Last week’s opening meet against Ball State gave coach Rhonda Faehn the chance to evaluate Bridget Sloan’s collegiate debut.
With Florida traveling to No. 8 LSU on Friday for its first road meet of the season, Faehn may have the chance to see how another freshman, Morgan Frazier, performs in competition after a few weeks of training.
“She is definitely pushing herself, and I would love to see her get out there because she can certainly bring depth to this team on three events,” coach Rhonda Faehn said.
Frazier is one of three gymnasts who signed a national letter of intent with Florida in November, along with teammates Silvia Colussi-Perez and Claire Boyce.
Frazier, from Orlando Metro’s club team, won 2012 Florida Level 10 titles for all-around, vault and balance beam.
She enrolled at UF this spring, marking the fourth consecutive season a gymnast joined the team midyear.
While confident Frazier will provide depth in many events, Faehn is especially intrigued by both her vault and floor routines.
Sloan is also impressed with her fellow freshman.
“I haven’t seen her compete much from the time she was a (Florida) Level 10 (competitor), but I heard she was really dedicated and she’s brought that here,” Sloan said. “She’s been working her butt off.”
Frazier said she has seen an increased workload since coming to Florida.
“The training is much faster and the practices are much faster, more intense because you can only train for a certain amount of time,” Frazier said.
Frazier has taken notice of the work ethic and style of sophomore Kytra Hunter and All-American Ashanee Dickerson.
The duo showed Frazier several nuances, such as running faster and opening her shoulders during her vault routines.
The added time in the gym has aided Frazier’s college transition, and she noted that Sloan’s recent debut has been reassuring.
“I saw how confident Bridget was going out there and that gave me confidence to say ‘I can do that too, I can hang with them’,” Frazier said.
Whether Frazier will be competing on vault come Friday has yet to be determined, but UF has a range of gymnasts it can call upon when needed.
Freshman Bridget Sloan sticks a landing during Florida’s 196.575-190.55 win against Ball State on Jan. 4 in the O’Connell Center.
