Trinity Thomas makes her mark as No. 1 Florida gymnastics earns road win over No. 2 LSU

Other

0

Image Credit: Tim Casey / UAA

It was the regular-season collegiate gymnastics matchup of the year Friday as the No. 1 Florida Gators rode into Baton Rouge, Louisiana, to face the No. 2 LSU Tigers. Despite trailing for nearly the entire meet, Florida edged LSU on the final rotation to pick up a 198.150-198.050 victory.

The Gators were led to the nation’s top score this season by an all-time performance from junior Trinity Thomas, who posted the fifth-best all-around score in NCAA history and best score in program history (39.900). Thomas scored a perfect 10 on the floor exercise (the second of her career) to go along with a pair of 9.975s on vault and bars, plus a 9.950 on balance beam.

The judging was questionable throughout the matchup with both squads feeling slighted — UF through the first three rotations and LSU on the final one. Florida posted a season-best 49.650 on beam, their highest score on any rotation Friday, to pick up the narrow 0.100 win.

The Gators and Tigers are the only two teams this season to score above 198.000. They entered as top 10 squads for their 23rd consecutive meeting on Friday.

Freshman Ellie Lazzari picked up a 9.950 on beam for Florida, while junior Nya Reed (vault, floor), junior Savannah Schoenherr (bars) and sophomore Payton Richards (beam) all registered 9.925s on the evening.

Florida is now 4-0 on the season with three meets left ahead of the SEC Championships in late March.