Perfect Sloan, Hunter push Florida past Georgia

Sophomore Bridget Sloan and junior Kytra Hunter scored perfect 10s on consecutive floor exercise routines Friday night, helping No. 3 Florida Gators gymnastics set a program record in the event on its way to a 198.05-196.70 victory over the No. 6 Georgia Gym Dogs at the Stephen C. O’Connell Center in Gainesville, FL.

Florida (3-0, 2-0 SEC) beat its third-straight ranked opponent to open the season. The defending national champions routed Georgia (2-3, 1-0 SEC) due in large part to its 49.875 on floor, the highest combined point total ever scored by the team in that rotation. Its 198.05 final score also marked the fifth-highest total in program history.

According to the Gators, Sloan and Hunter each posted 10s on floor for the first time in their collegiate careers; the scores were just the third and fourth 10s registered on floor in team history. It was the first time two Florida gymnasts registered 10s in the same meet and/or same event since 1996 as well as the first time ever for both scores to be posted in the floor rotation. Additionally, no two UF gymnasts had ever scored 10s on floor in the same season, let alone the same meet.

Sloan and Hunter are the last two NCAA All-Around Champions with both gymnasts winning the title in their freshman campaigns – 2013 and 2012, respectively.

Watching history unfold on Friday was a crowd of 10,013, the third-largest that the gymnastics program has ever brought into the O’Dome.

UF opened the season with a pair of big road wins, a 196.650-196.625 victory over then-No. 4 UCLA in Los Angeles, CA on Jan. 11. and a 197.075-196.225 win against then-No. 18 Auburn in Auburn, AL on Jan. 17.

Image via @GatorZoneGym on Twitter