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A year ago, Florida gymnastics' season ended in Fort Worth. For the fifth year in a row, UF advanced to the national championship, and for the fifth year, it returned to Gainesville without a title.
Yet, hope was high for the Gators. So much so that articles written in the preseason proclaimed the squad national title favorites for 2025.
Flash forward to April 17, and Florida’s season ended a meet before 2024 and outside the national championship meet for the first time since 2019. UF finished third in the NCAA semifinals behind Oklahoma and Missouri.
Injuries are to blame in part for the disappointing (by Gator standards) season. World Champion Kayla DiCello didn’t compete this season due to a setback from her injury suffered at last summer’s Olympic Trials. Highly touted first year gymnast Skye Blakely competed minimally as she also recovered from her Trials injury. Meanwhile, her sister, Sloane Blakely, suffered a season-ending Achilles injury in February vs. Oklahoma.
However, Florida still held the talent to win it all. It was the squad’s inconsistency that proved costly.
ESPN’s John Roethlisberger said in the days leading up to the national semifinals that fans needed popcorn to see the Gators as no team provided more ups-and-downs. At home, Florida looked like the best team in the nation. In three of five home meets, it topped 198. The 198.625 vs. Kentucky was the nation’s highest score in 2025.
Perhaps no meet epitomized UF more than February 14 vs. Auburn. It began with a 49.275 on vault and a 49.050 on bars after counting two falls. However, Florida still finished with 197.625 after a 49.700 on beam and 49.600 on floor.
Meets on the road represented a different story. The Gators were kept under 197 in meets at Arkansas and Oklahoma. Scoring was harsher this season, but scores in the 196s used to be anomalies for this program. It happened three times this season. The loss to the Razorbacks was the program’s first since 2009.
The SEC Championship also crystallized the Gators inconsistency. They set a NCAA record on bars with 49.850. However, Florida still finished behind LSU and Oklahoma thanks to a 49.100 on beam. It was an infuriating feeling for Gators fans, who saw the team’s potential but just couldn’t put it all together.
Coach Jenny Rowland liked to preach all season that wins and losses don’t mean much in gymnastics, and she was right. Gymnastics uses a purely computer-based ranking system, and Florida’s high home scores kept it at No. 3 nationally. Behind LSU and Oklahoma? Yes. But close enough where it just needed one great meet to win it all.
Rowland said before the national semifinals this team realized its potential.
“You could compete four different nights, and you would probably get four different winners,” Rowland said. “Really it's who can control your emotions the best while you're competing, and who's going to make the least amount of mistakes, because mistakes will happen.”
Unfortunately, that message didn’t reach the team on Thursday. Florida picked the worst time to have its lowest vault score of the season – a 49.075. All scores were low as the Gators failed to stick landing after landing.
Rowland admitted it was a feeling of tightness that doomed UF. The same feeling that accompanied beam at Arkansas and at the SEC Championships, floor at Oklahoma and in the narrow win at the Regional Final in Tuscaloosa.
“I just feel like we worked too hard. They fought, they tried. And I think, sometimes a little too hard. A little too much fight just changes the rhythm. That's how tonight went,” Rowland said following the season-ending loss in the semifinals.
The coach was right. Each team Thursday made mistakes, but the difference between Florida and Missouri and Oklahoma is the Tigers and Sooners overcame their mistakes. Mizzou started slow on floor and vault, but it delivered masterful showings on bars and beam. Oklahoma scored a meet-high on floor.
In the National Championship on Saturday, won by OU for the third time in four years, the Sooners scored a 49.375 or higher on all four events. That consistency is what the Gators lacked all season.
It led to an overall successful season, given the injuries, but a feeling of “what if” as Florida is now a decade removed from a national championship.
Noah Ram covers Florida Gators athletics and Gainesville-area high school sports for The Gainesville Sun, GatorSports.com and the USA TODAY Network. Contact him by email at [email protected] and follow him @Noah_ram1 on X/Twitter.
