For the past two years, despite winning the national title each season, Florida had fallen short to Alabama in the Southeastern Conference Championships by the slimmest of margins.
On Saturday night, the Gators flipped the script.
Florida won its 10th SEC title and its first since 2013, edging out second-place Alabama 197.775-197.750 in North Little Rock, Arkansas, for what equalled the slimmest margin of victory in SEC Championship history.
“It was a moment I will cherish forever, for the rest of my life,” an emotional coach Jenny Rowland said. “I’m so incredibly proud of this team. They have fought through adversity and have done anything and everything the coaching staff has asked them to do. I couldn’t be more proud of them.”
Needing a 9.850 or better to win, senior Bridgette Caquatto stepped on floor for the final routine of the night.
Caquatto, who in a similar situation scored a 9.950 on floor to earn Florida a share of the 2014 national title, battled with herself during the routine, fighting to stay in bounds on one tumbling pass and willing her legs to stay down on another.
After nearly 10 agonizing minutes passed after the senior had finished, her routine was given a 9.875, just enough to give the Gators, who erupted in cheers, their first title under Rowland.
The moment was clearly not lost on the first-year coach, who held back tears after the meet.
“Why is this moment emotional for me?” Rowland said. “First time head coach, first time SEC win and first time that I am able to be a part of a team of girls that are my own that mean the world to me.”
The Gators claimed the lead early, scoring a 49.425 on vault to open the meet, which gave them a 0.075 lead over Auburn after the first rotation.
They improved upon that on bars, scoring a 49.500 — their best event score of the night — to extend the lead to 0.150 over the Crimson Tide after Rotation 2.
Florida maintained that margin over Alabama through the third rotation, despite a fall on beam for senior Bridget Sloan, who had a subpar night by her standards.
But Sloan rallied to score a 9.925 on floor, and the team rallied around her and managed to hold onto its lead in the fourth rotation to pull off the win.
“I did not have the best night of my life, but my team is incredible,” Sloan said. “They were behind me 100 percent and after I got off the beam, they were like, ‘Kill it on floor,’ and I was like, ‘You know what, thank you. I’m going to.’”
Sophomore Kennedy Baker won the event’s all-around title with a 39.650, which matched her career-best all-around score and was just her third-career all-around title. She also took home the SEC vault title.
Sophomore Alex McMurtry, who competed all-around for just the third time in her career, finished just behind Baker with a 39.625 while also nabbing the SEC beam title.
Florida will next compete in the NCAA Regionals in two weeks.
A television broadcast contributed to this report
Contact Graham Hack at ghack@alligator.org and follow him on Twitter @graham_hack24.
Bridgette Caquatto performs her floor routine during Florida's win against Arkansas on Feb. 12, 2016, in the O'Connell Center.
