Kytra Hunter pretty much summed it all up after Florida’s home win against Arkansas (197.525-196.025) on Valentines Day.
“I mean, no girl ever wants to fall, but you got to get one out of the way,” Hunter said.
Despite a fall that led her to a team low (9.40) on beam, Hunter scored a perfect 10 on vault.
Hunter had sat out of all but one practice this week with the stomach flu, but when she stuck her landing in her first event, you couldn’t even tell.
Hunter, who had previously scored two consecutive 10s on floor, opened No. 1 Florida’s (6-0, 4-0 Southeastern Conference) defeat of No.11 Arkansas (3-4, 1-4 SEC) with a perfect 10 on vault.
“I was so happy for Kytra,” coach Rhonda Faehn said. “Knowing that she was sick this week and then knowing that she’s been near perfection on that vault so many times.”
Hunter is now the second Gator in history to have scored three 10s in a single season. In 1998, Susan Hines scored three 10s on vault.
A decade has passed since Savannah Evans scored UF’s last 10 on vault in March 2004.
Hunter, who did not compete all-around for the first time this year after sitting out on floor, couldn’t maintain the perfection she achieved on vault. She also scored a team low of 9.800 on bars besides her fall on beam. Both her beam and bars scores were not counted towards UF’s final score.
“Yeah, I was kicking myself in the butt,” Hunter said. “But you know what I need something to improve on each week.”
Hunter’s 10 on vault brings UF’s 10 tally up to five in the six meets so far this season.
Bridget Sloan, who contributed two of UF’s five 10s, claimed three event titles against Arkansas: beam (9.900), floor (9.975) and all-around (39.750). After scoring a 10 on beam in UF’s last meet against Kentucky, Sloan followed Hunter’s performance with another less stable routine against Arkansas.
“Bridget’s foot was completely off the beam, but just sheer determination and will,” Faehn said. “She was not going to come off that beam, and made the absolute best out of it. And that was really nice to see because they’re not going to be exceptionally perfect all the time.”
Silvia Colussi-Pelaez competed on floor for the second consecutive week and third time overall. Her score of 9.75 was consistent with the career high she achieved against Kentucky.
Alaina Johnson tied her career high on floor with a 9.925. The last time Johnson scored this high on floor was during her freshman year on Feb. 12, 2011. Johnson was the only other Gator to compete all-around (39.275).
“Alaina is an exceptional floor worker, she really is,” Faehn said. “She has a very unique routine, and dynamic tumbling for as long lines as she has, so it’s a great combination.”
Friday night’s loss was Arkansas’ fourth consecutive loss of the season. But Florida also felt its’ performance wasn’t quite up to par.
“Definitely I thought that we got off to a very good start, still not quite getting the landings that were looking for,” Faehn said. “But what I did like was you could see that they were fighting through everything.”
Follow Erica A. Hernandez on Twitter @EricaAlyssa
Kytra Hunter performs a floor routine during the NCAA Regionals on April 6, 2013, in the O’Connell Center.
