GAINESVILLEFla. – Top-ranked Florida gymnastics edged No. 4 Alabama 197.425-197.275 on Friday night at Exactech Arena at the Stephen C. O’Connell Centeropening Southeastern Conference action in front of 7,524 fans for Flashback Friday presented by Publix.
With SEC programs holding eight of the top 10 spots in the national rankingsevery league meet is expected to be highly competitive. Friday’s conference opener featured the nation’s top dual of the weekend in a meet that came down to the final routine.
Florida won or shared three event titles. Senior All-American Selena Harris-Miranda captured her second consecutive balance beam title with a 9.95 and shared the vault win with Alabama’s Azaraya Ra-Akbar at 9.925. Florida’s Taylor Clark and Amelia Disidore shared the floor exercise title at 9.90 with Ra-Akbar and Jamison Sears of Alabama.
Ra-Akbar won the all-around at 39.60while Alabama’s Chloe LaCoursiere posted the meet’s highest scorea 9.975to win the uneven bars.
TONIGHT’S MEET
Florida opened the meet on vaultwhere minor steps on landings limited scores. Harris-Miranda anchored the lineup with a stuck landing and a team-high 9.925.
The Gators rebounded on uneven barsposting a season-high 49.55. All five counting routines scored 9.90 or higherled by 9.925s from All-Americans Riley McCusker and Anya Pilgrim.
Alabama led Florida by 0.025 at the midway point.
Balance beam proved decisive for the Gators. Junior Skylar Draser matched her collegiate-best 9.90 in the leadoff spotfollowed by a 9.925 from senior All-American eMjae Frazier. Harris-Miranda added a 9.95 and All-American Alyssa Arana anchored with a 9.875 in her season debut.
Florida carried a one-tenth lead into the final rotation. Freshman Jayla Booker opened floor exercise with a 9.875and Disidore followed with a 9.90 in her collegiate debut. Clark also turned in a 9.90 Friday. Despite counting an out-of-bounds routineFlorida’s floor scores were enough to secure the victory.
EVENT WINNERS:
Vault: Selena Harris-MirandaUF | Azaraya Ra-AkbarALA 9.925
Bars: Chloe LaCoursiereALA 9.975
Beam: Selena Harris-MirandaUF 9.95
Floor: Taylor ClarkUF | Amelia DisidoreUF | Jamison SearsALA | Azaraya Ra-AkbarALA 9.90
All-Around: Azaraya Ra-AkbarALA 39.60
CELEBRATING THE LEGACY OF ERNESTINE RUSSELL CARTER (WEAVER):
Ernestine Russell Carter (Weaver)who led the Florida gymnastics team from 1980 to 1992passed away Wednesday.
Coach Weaver served as the University of Florida head gymnastics coach for 13 seasons. During her remarkable tenureshe led the Gators to the 1982 AIAW National Championship and five Southeastern Conference titles. Equally important to Weaver was success beyond the matas she took great pride in seeing her student-athletes earn their University of Florida degrees.
Beyond Floridaher impact on the sport was extraordinary – a Canadian Olympianthe 1980 U.S. Olympic coach and an internationally respected Brevet judge.
Coach Weaver was also a visionaryhelping to market collegiate gymnastics in a way that transformed fan engagement. The electric Gator crowds of the 1980s inspired programs across the country.
There’s no doubt she would have loved to be here tonightpumping her fist to celebrate Gator performances.
GATOR PERFORMANCE NOTES:
* Amelia Disidore’s first collegiate floor exercise appearance earned a 9.90 and shared the event win. Her older sister/teammateAll-American Gabby Disidorealso earned a 9.90 in her first collegiate floor appearance last season on the final day of February. The last Gator to earn win in her collegiate floor debut was Anya Pilgrim in 2024.
* Tonight was the 10th time Skylar Draser posted her collegiate-best balance beam mark of 9.90. Each of those 9.90s came in the lead-off position.
* Taylor Clark claimed a share of her second collegiate floor title Fridaywith the first coming last season at Arkansas.
* Last weekSelena Harris-Miranda opened with the nation’s leading balance beam mark of 9.975. Tonightshe posted the second-highest beam score (9.95) for her second consecutive win for the event. She claimed a share of the evening’s vault title with a season-best 9.925.
* Florida did not have an all-arounder compete tonight for the first time since Feb. 222013.
* Collegiate bests:
* Amelia Disidore 9.90 (floor debut)
* Skylar Draser 9.90 (beam)
RECORDS: Florida (4-01-0 SEC)Alabama (1-10-1 SEC)
THE SERIES: Alabama leads 77-58-2
NATIONAL RANK:
Florida – Florida is No. 1 in the Jan. 12 Road to National rankings<https://roadtonationals.com/results/standings/season/2026/2/0/5>
Alabama – No. 4
THEY SAID:
On Gators’ performance:
“Welcome to the SEC competition. Grateful that Gator Nation came and showed out for our team. We’re extremely grateful for all of their support and the energy that they bring. I know our athletes thrive off of the energy that is brought to the arena. That was a lot of fun tonight. Reallyreally proud of this team. We showed a lot of hearta lot of grit. Made some mistakes and remained calm and confident throughout the rest of whatever it is they were doing. If it was that individual performance or the next person upthey were ready to reset and continue doing gymnasticsjust like we do in the gym. So really proud of them.” – Florida Head Coach Jenny Rowland
On competing after a fall on floor:
“I’m gonna be honestI did not see the fallbut I definitely told myself that I know my training. I train day in and day out during practiceand I just told myself to do exactly what I do in practicebecause that’s the best version of myself.” – sophomore Taylor Clark
On anchoring lineup with a strong performance in her season beam debut:
“WellI actually didn’t really watch any of the routinesso I wasn’t sure what was going on. But coming into this meetI was just focusing on staying present and doing my normal. And for methat’s just focusing on my breathing and my keywords and such. That is what I was going through while everyone else was going and so once I was upit was time for just my normalwhich is what I do at practice.”- junior All-American Alyssa Arana
After earning the SEC Specialist of the Week honor on Tuesdayhow did you prepare for tonight’s performance?
“Nothing really changed. I still worked just as hard as my teammatesand really just focused on moving as one as a team. That’s really where my focus was this week – making sure everyone was prepared. and everyone knew that we could trust each other and have each other’s backs. Think it just motivating as [the honor] could be anyone on our team.” – senior All-American Selena Harris-Miranda
UP NEXT:
Florida starts Southeastern Conference road action next Friday at No. 6 Auburn. The Tigers are among the eight league teams among the Jan. 12 Road to Nationals top 10. The meet airs on the SEC Network.
Auburn is at No. 10 Arkansas on SundayJan. 18. The Tigers opened the season Jan. 9 with a 197.15 – 196.075 win over North Carolina State.