Tag: gymnastics

Sooner News: Former Oklahoma quarterback joins Tennessee, big day in Morgantown

The top stories from around Oklahoma. Former quarterback Joey Halzle is following another former quarterback in Josh Heupel to Knoxville.

Plenty of top news around the collegiate sports worlding involving for Oklahoma Sooners. Continue reading “Sooner News: Former Oklahoma quarterback joins Tennessee, big day in Morgantown”

Gators News: Here comes the Florida sports tsunami!

Starting with yesterday’s results, there are nine teams to cover, plus one who is still sitting out due to COVID-19.

Welcome to our new and improved format for Gators News! The next few months are going to be jam-packed, so in order to bring you all the news in its most easily digestible form, we have revamped our approach. Hopefully, you will find everything you are looking for when it comes to daily UF athletics updates.

As mentioned in the introduction, there is a tidal wave of sports heading for the shores of Florida starting this weekend, as noted by the university’s athletic director Scott Stricklin below.

Starting with yesterday’s results, there are nine teams to cover, plus one who is still sitting out due to COVID-19. There is no time to waste, so let us get down to business.

Gators News: Veritable cornucopia of Gators sports on tap this weekend

Starting tonight and extending into the weekend, there is no shortage of UF athletics to keep the Gator Nation entertained.

The end of the week is finally here, which means it is time for some Florida sports! And believe me, starting tonight and extending into the weekend, there is no shortage of UF athletics to keep the Gator Nation entertained. There is little time to waste, so let us jump right in.

Starting with last night’s results, the women’s basketball team (9-7, 2-6 SEC) stumbled against the Missouri Tigers (6-5, 2-4 SEC) at home, 61-58. It was a hard-fought match that saw sophomore guard Lavender Briggs notch her third double-double of the season and 10th of her career, scoring a game-high 19 points to go with 11 rebounds.

Today features the most action with four programs in playing, starting with the 10th ranked volleyball team (6-2, 6-2 SEC) who kick off their spring season at 3 p.m. EST on the road against the Ole Miss Rebels (0-6, 0-6 SEC). The match can be watched on SEC Network+ heard on 98.1 FM/850 AM. The two squads meet again on Saturday for another 3 p.m. ET start and can be watched and heard on the same sources.

Also starting at 3 p.m. EST on Friday is the No. 21 women’s tennis team’s match with the No. 22 UCF Knights on the road in Lake Nona. The Lady Gators swept their first match of 2021 against the Florida Atlantic Owls and look to continue their winning ways. Then at 5 p.m. EST the No. 11 men take the court against No. 19 UCF as well, with the Gators entering with a 3-1 record while the Knights play in their first match of the season.

Tonight, the top-ranked gymnastics team (3-0, 3-0 SEC) hosts the Missouri Tigers (0-3, 0-2 SEC) in the O’Connell Center as the squad looks to maintain its perch atop the nation’s rankings. The match comes on the heels of roommates Savannah Schoenherr and Megan Skaggs earning SEC Weekly honors. The events will be broadcast on SEC Network+.

On Saturday, the men’s basketball (9-4, 6-3 SEC) team heads to Morgantown, W.V., to take on the No. 11 West Virginia Mountaineers (11-4, 4-3 Big 12)Ā  for the SEC-Big 12 Challenge. Game time is set for 2 p.m. EST and will be broadcast on ESPN, streamed on the ESPN app and heard on the Gators Sports Network.

Finally, on Sunday, the men’s tennis team travels to Tallahassee to take on the No. 25 Florida State Seminoles, with first serve scheduled for 2 p.m. EST. Then last, but not least, we come back full circle to the Lady Gators basketball squad, who look to resume their winning ways against the No. 20 Tennessee Volunteers in Knoxville, with tip off also scheduled for 2 p.m. EST.

Around the Swamp

It’s great to be a Florida Gator!

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Gators News: A whole smorgasboard of Gators sports on tap

Another week has finally come to an end and last night kicked off four-days worth of Florida Gators sports featuring four different programs

Another week has finally come to an end and last night kicked off four-days worth of Florida Gators sports, featuring four different programs starting with the Lady Gators basketball team on Thursday night. So without further ado, let us get down to business.

