Tag: Trinity Thomas

Tracking Trinity Thomas’ perfect 10s with Florida gymnastics this season

Can Trinity Thomas tie or even break the all-time mark? We will find out soon.

Florida gymnastics standout [autotag]Trinity Thomas[/autotag] won three NCAA individual gymnastic titles in 2022 — including the coveted Honda Award — as she bounced back from an injury that prevented her from participating in the Olympics the summer prior.

Thanks to fifth-year eligibility given out to those who lost time to the COVID pandemic, the graduate student is back and looking to set some records while there is still some time remaining. Thomas added a dozen 10s last season to her collegiate total, giving her 20 career perfect scores heading into her final season.

The 27-time All-American added six more 10s to her total this year, which puts her within striking distance of Kentucky’s Jenny Hansen and UCLA’s Jamie Dantzscher, who sit atop the list with 28 each. Needing two more to tie the record, Thomas still has the NCAA regionals and championships remaining to make her mark.

Take a look below at Thomas’ last six perfect scores during her 2023 graduate student campaign with Florida gymnastics, with a tip of the hat to Shelly Stallsmith of the York Daily Record for assembling the tweets and data for this list.

PHOTOS: Looking at Trinity Thomas’ fantastic final gymnastics campaign

Check out some of the best highlights from the greatest gymnast to ever wear orange and blue.

Florida Gators gymnast [autotag]Trinity Thomas[/autotag] is without question one of the greatest collegiate athletes to ever wear the beloved Orange and Blue — much less the best UF gymnast ever — and it appears that she is saving some of her best for last as her time in Gainesville comes to a close.

The graduate student missed out on the Olympics last time around due to injury, and combined with the loss of time due to the COVID pandemic, things were looking rough for her. However, Thomas persevered, earning the Honda Sport Award winner for the best overall gymnast in 2022.

She returned to her team in 2023 for one last as a graduate student and has not let down the Gator Nation. She continues to post perfect 10s at a frenetic pace and is on course to set the all-time NCAA record for that distinction. Thomas’ opportunities are dwindling with just the NCAA regionals and championships remaining, but given her track record, there is a good chance she break the old record.

In the meantime, take a look at highlights from Thomas’ 2023 season with Florida gymnastics.

5 former Florida Gators who left school at the right time

Pat Dooley lists five Gators who were right to leave school when they did.

In the world of college athletics – which right now is both confusing and rewarding – careers are made by decisions.

It starts early with athletes deciding where they will visit, then where they will commit and finally where they sign. Nowadays, it’s a yearly decision about whether to stay or jump into the transfer portal.

Finally, it’s a decision for the elite (and some not so elite) to turn pro early or use all of their eligibility.

[autotag]Trinity Thomas[/autotag] is facing that decision even though she has been amazing for four full years. Because she has a pandemic year she can still use, Thomas could return for a fifth season and use it as a bridge to the next Olympics.

Thomas would be one of those athletes in Florida history who could choose to leave and we would all say, “Thanks.” The voice would be loud, too, because she is in the argument for greatest gymnast ever at Florida and perhaps the NCAA.

We’ll wait for her to announce, but while we do that, let us look at 10 UF athletes who left early and most Gator fans just wanted to give them a hug and wish them well. They had done enough.

Today, the first five of the top 10 of those athletes. Tomorrow, the second five plus a few that we were wondering what they were thinking.

Oklahoma edges out Florida for NCAA Gymnastics Championship

Florida came up just 0.112 points away from a fourth national championship. It finished in second place behind Oklahoma.

Oklahoma ignited a furious rally in the second and third rotation after emerging in last place after the first rotation to grab the NCAA title. Florida almost overcame a two-tenths deficit in the final rotation, using a senior [autotag]Trinity Thomas[/autotag] 10 and four other scores 9.9s or better but still fell just 0.112 short. The Sooners defeated the Gators, Utah and Auburn for the 2022 NCAA gymnastics championships on Saturday in Fort Worth, Texas.

Florida dug itself a hole on Friday after struggling on the vault during the semifinals. The Gators’ adventure forced them to emerge from the first rotation dead last. On Saturday, they fared a little bit better.

Head coach [autotag]Jenny Rowland[/autotag] and her team recorded a score of 49.35, putting itself in third place recorded a team score of 49.35, putting itself in third place ahead of Oklahoma but behind first-place Utah and second-place Auburn. The Gators also only found themselves 0.163 behind the Utes.

Thomas and freshman [autotag]Leanne Wong[/autotag] both delivered scores greater than 9.9s.

