Kytra Hunter could have backed down against the Southeastern Conference’s experienced heavyweights. She could have let the most intense environment she had faced in her young college career intimidate her.
Instead, Florida’s freshman all-around competitor rose to the occasion — and propelled the Gators to SEC supremacy.
Hunter recorded a 39.625 to snag the SEC all-around title as No. 1 Florida (17-1, 5-1 SEC) hoisted its eighth SEC Championship trophy in school history and third in six years Saturday in Duluth, Ga.
The 39.625 was Hunter’s second-highest all-around score this season, and it placed her ahead of the SEC Gymnast of the Year, Arkansas’ Jaime Pisani (39.50). Hunter is the Gators’ first SEC All-Around Champion since Kristen Guise in 1995 and the first UF freshman to win since Elfi Schlegel in 1983.
In addition, Hunter was named SEC Freshman of the Year — the third straight year a Gator has earned the honor. Alaina Johnson won it last year, and Ashanée Dickerson took home the award in 2010.
“She’s only a freshman, and to win the SEC all-around title, that’s just a phenomenal achievement,” junior Marissa King said. “It’s an honor to have her on the team. She has yet more great things to come.”
Hunter’s all-around score was the highest at the SEC Championship since Georgia’s Courtney Kupets notched a 39.775 in 2009.
Ironically, Hunter and Kupets both come from the same elite-level club, Hill’s Gymnastics, in Gaithersburg, Md.
“That just shows her competitive experience and the level that she is at,” coach Rhonda Faehn said.
On vault, Hunter tallied her best score of the afternoon. She posted a collegiate-best 9.975 to win the SEC vault title by a margin of .05 points.
Not only did the near-perfect performance excite her teammates, but Hunter herself was impressed by her execution.
“My vault performance was amazing,” Hunter said. “I’ve been practicing on vault a lot with sticking drills. It’s helped a lot and it showed [Saturday].”
Her 9.975 turned out to be a key factor in Florida’s turnaround. After UF’s first two events, it trailed No. 5 Georgia by .125. But the team exploded with a 49.525 vault score to rally to the top of the leaderboard and claim a .325 lead over the six-team field.
Even when Florida slightly struggled on its first two events, Hunter shined. She placed second on balance beam with a 9.875 behind Pisani’s 9.9 and tied for second on floor exercise with four gymnasts at 9.9.
Hunter also shared fifth on uneven bars with three others (9.875) to close out her historic day in The Arena at Gwinnett Center.
“I’ve said from the beginning, she’s one of the top all-arounders in the country,” Faehn said. “Kytra really put together a great meet. But she’s very humble and disciplined.”
The Gators will learn today at 3 p.m. which site they will be assigned for the NCAA Regional Championships on April 7. If Florida finishes as one of the top two teams at its location, it will return to Duluth for the NCAA Championships on April 20-22.
“Knowing that we did make mistakes, and knowing that there are regionals and nationals to come back and fix those, we’re in a good place right now,” Hunter said. “We still have to go out and work hard. Winning the SEC Championship doesn’t mean that we can go home and relax.”
Florida freshman Kytra Hunter posted a career-best 9.975 on vault to help rally the Gators to their second SEC title in three years.
