Rachel Slocum ran towards the vault.
It was the junior transfer’s first ever meet in the O’Connell Center, and the crowd was electric.
In her last meet, she only competed in exhibition in the event. But now, the Gators were depending on her score.
The pressure didn’t phase her.
Slocum’s front handspring pike-front front with a half twist notched a 9.950, the highest home debut on vault since Alex McMurtry’s first meet in 2015, helping the No. 3 Gators defeat No. 14 Kentucky 197.600 to 196.950 in Florida’s home opener.
It was the highest SEC-opening-meet score in program history.
“It felt amazing. I think just knowing that my coaches and my team believed in me enough to put me in the lineup this week was an amazing feeling,” Slocum said. “And going out there and doing the best I could for my team was awesome.”
While Slocum’s vault helped rewrite the records books, it was Kennedy Baker who took a two-way share of the all-around title with her overall score of 39.757, earning the honor for the second meet in a row.
“Winning all-around is always nice but to get the team win was more important to me,” Baker said. “For myself it felt really good. It’s just building my confidence for next week.”
Alex McMurtry and Alicia Boren also captured the bars and beam titles, respectively, in front of the crowd of 7,683, the third-largest home-opening meet in school history.
The massive turnout included the speedo-clad Florida swimming and diving team, which claimed the front row of the student section.
But while Florida was able to get past the Wildcats with a win, the Gators weren’t without a few missteps.
On beam, Rachel Gowey, McMurtry and Alicia Boren all narrowly avoided falling off the apparatus mid-routine.
On floor, freshman Maegan Chant fell out of bounds on her last tumbling pass, posting a meet-low score of 8.975.
Even including those mistakes, however, head coach Jenny Rowland, who arrived mid-meet after a flight from a seminar in Indianapolis, was proud of the way her team showed up.
“I think the performance was fabulous tonight overall for freshman and for the returners,” Rowland said. “I’m looking forward to an amazing season. This team is so talented, so motivated, so dedicated and really the sky’s the limit.”
Contact Lauren Staff at lstaff@alligator.org or follow her on Twitter @lstaff27
Senior Rachel Slocum tied for a first-place finish in vault during the NCAA Regionals on April 7. She and two other seniors competed in their last meet during the Super Six on Saturday.
Kennedy Baker performs her floor routine during Florida's win over Kentucky on Jan. 13, 2016, at the O'Connell Center.