The Gators had a fall on the uneven bars just like they did during the semifinals. Freshman [autotag]Riley McCusker[/autotag] sailed through her routine but fell on the dismount, putting Florida in immediate danger of being eliminated if it suffered another fall on bars. But once again, the rest of the Gators lineup came to her rescue.

Thomas just missed perfection with a 9.975 while senior [autotag]Savannah Schoenherr[/autotag] scored a 9.925 and super senior [autotag]Megan Skaggs[/autotag] recorded a 9.9125. However, they still trailed Utah by a measly tenth, heading into the final two rotations.

Oklahoma made some serious ground up after struggling on the floor to start the meet. The Sooners used five scores of 9.9 or greater to take a two-tenths lead over the second-place Gators.

Florida wasn’t too shabby in the third rotation, either. Skaggs, Thomas, super senior [autotag]Alyssa Baumann[/autotag] and senior Leah Clapper all recorded scores of 9.9 or better.

The Gators then headed to the floor exercise, arguably their best rotation. Florida posted all 9.9s or better, including a 10 from Thomas but Oklahoma’s massive comeback in the second and third rotations helped them edge the Gators 198.2 to 198.0875.

Rowland and Co. will have to say goodbye to Skaggs and Baumann, but Clapper, Reed, Schoenherr, Thomas, seniors Halley Taylor and Sydney Johnson-Scharpf could all elect to return for a fifth year of eligibility due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

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Trinity Thomas is back and ready for Florida’s postseason competition

Pat Dooley caught up with Florida’s standout gymnast Trinity Thomas, who is amped for this year’s SEC Championships.

Trinity Thomas and ankle tape are not close friends.

“I don’t like ankle tape,” said the Florida gymnast.

But she had no choice this past summer. One bad landing in Tuscaloosa changed so many of her plans that instead became workouts and physical therapy with heavy tape on both ankles.

All of that, of course, is in the past and she is about as ready as you could ask for an elite college gymnast to be heading into Saturday’s SEC Championships.

“I’m super excited for the postseason,” she said. “Super duper.”

Thomas was peaking at the right time a year ago headed into the last regular season meet of the year against Alabama. But during warmups, she landed awkwardly on bars and sprained not one but both ankles.

She knew it was bad.

“I couldn’t walk,” she said.

Thomas sat out that meet and competed in only one event at the SECs and in the NCAA Regionals. She tried them all in the NCAA Championships, struggling with all of that tape and the confidence that gymnasts must have to do backflips on a four-inch-wide balance beam.

Florida finished a disappointing fourth in the country.

More than that, Thomas knew that the only way she would get better was with rest. As a result, in May she retired from elite gymnastics and passed up a chance to qualify for the Olympics.

“I had plans with my team and plans for the summer as well,” she said. “It was something I wasn’t ready for but I tried to work with the cards I was dealt.”

Gymnastics is one of those sports where what you do early isn’t the point. It’s how you build your routines as a season goes along and peaking at the right time.

Thomas was one meet away when her ankles changed everything.

But rather than sulk about the way her junior season ended and her lost chance to be an Olympian, she threw herself into rehab with personal trainers.

The result has been an incredible season where Thomas has become the all-time events winner in UF history and completed the “Gym Slam”, scoring a 10 in all four events.

One of the best to ever compete at Florida blew people away with how smoothly she came back. She even surprised herself… a little.

“Yes and no,” Thomas said. “I wasn’t sure what to expect because I never hurt my ankles before. I was a little hesitant.”

Hesitancy gave way to confidence which gave way to enthusiasm on a team that just finished an unbeaten regular season and certainly has a chance to win it all in April.

That postseason begins with the SECs in Birmingham where Auburn, the only team to tie Florida this season, will be a hill to climb.

But Thomas is just happy to be where she is — at full strength.

“I’ve enjoyed it so much,” she said. “This team has been awesome and I am so happy to be back on all four events.

“I had to be smart, taking care of my body in general, listening to my body about what I can do to be ready for the postseason. To not be able to do that last year to the best of my ability was tough, especially coming off a season where I was really building up to post(season).”

She still wears a little tape on the left ankle but was able to toss off the heavy tape before the season began. The results have been overwhelming as she broke the record for event wins with her 96th in the last meet of the season and is now up to 14 perfect 10s in her career.

She started slowly in 2022 with just two events in the opening quad meet but by the time Florida faced Alabama two weeks later she was ready to put on a show with a pair of 10s and became the 12th gymnast ever to pull off the Slam.

Now, the postseason. Trinity Time.

“I’m just excited for Trinity and to see her have the ability to contribute to the team,” said Florida coach Jenny Rowland. “I know that she felt that she wasn’t capable of doing that last season. So, for her to have that ability to go in and compete for the team is just going to bring her a lot of joy.”

But hold the tape.

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