on the second team in all-around and vault as one of just five freshmen among the selections.

The latter earned her first-team placement in the uneven bars event for the third consecutive season while claiming second-team honors for balance beam and all-around — making Wong an 18-time All-American with eight coming from the NCAA and 10 from the WCGA regular season.

Final national qualifying scores in the Road to Nationals rankings determine the WCGA All-Americans. The top eight gymnasts in each event and the all-around receive first-team honors and gymnasts Nos. 9-16 receive second-team honors with all ties included.

This is the 12th year the WCGA has recognized regular-season All-Americans.

Both Pilgrim (Barbados) and Wong (U.S.) competed in the 2023 FIG World Championships in Belgium last October, with Wong winning gold with Team USA.

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Tar Heel Gymnastics hit the mat for first time in 40 years

UNC varsity gymnasts just received a great gift to open 2024, as gymnastics will be recognized by the NCAA for the first time in 40 years.

Occasionally, you’ll see schools drop athletic programs due to financial struggles.

The most recent example I can think of is UAB shutting down football – in 2014 – only to see it revived three years later.

It’s rare you see entire athletic conferences shut down a sport, like the ACC did with gymnastics in 1984.

After 40 years, young gymnasts around the ACC received wonderful news – their sport will again be sponsored by the NCAA.

The list of ACC teams includes UNC, N.C. State, Clemson and Pitt. As I write, the Tar Heels are currently hosting Ball State, Rutgers and Utah State in a quad meet.

https://www.instagram.com/p/C1uzKqQR6CR/?img_index=1

We want to clear one thing up – while UNC gymnastics is now sponsored by the NCAA, the Tar Heels have been competing for quite a while. They finished third out of eight teams in last year’s East Atlantic Gymnastics League Championships, but their previous history includes EAGL titles in 2002, 2005, 2006, 2010 and 2011.

Carolina men’s and women’s basketball might be the most highly-sought after Winter sports right now, but now fans have another sport they can add to the list. Make a trip over to Carmichael Arena if you want to see your Tar Heel gymnasts hit the balance beam.

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Florida’s star gymnast among 2024 NCAA Today’s Top 10 Award honorees

Add another 10 the list for Gator great Trinity Thomas!

Florida gymnastics star Trinty Thomas is among the 2024 NCAA Today’s Top 10 Award honorees, according to a press release by the school on Friday.

The honorees are selected by the NCAA Honors Committee, composed of representatives of NCAA member schools, conferences and distinguished citizens, including past awardees.

“I am truly honored to be among this year’s NCAA Today’s Top 10. It is humbling to be mentioned among this class as they all are amazing people,” Thomas said. “My time as a Gator was incredibly rewarding and I couldn’t be more grateful for everyone who has helped me along the way. Thank you Gator Nation for your support during these amazing five years and the NCAA for this honor.”

The award recognizes student-athletes for their successes on the field, in the classroom and community. Recipients completed their athletics eligibility during the 2022-23 academic year and will be recognized at the NCAA Convention Welcome and Awards Presentation on Wednesday, Jan. 10, 2024, in Phoenix, Arizona.

Thomas is the eighth Gator to receive one of the NCAA’s top individual honors:

  • Trinity Thomas, Gymnastics, 2024
  • Alex McMurtry, Gymnastics, 2019
  • Kelsey Bruder, Softball, 2011
  • Tim Tebow, Football, 2009
  • Stephanie Nickitas, Tennis, 1999
  • Danny Wuerffel, Football, 1996
  • Megan Neyer, Diving, 1986
  • Tracy Caulkins, Swimming, 1985

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Simone Biles laughed off a tiny trip on her way to becoming the most decorated gymnast ever

Simone Biles won a record-tying sixth all-around world title and is now the most decorated gymnast in history.

Simone Biles continues to cement her status as the gymnastics GOAT and one of the most exceptional athletes in the world, winning her record-tying sixth all-around title at the gymnastics world championships Friday in Antwerp, Belgium.

But there’s so much more.

Not only was it her 21st world championship medal, but Biles also now has the record for the most combined world and Olympic medals at 34, making her the most decorated gymnast, man or woman, in gymnastics history. Just incredible.

And the moment Biles found out she won another all-around world championship, she had a perfect, priceless reaction.

Through a dominant performance, Biles topped Brazil’s Rebeca Andrade and Team USA’s Shilese Jones, who took silver and bronze, respectively.

Biles has an outstanding floor routine. However, she made a little (and funny) mistake, tripping in the middle of a sequence. But she smiled in the moment and reportedly later laughed it off, and it didn’t hurt her in the standings.

Biles even retweeted this afterward Friday:

It’s great to laugh at yourself, but she’s the GOAT no matter what.

Gators Gymnastics announce 2024 schedule

After coming so close to hoisting the national title, Florida Gators gymnastics is back and announced their 2024 schedule

The Florida Gators were a perfect landing away from hoisting the 2023 national championship, but now a new season is upon us.

Florida gymnastics announced its 2024 schedule for the redemption year, and the Gators will host three meets involving multiple teams. The Orange and Blue start the season with a quad meet on Jan. 12 against Fisk, George Washington, and Talladega.

The meet will also be themed as Equality Night, celebrating every member of the gymnastics team, staff, University, and Gainesville communities and fans.

The next home quad meet matches the Gators with Iowa State, Long Island, and North Carolina State to celebrate senior night on March 15. There will be a road trip quad meet before the last match of the season against Nebraska, Eastern Michigan, and Lindenwood on March 9.

Other major events include the Link to Pink night at the O’Dome against Arkansas on Feb. 9, raising breast cancer awareness across the SEC. Most of the conference teams participate in a “pink” meet every season.

The last dual home meet has the Gators facing off against LSU on Feb. 23 to celebrate Rowdy Reptiles night, encouraging the UF student body to fill Exactech Arena and cheer on the Orange and Blue.

Florida gymnastics will also celebrate Alumni Night against the Alabama Crimson Tide on Jan. 26.

Official times will be announced by the SEC later in the year.

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Trio of Gators stand out at U.S. Gymnastics Championships Day 1

The U.S. Gymnastics Championships are currently cooking in San Jose, California.

Three current members of the Florida gymnastics program are currently competing in the U.S. Gymnastics Championships in San Jose, California, which kicked off on Friday, Aug. 25.

Incoming signee [autotag]Skye Blakely[/autotag] and junior [autotag]Leanne Wong[/autotag] came in third and fourth, respectively, on Day 1 of the competition. Sophomore [autotag]Kayla DiCello[/autotag] also logged in the day’s fourth-highest floor exercise score (13.50) but struggled in some other events.

A part of the Team USA Champions Series, the U.S. Championships determines the women’s U.S. champions and U.S. National Team. Scores from Friday and Sunday’s competitions are combined to determine the U.S. Championships event champions. The women’s competition helps determine invitees to September’s Pan American Games/World Championships selection camp.

DiCello and Wong were among four in the U.S. Championships on Friday who also competed in the 2023 NCAA Championships — putting them among the 10 since 2000 who competed at the NCAA Championships and then the U.S. Championships in the same year.

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