The bad news today is that the women’s basketball team dropped its fifth-straight game last night on the road with the No. 17 Arkansas Razorbacks, 84-80, in a hard-fought matchup that they simply fell short in. Sophomore guard Lavender Briggs dropped a career-high 41 points in the losing effort ā€” the most scored by a Lady Gator since Ronni Williams notched 43 in January 2017 and the fourth-highest single-game total in program history.

Tonight, the top-ranked Gators gymnastics squad hosts rivals the No. 7 Georgia Bulldogs in the O’Connell Center for Florida’s 2021 home opener. UF’s junior duet of Nya Reed and Trinity Thomas claimed SEC Weekly honors after their performances in the 2021 opener and will be looking to add more hardware to their collection. Both teams won their season openers and will vie for an edge on the Southeastern Conference competition when events start at 6:46 p.m. EST.

Tomorrow, the men’s tennis team enters its 2021 opener against the Florida Atlantic Owls ranked No. 9 in the preseason polls; first serve is scheduled for 1 p.m. EST at the Alfred E. Ring Tennis Complex in Gainesville. Men’s basketball will also be in action Saturday, traveling to face the Mississippi State Bulldogs with tip off scheduled for 4 p.m. EST. Florida will be looking to build on its previous win on Tuesday at home over the Ole Miss Rebels.

On Sunday, the women’s basketball team hosts the Auburn Tigers hoping to finally earn its first SEC win after losing its first five ā€” four against ranked opponents ā€” in conference play; tip off is scheduled for 1 p.m. EST. The men’s tennis team will also be back in action, this time hosting the USF Bulls, with first serve also scheduled for 1 p.m. EST.

Finally, the SEC announced its schedule for the upcoming softball season. Florida scheduled to face Kentucky on SEC Opening Weekend at Katie Seashole Pressly Stadium March 12-14. The conference’s schedule has each school playing eight SEC opponents in the traditional three-game series format.

Around the Swamp

It’s great to be a Florida Gator!

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Gators News: Lady Gators drop third straight, gymnastics kicks off tonight

The week is nearly over and the weekend is about to begin, with Gators sports being played on each day including one top-ranked program.

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Thank goodness it is Friday! The good news is that the week is nearly over and the weekend is about to begin, with Gators sports being played on each day including one top-ranked program. The bad news is that the women’s basketball team got off to a sour start last night against a fellow Southeastern Conference foe.

The Lady Gators lost their third-straight game to an SEC opponent ranked in the top 15 of the nation at home against the No. 14 Mississippi State Bulldogs, 68-56, despite hanging tough for most of the game. Sophomore guard Lavender Briggs once again led Florida with 22 points, breaching the 20-point mark for the sixth time in 11 games this season and the second time in the last three games.

The defeat drops Florida to 7-4 overall on the season as well as winless in the SEC in three tries. Their next game is on Sunday, Jan. 10, when they travel to Athens to battle the Georgia Bulldogs. Tipoff is set for 12 p.m. EST, will be televised nationally on the SEC Network and can be heard on WRUF FM.

Tonight, the preseason top-ranked Florida Gators gymnastics squad kicks off its 2021 season on the road against the No. 14 Auburn Tigers. The meet starts at 8 p.m. EST in the Auburn Arena and can be watched on SEC Network+. Keep an eye out for all-around superstar junior Trinity Thomas as she looks to continue racking up her perfect-10 scores.

Last, but not least, the men’s basketball team will host the Kentucky Wildcats tomorrow in the O’Connell Center. Tip off is scheduled for 5 p.m. EST and can be watched on ESPN, livestreamed on the ESPN app and heard on Gators Sports Network / XM 192.

Around the Swamp

It’s great to be a Florida Gator!

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Gators News: SEC title game, gymnastics ranked No. 1

UF sports has a top-ranked team heading into the new year as the gymnastics program earned a top spot while football vies for an SEC title.

