To kick off our Stellar Seniors series, we’re taking a look at Florida gator Kytra Hunter. Kytra competes all-around for Florida and is arguably one of the most successful NCAA gymnasts in recent years.

Before her collegiate days, Kytra was an elite gymnast who trained at Hill’s Gymnastics in Maryland under coach Kelli Hill, the same woman who coached Dominique Dawes. Her dominance on floor and vault started early - in 2008, she was the 2008 Junior Olympic Level 10 Senior Vault & Floor Exercise Champion (in addition to being All-Around Champion). Kytra qualified to the elite level and took 3rd place on floor and 4th in the all-around at the 2009 Visa National Championships. 2009 was also the year that she competed in her first international meet, winning floor at a competition in Germany as part of the European Tour. She was also named an alternate for the 2009 and 2010 US World Championship teams. Kytra continued to compete in 2010 at the elite level, winning the floor title at the CoverGirl Classic, and placing 3rd on vault. She also placed 4th in the all-around, balance beam and floor at the 2010 Visa National Championships.

Following a successful elite career, Kytra started off her NCAA career at Florida with a bang. As a freshman, she became the 2012 NCAA All-Around Champion (the first gator to do so) and the 2012 NCAA Vault Champion. She also won 5 All-America honors that year and was a Honda Award winner as top collegiate gymnast. Kytra has won an additional 13 All-America honors since her freshman year, and she has been named to the All-SEC team each year.

Kytra considers her best events to be floor and vault, and it’s easy to see why. She boasts a 10.0 on both events, having achieved the perfect score on floor 4 times and on vault twice. These collegiate bests are also record-setting scores for Florida. She’s not too shabby on bars and beam, either, achieving collegiate bests of 9.95 and 9.925, respectively. Check out Kytra's dynamite floor routine from last season below:



So what makes Kytra so special? Beyond her amazing execution, she can throw some impressive skills - a double layout on floor, a yurchenko 1 ½ twist on vault, and a front tuck mount onto the beam. In addition, when Kytra competed at the elite level, her tumbling was incredibly powerful. Case in point, her opening pass on floor in 2010 was a full twisting double layout.

In Florida’s opening meet this year against Ball State, Kytra performed on all 4 events, scoring no lower than a 9.825. We’re excited to see what the rest of her final season has in store for her! 


Related:
Kytra Hunter wins 2012 Honda Award for Gymnastics
Roller Coaster Meet for No. 1 Florida