Recap: Baker's Perfect 10 Caps Florida's Win Against Auburn

Recap: Baker's Perfect 10 Caps Florida's Win Against Auburn

The Florida Gators 11th Annual Link to Pink meet was special from the start but it wasn't until Kennedy Baker scored a perfect 10.0 on floor exercise that punctured the win against Auburn 197.700-196.400.

Jan 30, 2017 by Lauren Lowitt
Recap: Baker's Perfect 10 Caps Florida's Win Against Auburn
The Florida women's gymnastics team's 11th annual Link to Pink meet was special from the start, but it was Kennedy Baker's perfect score of 10.0 on her floor exercise that served as the punctuation mark in the third-ranked Gators' 197.700-196.400 win over No. 16 Auburn at Exactech Arena in Gainesville, FL, on Friday. 

Four UF gymnasts picked up event wins on the night to lead Florida to a new season-high team score. Auburn also notched its best team total so far but came away without an event win. Gators junior Alex McMurtry won vault for the second consecutive meet behind a season-high 9.95 -- this time adding a Yurchenko double. Freshman Amelia Hundley won uneven bars with a season-best score 9.95. Freshman Rachel Gowey won balance beam with a season-high score of 9.925, which was also Gowey's first event title of the season. Baker's perfect score on floor exercise was her first of this season and the junior's second perfect mark since Jan. 29, 2016. Hundley won the all-around with a score of 39.55 -- her first all-around title of her collegiate career.

Watch Baker's Perfect 10:

Link to Pink Meet Notes:
  • ​Baker was supposed to be in the lineup for vault but took herself out and Amanda Cheney filled in. Cheney was suppose to perform her vault last week against UNC, but Florida skipped her vault because it already had enough scores.
  • McMurtry captured her 15th vault title and increased her collegiate total of event wins to 30 (15 vault, nine bars, six beam).
  • Hundley is the first UF freshman to win an all-around since Alicia Boren used a 39.525 to win the 2016 Gators' Link to Pink title.
  • Junior Abby Milliet of Auburn was not in the lineup, as she injured her lower right leg during warm-ups prior to the start of the meet.

Hear From The Gators:
Kennedy Baker on getting a 10.0 on floor:
"It felt so good. It was my first meet back on floor. I stuck my first pass, and I knew I could do it, get a 10. I felt really good after the whole routine. When you go from almost falling on beam to getting a ten on floor, it's drastic. I could have felt down after beam, but I picked myself back up and wanted to do it for the team."

Amelia Hundley on her first all-around win:
"I'm very excited. I wasn't expecting that, and when they called my name it was really neat. I'm happier for the team win. It's a team sport and when I make mistakes, they have my back. I was really trying to do it for the team. I enjoyed the whole experience. I'm really happy with how I did, but there is always room for improvement. I think we're only going to go up from here."

Head Coach Jenny Rowland on the meet:
"Lots of positives. Just an overall memorable evening. We have 13 girls on the team with 13 very different personalities, each their own person. They come into the gym every day with a common goal to work together - it's just been phenomenal to see them gel together so quickly and that's really shown on the competition floor. They're having a lot of fun, they're feeding off of each other and trying to improve the little things here and there. 

"We had some phenomenal performances tonight, we had some really great performances and some of the routines that I saw tonight, I felt like they were trying too hard a little bit to fix what we've been working on the gym, which is ok. We're going to make mistakes. This is process, it's a marathon of a season, it's not a sprint. But I'm very pleased with how the team has been building from each meet."

Rowland on the growth of the freshmen over the season so far:
"We've already had four meets and just building off of each competition, seeing the freshmen get out there more, and relaxing. This was the first meet that I've seen them be able to perform to what we've been working on. [Rachel] Gowey put it perfectly when she said she put her routine in her pocket and brought it out to the competition floor and it was a beautiful performance."

Up Next:
The Florida Gators travel to Tuscaloosa, Alabama, on Friday to compete against the No. 5 Alabama Crimson Tide at 8:30 PM ET at Coleman Coliseum.