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We are just a day away from the Florida Gators football team’s attempt to bring the Southeastern Conference championship crown back to Gainesville as they take on a familiar title game foe, the Alabama Crimson Tide. While the Gators are strong underdogs in this game, anything can happen.

Meanwhile, the gymnastics team begins the 2021 season on top of the Women’s Collegiate Gymnastics Association preseason poll for the third time in program history, along with 2014 and 2015. The nation’s preseason top five has included the Gators every season since 2007.

The men’s basketball team, however, is still dealing with Keyontae Johnson and his mysterious health condition, for which we still do not have any answers. However, the latest news has been increasingly encouraging, including a “really, really positive” update as well as the most recent report that noted “truly encouraging signs of progress“.

However, even though Johnson’s appears to be on the mend, UF officially postponed all of its non-conference games until the end of the calendar year. No makeup dates have been announced yet, though one can assume that not all of the games will ultimately be played.

Around the Swamp

It’s great to be a Florida Gator!

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Of course, Simone Biles took the handstand challenge to a totally unbelievable new level

We’d expect nothing less from the GOAT.

Actors Tom Holland and Jake Gyllenhaal first made the handstand t-shirt challenge go viral after Holland put a shirt on while doing a handstand, shared a video of it challenging others to try it, and Gyllenhaal obliged. It’s a pretty impressive feat, which was then one-upped by Olympian Lolo Jones, who not only performed the challenge but put on two t-shirts while upside down and in between sips of wine.

Naturally, as this challenge escalates while people are social distancing and staying inside when possible, superstar Simone Biles took it to a whole new level, as GOATs do.

Forget the t-shirt. Biles ā€” one of countless athletes all over the world impacted by the 2020 Tokyo Olympics being postponed until next summer ā€” did a prolonged handstand while taking off a pair of sweatpants and hilariously offered a little commentary as she struggled with that second leg.

With a move seemingly only she could perform, we’d expect nothing less. She’s great at everything. AndĀ amazingly, in the replies to Biles’ video, some people are actually attempting it.

Meanwhile, others ā€”Ā including Ryan Reynolds, who was first part of Holland’s challenge ā€” want nothing to do with it.

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Simone Biles opens up about Olympics being postponed: I ‘sat there, and I cried’

The GOAT also explained why she’s not worried about staying in shape.

Simone Biles’ reaction to the 2020 Tokyo Olympics being postponed likely mirrored that of countless athletes in the U.S. and around the world.

Last week, the International Olympic Committee officially announced that the 2020 Games would be postponed for the first time in history as the result of the global COVID-19 (coronavirus) pandemic. And then Monday ā€” in a decision that has offered athletes some comfort while possibly being premature ā€” the IOC said the Olympics will officially begin on July 23, 2021, and the Paralympic Games will start August 24.

Biles, like other athletes, can appreciate that postponing the Games was the right thing to do while simultaneously being devastated that the greatest competition they train for won’t happen as scheduled. The GOAT gymnast explained her reaction to the postponement while on the TODAY show on Wednesday.

She said she was in the gym training when she found out:

“I went to the locker in between rotations, and I got a text. And I didn’t really know what to feel. I just kind of sat there, and I cried. But ultimately, it was the right decision. We need to make sure that everyone in the U.S. and around the world is healthy and safe. It was hard, but it’s OK.”

Biles ā€” who was named For The Win’s most dominant athlete of the 2010s, which included winning five gold medals last year at world championships ā€” compared this training hiatus to the year-and-a-half break she took after the 2016 Rio Olympics. She said because her coaches were able to help her get back in shape after that break, she’s confident she’ll be able to do the same this time.

The 23-year-old gymnast continued:

“Physically, I have no doubt that my coaches will get me back in shape. But mentally, going another year, I think that’s what’s going to take a toll on me and all of us and most of the athletes. So we have to stay in shape mentally just as much as physically, and that will play a big factor moving forward ā€” listening to your body and your mind.”

Biles also touched on how she’s trying to stay in shape during the coronavirus outbreak, which includes going on a lot more walks with her dog.

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