This article originally appeared on The Gainesville Sun: Florida gymnastics failed to win NCAA Championship due to inconsistent scoring
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Yet, hope was high for the Gators. So much so that articles written in the preseason proclaimed the squad national title favorites for 2025.
Flash forward to April 17, and Florida’s season ended a meet before 2024 and outside the national championship meet for the first time since 2019. UF finished third in the NCAA semifinals behind Oklahoma and Missouri.
Injuries are to blame in part for the disappointing (by Gator standards) season. World Champion Kayla DiCello didn’t compete this season due to a setback from her injury suffered at last summer’s Olympic Trials. Highly touted first year gymnast Skye Blakely competed minimally as she also recovered from her Trials injury. Meanwhile, her sister, Sloane Blakely, suffered a season-ending Achilles injury in February vs. Oklahoma.
However, Florida still held the talent to win it all. It was the squad’s inconsistency that proved costly.
ESPN’s John Roethlisberger said in the days leading up to the national semifinals that fans needed popcorn to see the Gators as no team provided more ups-and-downs. At home, Florida looked like the best team in the nation. In three of five home meets, it topped 198. The 198.625 vs. Kentucky was the nation’s highest score in 2025.
Perhaps no meet epitomized UF more than February 14 vs. Auburn. It began with a 49.275 on vault and a 49.050 on bars after counting two falls. However, Florida still finished with 197.625 after a 49.700 on beam and 49.600 on floor.
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Meets on the road represented a different story. The Gators were kept under 197 in meets at Arkansas and Oklahoma. Scoring was harsher this season, but scores in the 196s used to be anomalies for this program. It happened three times this season. The loss to the Razorbacks was the program’s first since 2009.
The SEC Championship also crystallized the Gators inconsistency. They set a NCAA record on bars with 49.850. However, Florida still finished behind LSU and Oklahoma thanks to a 49.100 on beam. It was an infuriating feeling for Gators fans, who saw the team’s potential but just couldn’t put it all together.
Coach Jenny Rowland liked to preach all season that wins and losses don’t mean much in gymnastics, and she was right. Gymnastics uses a purely computer-based ranking system, and Florida’s high home scores kept it at No. 3 nationally. Behind LSU and Oklahoma? Yes. But close enough where it just needed one great meet to win it all.
Rowland said before the national semifinals this team realized its potential.
“You could compete four different nights, and you would probably get four different winners,” Rowland said. “Really it's who can control your emotions the best while you're competing, and who's going to make the least amount of mistakes, because mistakes will happen.”
Unfortunately, that message didn’t reach the team on Thursday. Florida picked the worst time to have its lowest vault score of the season – a 49.075. All scores were low as the Gators failed to stick landing after landing.
Rowland admitted it was a feeling of tightness that doomed UF. The same feeling that accompanied beam at Arkansas and at the SEC Championships, floor at Oklahoma and in the narrow win at the Regional Final in Tuscaloosa.
“I just feel like we worked too hard. They fought, they tried. And I think, sometimes a little too hard. A little too much fight just changes the rhythm. That's how tonight went,” Rowland said following the season-ending loss in the semifinals.
The coach was right. Each team Thursday made mistakes, but the difference between Florida and Missouri and Oklahoma is the Tigers and Sooners overcame their mistakes. Mizzou started slow on floor and vault, but it delivered masterful showings on bars and beam. Oklahoma scored a meet-high on floor.
In the National Championship on Saturday, won by OU for the third time in four years, the Sooners scored a 49.375 or higher on all four events. That consistency is what the Gators lacked all season.
It led to an overall successful season, given the injuries, but a feeling of “what if” as Florida is now a decade removed from a national championship.
Noah Ram covers Florida Gators athletics and Gainesville-area high school sports for The Gainesville Sun, GatorSports.com and the USA TODAY Network. Contact him by email at [email protected] and follow him @Noah_ram1 on X/Twitter.
This article originally appeared on The Gainesville Sun: Florida gymnastics failed to win NCAA Championship due to inconsistent scoring
Continue reading...
