GAINESVILLE, Fla. - No. 7 Florida and No. 2 LSU, winners of 2024 Southeastern Conference gymnastics titles, meet Friday in the Pete Maravich Assembly Center to start 2025 regular-season league dual action in a meet airing live on ESPN2.
Florida claimed its sixth consecutive SEC regular-season title in 2024. LSU won the 2024 SEC Championship meet title and then went on to claim its first NCAA team title. This is the 13th consecutive season both Florida and LSU bring a top-10 ranking into their annual dual meet.
The Southeastern Conference began recognizing a regular-season champion in 2017. Since then, that trophy went to either LSU (2017, 2018) or Florida (2019, 2020, 2021, 2022, 2023, 2024).
Three winners of NCAA individual event titles are among Friday's rosters - Haleigh Bryant - LSU (2024 all-around, 2021 vault), Aleah Finnegan - LSU (2024 floor) and Leanne Wong - UF (2024 bars).
Four gymnasts competing in the Maravich Assembly Center Friday own 2025 national highs in three events:
Vault: 9.95 Danie Ferris, UF | Aleah Finnegan, LSU | Kailin Chio, LSU
Floor: 9.975 Aleah Finnegan, LSU
AA: 39.725 Leanne Wong, UF | Aleah Finnegan, LSU
How to Follow the Gators:
Follow the action live: ESPN2 action called by Olympians Sam Peszek and John Roethlisberger calling the action and Taylor Davis with sideline reports
Tickets: $25 - $15
Gators in 2025 Season Opener:
Florida opened 2025 with a narrow quad meet win at the Exactech Arena on Jan. 10. Florida posted a 196.675, just edging MSU (196.65). Nebraska was third (195.60), followed by NIU (191.95).
Florida led the meet throughout, including turning in 2025's second-highest balance beam total of 49.50. A trio of Gators turned in marks of 9.9 or better on both uneven bars (Sloane Blakely 9.90; Anya Pilgrim 9.925; Leanne Wong 9.95) and beam (Sloane Blakely 9.925, Wong 9.90; Selena Harris-Miranda 9.90).
The 0.675 three-rotation advantage was challenged when Florida was forced to count a miss and a pair of out of bounds toward its floor exercise total. The Gators swept the top three floor positions, led by a pair of All-American Gator seniors - Sloane Blakely (9.90) and Wong (9.95) plus freshman Taylor Clark (9.875) as the Gators held off the closing Spartans on the final event.
Sophomore Danie Ferris equaled her collegiate best of 9.95 to win vault. Wong used 9.95s to win uneven bars, balance beam and floor exercise and matched the 2025 high of 39.725 to claim her 15th career all-around title.
LSU in 2025:
LSU opened with a 197.30-194.10 home win Jan. 3 versus Iowa State. At last Saturday's Sprouts Farmers Market Collegiate Quad in Oklahoma City, LSU took second to No. 1 Oklahoma 197.95-197.65. California was third (197.275) and Utah rounded out the results (196.80). LSU's 197.65 is the nation's No. 2 total of 2025.
Two Tigers matched or set 2025 national highs to win Sprouts Farmers Market quad titles - freshman Kailin Chio (vault, 9.95) and Aleah Finnegan (floor, 9.975).
Plenty of SEC Weekly Award Winners for League Opener:
Friday's meet includes both who claimed the two Southeastern Conference Gymnast of the Week honors of this young season - LSU's Aleah Finnegan (Week 1) and Florida's Leanne Wong (Week 2). The reigning co-SEC Specialists of the Week - UF's Danie Ferris and LSU's Ashley Cowan plus winner of the first two SEC Freshman of the Week awards - LSU's Kailin Chio - are slated to compete Friday.
Florida claimed its sixth consecutive SEC regular-season title in 2024. LSU won the 2024 SEC Championship meet title and then went on to claim its first NCAA team title. This is the 13th consecutive season both Florida and LSU bring a top-10 ranking into their annual dual meet.
The Southeastern Conference began recognizing a regular-season champion in 2017. Since then, that trophy went to either LSU (2017, 2018) or Florida (2019, 2020, 2021, 2022, 2023, 2024).
Three winners of NCAA individual event titles are among Friday's rosters - Haleigh Bryant - LSU (2024 all-around, 2021 vault), Aleah Finnegan - LSU (2024 floor) and Leanne Wong - UF (2024 bars).
Four gymnasts competing in the Maravich Assembly Center Friday own 2025 national highs in three events:
Vault: 9.95 Danie Ferris, UF | Aleah Finnegan, LSU | Kailin Chio, LSU
Floor: 9.975 Aleah Finnegan, LSU
AA: 39.725 Leanne Wong, UF | Aleah Finnegan, LSU
How to Follow the Gators:
Follow the action live: ESPN2 action called by Olympians Sam Peszek and John Roethlisberger calling the action and Taylor Davis with sideline reports
Tickets: $25 - $15
Gators in 2025 Season Opener:
Florida opened 2025 with a narrow quad meet win at the Exactech Arena on Jan. 10. Florida posted a 196.675, just edging MSU (196.65). Nebraska was third (195.60), followed by NIU (191.95).
Florida led the meet throughout, including turning in 2025's second-highest balance beam total of 49.50. A trio of Gators turned in marks of 9.9 or better on both uneven bars (Sloane Blakely 9.90; Anya Pilgrim 9.925; Leanne Wong 9.95) and beam (Sloane Blakely 9.925, Wong 9.90; Selena Harris-Miranda 9.90).
The 0.675 three-rotation advantage was challenged when Florida was forced to count a miss and a pair of out of bounds toward its floor exercise total. The Gators swept the top three floor positions, led by a pair of All-American Gator seniors - Sloane Blakely (9.90) and Wong (9.95) plus freshman Taylor Clark (9.875) as the Gators held off the closing Spartans on the final event.
Sophomore Danie Ferris equaled her collegiate best of 9.95 to win vault. Wong used 9.95s to win uneven bars, balance beam and floor exercise and matched the 2025 high of 39.725 to claim her 15th career all-around title.
LSU in 2025:
LSU opened with a 197.30-194.10 home win Jan. 3 versus Iowa State. At last Saturday's Sprouts Farmers Market Collegiate Quad in Oklahoma City, LSU took second to No. 1 Oklahoma 197.95-197.65. California was third (197.275) and Utah rounded out the results (196.80). LSU's 197.65 is the nation's No. 2 total of 2025.
Two Tigers matched or set 2025 national highs to win Sprouts Farmers Market quad titles - freshman Kailin Chio (vault, 9.95) and Aleah Finnegan (floor, 9.975).
Plenty of SEC Weekly Award Winners for League Opener:
Friday's meet includes both who claimed the two Southeastern Conference Gymnast of the Week honors of this young season - LSU's Aleah Finnegan (Week 1) and Florida's Leanne Wong (Week 2). The reigning co-SEC Specialists of the Week - UF's Danie Ferris and LSU's Ashley Cowan plus winner of the first two SEC Freshman of the Week awards - LSU's Kailin Chio - are slated to compete Friday.
