Florida Gymnastics Shows Fight in Loss to No. 1 Oklahoma, Looks Ahead with Purpose
The Florida Gators didn’t get the win Friday night, but they may have found something even more important: their edge.
Facing the top-ranked Oklahoma Sooners in front of a packed home crowd at the annual Link to Pink meet - the most anticipated night of the season at Exactech Arena - Florida dropped a 198.075-197.575 decision. It marked the Gators’ first home loss since January 2024 and their first set of back-to-back defeats since 2006. But this one felt different.
This wasn’t a flat performance like the one we saw last week in Missouri. This time, Florida dug itself into an early hole but responded with grit, poise, and a national-best performance on bars that reminded everyone why this team still belongs in the championship conversation.
A Rough Start, Then a Statement on Bars
Vault has been a lingering issue for the Gators this season, and it reared its head again Friday night. The opening rotation left Florida trailing early, and against a team as polished and relentless as Oklahoma, that’s not a position you want to be in.
But instead of folding, Florida responded - and they did it with style. The Gators delivered a 49.650 on bars, the highest score in the country this season.
Riley McCusker led the way with a 9.975, while Selena Harris-Miranda added a strong 9.900. It was a bounce-back performance from both gymnasts after last week’s struggles in Columbia.
“We kicked ourselves a little bit at the beginning,” head coach Jenny Rowland said. “But we stood up tall and did what these Gators are able to do.”
McCusker echoed that confidence after the meet. “In practice, I come in and I'm hitting bar routine after bar routine,” she said. “What happened last week was so out of the ordinary, so I was just ready to go out there and have fun.”
The bars rotation didn’t just keep Florida in the meet - it reignited the team’s belief.
Beam and Floor: Steady, But Not Flawless
Florida followed up with a solid beam rotation, scoring a 49.500. It wasn’t flashy, but it was composed - the kind of routine that championship teams need to deliver when the pressure’s on.
Floor, however, was more of a mixed bag. Harris-Miranda and Skye Blakely both turned in standout routines that flirted with perfection.
But the rotation was marred by uncharacteristic mistakes from eMjae Frazier and Kayla DiCello. Frazier, usually rock-solid, had a rare miscue, and DiCello, in her return to floor, couldn’t quite find her rhythm.
Both gymnasts scored 9.750 or lower - a margin that proved critical against a team as dialed-in as Oklahoma.
Oklahoma Delivers Like a No. 1 Team Should
Let’s give credit where it’s due: the Sooners looked every bit the part of the nation’s top team. Their 49.700 beam rotation was a masterclass in execution, and it effectively shut the door on any Gator comeback.
Oklahoma didn’t show any real weaknesses. They were composed, clean, and consistent - the kind of performance that makes you think they could run the table all the way through April.
But here’s the thing: Florida wasn’t far off. Even with the early vault issues and a couple of floor stumbles, the Gators stayed within striking distance. And that’s what Rowland is holding onto.
“This was more of a redemption meet for the Gators vs. the Gators,” she said. “That's really what we were looking at coming into this week from last week.”
Eyes on the Bigger Picture
There’s no such thing as a perfect meet - Rowland will be the first to tell you that. But minimizing mistakes, especially on vault and floor, is the focus as Florida turns its attention to the final stretch of the regular season and the looming SEC and NCAA Championships.
“We're never going to have a perfect meet,” Rowland said. “There is no such thing as a perfect meet, but how do we minimize those mistakes?”
That’s the challenge now: clean up the details, sharpen the execution, and keep building momentum.
The Sooners may be the standard right now, but the Gators showed they’re not far behind. And if Oklahoma stumbles - as they did two years ago in the NCAA Semifinals - Florida is positioning itself to capitalize.
Harris-Miranda summed it up best: “We worked so hard to put it together in the gym, and then to see it happen towards the end when we competed just makes us light the fire a little brighter in practice.”
That fire will be tested again next week on the road at No. 6 Georgia. But if Friday night was any indication, the Gators are starting to rediscover their championship form - and just in time.