By Corey Mitleider and Scott Barr – OGGOA Contributors

Two months of meets are in the books, and Florida Gators (7-1, 6-1 SEC) gymnastics sits comfortably ranked No. 2 in the nation behind Oklahoma after picking up recent victories over perennial powers Alabama (No. 4) and Georgia (No. 7). An undefeated month with four Southeastern Conference victories sets up Florida for a strong close to the regular season. The Gators have a pair of meets remaining against Minnesota (No. 14) in Gainesville, FL for Senior Day on March 1 and at Utah (No. 8) on March 16.

GYMNAST OF THE MONTH

Freshman Bridget Sloan
Scoring: all-around (39.563), second in NCAA on uneven bars (9.915 – RQS), T-seventh in vault (9.900)
Highlights: 9.9 or above in 10 of 15 events including 9.975 on bars vs. Kentucky
Awards: 10 titles (three all-around, one vault, four bars, two balance beam)

Sloan, who was named SEC Gymnast of the Week (once) and SEC Freshman Gymnast of the Week (twice) during the month, talked about her experience in enemy territory after winning the all-around and beating Georgia in its arena. “Definitely a different experience and a learning experience. Coming into a hostile environment like this, I really didn’t know what to expect,” she said. “There was a little bit of barking going on, but I think that is what fueled us. We definitely fed off of it and I think that is why we had such a great road team score.”

ROUTINE OF THE MONTH

Senior Ashanée Dickerson scored a near-perfect 9.975 on her floor exercise routine to cap Florida’s victory over defending national champion Alabama in Gainesville on Feb. 8. The score was a career-best for Dickerson on floor exercise and head coach Rhonda Faehn took it a step further saying, “That was the best routine of her four years here, it really was. That was amazing.”

Check out national rankings and more on Florida gymnastics…after the break!
Continue Reading » Florida gymnastics looking good through Feb.

Tags: Alaina Johnson, Ashanée Dickerson, Bianca Dancose-Giambattisto, Bridget Sloan, Freshman Gymnast of the Week, Gymnast of the Week, gymnastics, Kiersten Wang, Kytra Hunter, Randy Stageberg, SEC, Stephen C. O'Connell Center

Between softball, women’s basketball and gymnastics, the University of Florida was honored to receive nine letters of intent on Thursday from future student-athletes who hope to become big parts of their respective Florida Gators teams.

Softball picked up six commitments for its 2011 signing class including pitcher Alyssa Bache (Clearwater, FL), third baseman Bailey Castro (Pembroke Pines, FL), infielder Jessica Damico (Gray Summit, MO), shortstop Sami Fagan (Dunnellon, FL), utility player Lauren Haeger (Peoria, AZ) and SS Katie Medina (Downey, CA).

“To say we are excited about this year’s signing class is an understatement,” head coach Tim Walton said. “Each one of these student-athletes brings a tremendous amount of talent individually. Collectively, they’re one of the best classes in the entire country. We look forward to great things out of this group. We’ll be losing an extremely talented senior class this upcoming season – arguably one of the best Florida softball classes ever. We are excited about coaching this talented incoming class, which we expect to step in right away and replace some Gator greats.”

The basketball team added point guard Carlie Needles (Highlands Ranch, CO) and center Viktorija Dimaite (Gainesville, FL by way of Lithuania), both of whom could have a big impact on the program. “I’m excited about the type of people that they are and what they bring to our team,” head coach Amanda Butler said. “They are all-around winners and are definitely championship-caliber people.” Dimaite is 6’4” and helped lead The Rock School to the 2010 Class 1A girl’s basketball state championship, while Needles comes from a high school program that has produced WNBA-caliber players.

Gymnastics head coach Rhonda Faehn scored another major signing for her program by bringing in Kiersten Wang (Colorado Springs, CO). Wang was runner-up on vault at the 2009 Level 10 Junior Olympic Championships and has excelled at every level of competition she has attempted. “Kiersten contains the perfect all-around package. She has a tremendous amount of quickness, power and talent. She is an exceptional talent who is extremely determined and loves to perform. Kiersten will contribute immediately to this team,” Faehn said.

Tags: Alyssa Bache, Amanda Butler, Bailey Castro, Carlie Needles, gymnastics, Jessica Damico, Katie Medina, Kiersten Wang, Lauren Haeger, Rhonda Faehn, Sami Fagan, softball, Tim Walton, University of Florida, Viktorija Dimaite, WNBA, women's basketball