Gators Close Season, Finish Fourth at NCAA Championship - Florida Gators (2024)

FORT WORTH, Texas — The Gators gymnastics team's bid for the program's fourth national title came to a close Saturday afternoon with a fourth-place finish at the NCAA Championship.

LSU claimed its first national title, followed by runner-up Cal, Utah and the Gators. Florida's 197.4375 score was well off the pace set by the Tigers (198.2250). Cal (197.8500) and Utah (197.8000) gave LSU a battle through three rotations before the Tigers closed with a school-record beam score.

LSU joins Alabama (6 titles), Georgia (10) and Florida (3) as the fourth Southeastern Conference team to win a NCAA Gymnastics team title. No other league has more than one team claiming titles – Pac-12 (UCLA, 7), Big 12 (Oklahoma, 6), Western Athletic (Utah, 9) and Big Ten (Michigan, 1). Utah, part of the Pac-12 since 2011, was a member of the WAC when it won its NCAA titles.

Final from Fort Worth#GoGators | @WellsFargo pic.twitter.com/pYWDh4CmLg

See Also

Florida Gets Crucial Midweek Win Against FAU - ESPN 98.1 FM - 850 AM WRUFFSU Football Produces ACC-Best 10 Picks In 2024 NFL DraftWhere Auburn stands in SEC recruiting rankings heading into MayGators Baseball Loses Pitching Duel Against No. 2 Razorbacks - ESPN 98.1 FM - 850 AM WRUF

— Gators Gymnastics (@GatorsGym) April 20, 2024

"Extremely humbled, proud, grateful for the opportunity that this team put themselves in a position to even be here this evening. It may not have been the exact outcome that we wanted but sometimes you don't always get what you want," Florida Coach Jenny Rowland said. "Just reflecting on a very memorable year. A year filled with peaks, a year filled with valleys, a year that there were so many people who doubted the Gators would even be able to be in this position. This team fought and continued to show up day after day, getting one percent better. I couldn't have asked for anything more."

THIS AFTERNOON'S MEET:
Florida was assigned Olympic rotation for Saturday's final. The vault landings didn't come as easily as Thursday with only Danie Ferris breaking 9.9, leading the team at 9.9125. Fellow freshman Skylar Draser led off with a 9.875 and senior Victoria Nguyen posted a 9.85. Florida tallied a 49.25 on vault.

Florida found those sticks on the next rotation with each of the six hitting her dismount. Draser equaled her collegiate best of 9.9 and Leanne Wong anchored with the day's winning mark of 9.95. Anya Pilgrim posted 9.8875, with Nguyen (9.875) and Sloane Blakely (9.8625) also adding into UF's bars total of 49.475.

. @sskylardraser ties her career best with a 9.9000🥳#GoGators | #WeChomp
📺https://t.co/CqcEgOmjm9 pic.twitter.com/17ni1yu6WN

— Gators Gymnastics (@GatorsGym) April 20, 2024

HER.

🔹 @leannewong03 with a 9.9500!!!#GoGators | #WeChomp
📺https://t.co/CqcEgOmjm9 pic.twitter.com/CjT6cHQwNY

— Gators Gymnastics (@GatorsGym) April 20, 2024

Balance beam opened with two Gators equaling their collegiate best - first Draser (9.90) and then Blakely (9.95). Pilgrim earned a 9.875 and Ellie Lazzari anchored with a 9.85. Some balance checks and a miss dinged the scoring potential, as the Gators tallied a 49.2375.

CAREER HIGH ALERT🥳🥳

🔹 @sloaneeblakely sets her career high with a 9.9500!!!#GoGators | #WeChomp
📺https://t.co/CqcEgOmjm9 pic.twitter.com/9KlijGCsrt

— Gators Gymnastics (@GatorsGym) April 20, 2024

The floor exercise lead-off and anchor led the Gators, with Nguyen starting off at 9.9125 and Wong finishing with the day's high floor mark of 9.95. Lazzari earned a 9.8875 with Blakely and Pilgrim contributing 9.8625s toward UF's total of 49.475.

EVENT WINNERS:

No 10.0s were awarded in 2024 NCAA semifinal or team final competition. The last time no 10.0s were scored at the NCAA Championship site was 2021.

GATOR PERFORMANCE NOTES:

• Skylar Draser equaled two collegiate bests Saturday with 9.90s for both uneven bars and balance beam. She finished her freshman season with four consecutive beam 9.9s – all coming in NCAA Regional or NCAA Championship action. Draser started off the Gators' beam lineup with a 9.9 six times in 2024.
• Sloane Blakely scored her collegiate beam best of 9.95 for the fifth time of her Gator career and for the first time in 2024 in today's NCAA Team Final. She shared second on the event Saturday. Blakely joins All-American Bridget Sloan (2013, 2014) as the only Gators with a 9.95 in NCAA Team Final competition.
• Marks of 9.95 gave Leanne Wong both the day's uneven bars and floor exercise wins. She finished 2024 with a collegiate-high 23 event wins to lead Florida in 2024. She is 10^th on Florida's Career Wins chart (61).
• This is the second consecutive year Wong won bars in the NCAA Team Final, sharing the 2023 win with teammate Kayla DiCello at 9.975. A Gator has won at least a share of the NCAA Team Final bars title every year since 2021: Wong (2024), Wong/DiCello (2023), Trinity Thomas (2022) and Megan Skaggs (2021)
• Collegiate bests today:
  • Sloane Blakely: beam (9.95)
  • Skylar Draser: uneven bars & balance team (9.90)

NEXT UP:
The NCAA Championships ends the 2024 collegiate gymnastics season. Four join the Gators next season.
Florida signed Lily Bruce and Taylor Clark in the fall. Skye Blakely also signed with the Gators in fall of 2022, but deferred enrollment until fall of 2024 as she looks to earn a berth on the 2024 U.S. Olympic team. In February, the Gators announced that Alyssa Orgen also joins the 2025 team.