(GYM) Link to Pink 1/28/22

Gators Gymnastics Team's Resiliency Tested Early
Scott Carter / Senior Writer UAA
The Gators gymnastics team is deep and talented, which is a good thing after a pair of season-ending injuries during last week's trip to Georgia.
GAINESVILLE, Fla. — The fourth-ranked Gators gymnastics team is back home Friday night, hosting No. 13-ranked Arkansas in the annual Link to Pink Meet.

And for the second consecutive year, Florida will rely on some first aid at its signature home event.
The Gators lost sophomore Ellie Lazzari and senior Halley Taylor for the season in last week's road win at Georgia. Both gymnasts suffered torn Achilles tendons and underwent successful surgery this week
In last season's Link to Pink victory over Kentucky, the Gators took the floor without four key performers in Trinity Thomas, Sydney Johnson-Scharpf, Nya Reed and Savannah Schoenherr, all sidelined due to COVID-19 health and safety protocols.

Gators coach Jenny Rowland has a deeper team in 2022, the 18-member squad the program's largest roster in its 50 seasons. She was reminded by Thomas this week of the mindset the Gators must maintain to overcome their latest hurdle.
"It's always a test. Every year," Rowland said. "Every year has its challenges. You have two options: you can stay where you are and feel sorry for yourself, or you can continue to take your steps forward and continue to do what you do."

The Gators have no intention of straying from the latter with the Razorbacks visiting Exactech Arena/O'Connell Center for the 8:15 p.m. start time.
While Lazzari (beam vs. Alabama) and Taylor (beam, floor exercise in season opener) had minimal performances after the first three meets, their losses impact the team's depth should others get injured. Freshman Morgan Hurd (knee surgery) is also out for the season. Rowland said junior Payton Richards, who missed the Georgia meet because she was sick, is back at practice and available on Friday.
Lazzari won her first collegiate vault title in last year's Link to Pink Meet, and Taylor competed on vault, beam and floor with the lineup depleted.
Fifth-year senior Megan Skaggs, who has won a pair of all-around titles in the young season, is optimistic the team has enough talent to overcome the adversity.

"Having injuries doesn't change the plan," Skaggs said. "Each of us trains and prepares to step up when our name is called, so really nothing's changed. If your name is called, you're still going to be ready to go. It's sad to lose two teammates to injuries, but they're still with us."
Thomas has yet to compete in all-around and will expand her events as the season progresses according to Rowland, and the nation's No. 1-ranked freshman recruiting class is willing and able to pick up any slack.
The Gators will march forward with a pair of new cheerleaders by their side in Lazzari and Taylor.

"We have faced adversity. Yeah, it's a challenge and this year, it's a different challenge than COVID,'' Rowland said. "It's going to show how resilient this team is."

 

Arkansas Heads To Gainesville For First Road Meet With Florida
The No. 13 Gymbacks return to competition after two weeks and will pay the No. 4 Florida Gators a visit for their second SEC dual of the season on Friday.
Arkansas was sidelined due to health and safety protocols for the team’s Jan. 21 meet at LSU, but get back to action in strong shape.

“Gymnastics is just kind of one of those sports where [if] you take five or six days off, whether you’re a close contact or COVID positive, it takes at least another week to get back to normal, and you really can’t jump back into full routines right away,” head coach Jordyn Wieber said. “So this extra week and having a few extra days over the weekend to get in a healthier place, to allow our athletes to catch up again, has been really, really good and I’m feeling confident about where we are with our lineups and where we are health-wise going into this weekend.”
Florida is Arkansas’ strongest opponent yet this season and is currently ranked No. 4 overall and in the top 10 on all events. The Gymbacks are No. 13 overall and their highest event ranking comes in at No. 9 on vault. Notably, Arkansas’ bars score of 49.550 against Auburn ties Alabama for the highest in the country all season and is second-best in program history.

The Gators are 5-0 so far this season, while the Razorbacks are 1-1. Florida holds the advantage in the series between the two teams with a 47-3 record, and none of the Gymbacks’ wins against the Gators have come in Gainesville.

“Any SEC road meet is always a challenge. The team knows that, the coaching staff knows that. This is our first road meet and it’s going to be a good experience for our young ones to get into a different environment,” Wieber said. “But no matter who we’re competing against, the job is always the same: go out and be the best version of Arkansas gymnastics that we can be, and I’m really excited about where the team is at and what we’re looking toward for the rest of the season so it should be a great weekend.”
In addition to being one of the toughest, Arkansas’ all-time series against Florida is also the team’s longest. Friday’s meeting between the two will be the 51st ever.
Last Time Out

Arkansas’ last meet was one to remember as the Gymbacks competed inside Bud Walton Arena for the first time. A whopping 10,345 fans watched the show and shattered the program attendance record, which was previously set on Jan. 17, 2020, the first home meet of the Wieber era.

The competition was a fierce one, and while Arkansas fell to Auburn, it was an incredibly close finish of 197.250 to 197.200. The Gymbacks had never hit 197 in the first two weeks of the season prior, and the score is the sixth-highest in program history. Senior Kennedy Hambrick won her second all-around title in as many weeks with a score of 39.525 and also took the title on beam with a 9.950. Graduate student Maggie O’Hara scored a 9.950 on bars to share the title with Auburn freshman and Tokyo 2020 all-around champion Suni Lee, and senior Amanda Elswick posted a 9.900 on vault for the crown.

 

We will be in our seats early hope for a good crowd despite the weather

​

 

elsewhere

​

 

​

 

​

 

as of now Gators posted the highest meet score of the season

 

Good crowd, better performance by our gymnasts, at a break in came the Gators WBK team,good move in front of the right crowd.

Itis easy to see the improvement on technique from the first meet to tonight, the gymnasts are getting into good form, relaxed in their routines and while it is hard to say from the 3rd row it appears the team has jelled considerably since the first of the season

I miss the end of the meet ceremony when the teams sat in a line and the high scores and best performers were recognized

 

​