Coach Rhonda Faehn may have found herself another dynamic freshman.
Kytra Hunter made a huge statement as an all-around competitor in No. 3 Florida’s 196.025-194.675 road win against North Carolina State on Friday.
In her collegiate debut, Hunter finished with 39.3 points to win the all-around title, scoring a 9.85 on vault, a 9.775 on uneven parallel bars, a 9.775 on balance beam and a meet-high 9.9 on the floor exercise.
Hunter is the fourth Gator in 25 years to claim an all-around title in a season opener.
“We know she’s extremely talented and a phenomenal athlete,” Faehn said.
“That was fun to be able to see her get out there and do a great job right from the start.”
Hunter, who hails from Frederick, Md., was a member of the 2009-10 and 2010-11 U.S. Senior National Teams and has competed in the 2009 European Tour and the Visa Championships, among other events.
Hunter said competing with the U.S. National Team helped her learn to calm her nerves in front of large audiences.
So when Hunter debuted her floor routine in front of a crowd of 2,512 at the Reynolds Coliseum in Raleigh, N.C., last Friday, everything went smoothly.
“It felt great,” she said. “I mean, as a freshman, I got to get my feet wet.”
Hunter’s all-around efforts add to a formidable core that includes junior All-Americans Ashanée Dickerson and Marissa King.
For the Gators, Hunter’s breakout debut has to feel like deja vu. In last year’s opener against Nebraska, then-freshman Alaina Johnson scored a 39.425 as an all-around competitor. Like Hunter, Johnson recorded a 9.9 on floor.
Johnson, the 2011 Southeastern Conference Freshman of the Year, followed up her debut with even stronger scores in her second meet: a 9.95 in vault, a 9.925 in bars and a 9.85 in floor.
Hunter said she hopes she can continue the trend when Florida hosts Illinois-Chicago on Friday night at 7 in the Gators’ home opener. She added that during this week’s practices she has been working on her landings, as well as handstands on bars.
“I’m really confident,” Hunter said. “I did make mistakes (against North Carolina State), and going out as a freshman my first meet, I wasn’t going to be perfect. But I’d rather have mistakes that I can go in and fix than be perfect and have nothing to fix.”
While Hunter remains self-assured, her coach might be even more confident in the freshman’s abilities.
“She has that star quality,” Faehn said.
“I say that she’s all business because she gets through everything so quickly. But just her sheer power, her vault and her tumbling, is just phenomenal. I would say the best in the country.”
Florida coach Rhonda Faehn (above) was impressed by Kytra Hunter’s debut last week, which netted the freshman an all-around title.
