January 15, 2008: University of Florida sophomore Melanie Sinclair is the first Southeastern Conference Gymnast of the Week of the 2008 season, the league office announced Tuesday. This is her second SEC Gymnast of the Week honor of her career.
Sinclair was awarded the SEC Gymnast of the Week after matching her collegiate-best all-around total of 39.525 to win the season-opener last Friday versus Illinois-Chicago. That all-around total also shares the nation's high mark of this young season. It was the second all-around win for Sinclair, as she also opened the 2007 season by claiming the Super Six Challenge title. Sinclair has competed four times during her collegiate career as an all-arounder, winning two titles and taking second in the other two outings.
She shared two other event titles Friday - uneven bars (9.925) and balance beam (9.875). The bar win was her ninth as a Gator and it was her second beam title. She earned All-America first team honors in both events in 2007.
Athlete of the Week - 2007
December 7th: Amanda Castillo
November 30th: Ashley Reed
November 16th: Melanie Sinclair
November 9th: Ashley Reed
November 2nd: Nicola Willis
October 26th: Corey Hartung
October 19th: Alicia Goodwin
October 12th: Lynn Denblyden
October 5th: Melanie Sinclair
September 28th: Ashley Kerr
September 21st: Amanda Castillo
September 14th: Melanie Sinclair
September 7th: Corey Hartung and Rebekah Zaiser
Throughout the preseason practices, the coaches will select one gymnast as the "Athlete of the Week."
Criteria for selection are based on the following:
** Best work ethic and positive attitude in the gym **
** Support, leadership, and cheering of teammates in and out of the gym **
**Involvement with community service and strong academic work ethic **
September 10th, 2007: The University of Florida gymnastics team received their 2007 Southeastern Conference championship rings Monday, Sept. 10 in the F-Club at a dinner with the Gator Gymnastics Gang (GGG - team's booster club).
Florida used its highest team score ever in SEC Championship competition (197.325) to claim the title on March 31, 2007 in the Alltel Arena in North Little Rock, Ark. The title was the sixth overall title for UF and first since 1989.
Florida placed four on 2007 All-SEC Teams - Amanda Castillo (first team), Corey Hartung (second team), Ashley Reed (first team), and Melanie Sinclair (second team). Castillo was the SEC Freshman of the Year, becoming the third Gator to win the award (Orley Szmuch, 2002, Betsy Hamm 1998). Castillo also won the 2007 SEC floor exercise title at 9.95. She was the first Gator to win a SEC event title since Chrissy Van Fleet (balance beam) in 1999 and the first to claim the floor crown since Melissa Miller and Pam Titus shared the 1989 title. In addition, UF’s Rhonda Faehn was named the SEC Coach of the Year for the second consecutive season in 2007.
May 24th, 2007: Savannah Evans was named to the 2007 ESPN The Magazine Academic All-District III First Team and will advance to the national Academic All-American ballot.
Evans is pursuing a double major in sports management & business and owns a 3.75 grade point average. She earned All-America first-team honors for vault and floor exercise, advancing to 2007 NCAA Individual Event Finals after posting season-best marks of 9.90 for both events in NCAA Championships Session I team qualifying competition. Evans shared fourth in the NCAA floor final (9.90) and took sixth in the vault final (9.8125). Evans also shared the NCAA Northeast Region floor title at 9.90 for the first regional event title of collegiate career. Evans is a three-time member of both the Southeastern Conference Academic Honor Roll and the National Association of Collegiate Gymnastics Coaches Scholastic All-America team.
As a team, Florida averaged a 3.36 GPA for the spring semester (with Ashley Kerr getting a 4.0!). Congratulations to Savannah for the award and to the all the Gators on their achievements in the classroom!
March 31st, 2007: At the SC Championships, the Florida Gators were well represented at the podiums. Coach Rhonda Faehn was named SEC Coach of the Year for the second consecutive season. Freshman Amanda Castillo was named SEC Freshman of the Year and later followed that with a 9.95 to take the Floor Event Title. First Team All-SEC included Ashley Reed and Amanda Castillo while Second Team All-SEC added Corey Hartung and Melanie Sinclair. In addition, the Florida Gators came home with their first SEC Championship since 1989. Congratulations ladies!!
February 6th, 2007: Long overdue, but justly deserved, Melanie Sinclair was named SEC Gymnast of the Week, the league office announced Tuesday. This is the first SEC Gymnast of the Week honor of her career and she is the third Gator to claim the award this season. This is the highest number of Florida gymnasts honored in a season in the eight-year history of the award.
Sinclair was awarded the SEC Gymnast of the Week after collecting two individual titles in the Gators' regular-season finale March 16 versus Michigan State. Sinclair used identical marks of 9.95 to win the uneven bars and floor exercise titles. Sinclair, the nation's #1 bar performer, won her eighth title of the season on the event. She has scored a 9.90 or above in eight of her 12 bar performances in 2007, including two perfect 10s.
Sinclair shared the floor title with Castillo and MSU's Nicole Curler. It was Sinclair's first floor title of the year and she has turned in a 9.90 or above in three of her five floor performances this season. Her floor mark helped the Gators equal their school-record floor total of 49.65 for the second time this season.
She now owns or shares the Florida season-best marks for bars (10.0) and floor (9.95). Sinclair has picked up a total of 11 event titles in 2007. In addition to her #1 ranking in the nation's uneven bars rankings, she holds the #10 spot for the balance beam.
February 27th, 2007: University of Florida freshman Amanda Castillo is the Southeastern Conference Gymnast of the Week, the league office announced Tuesday. This is ther first SEC Gymnast of the Week honor of her career and she is the second Gator to claim the award this season.
It was Castillo's hit balance beam routine as Florida's final competitor of the meet that gave UF a 197.20-197.05 win last Friday at #9 LSU. Florida's opening beam competitor fell during her routine, so the remainder of the lineup knew they need to hit for UF to have a chance to take the team title. After hit routines from Florida's next four competitors, Castillo anchored the UF beam lineup with a collegiate-best 9.925 routine, which also won the evening's event title. The all-around title also went to Castillo, as she won her second collegiate crown with a total of 39.40. She turned in marks of 9.90 to share second in both the evening's vault and floor exercise competition. The vault mark stands as collegiate-best.
Castillo shares Florida's season-best floor score (9.95) and is tied for second among the Gators with eight event titles this season. Castillo ranks sixth among the nation's all-arounders with her regional qualifying average (RQS) of 39.305 and is #3 for the floor (9.90 RQS) and #7 for the bars (9.890 RQS).
February 6th, 2007: University of Florida junior Ashley Reed is the Southeastern Conference Gymnast of the Week, the league office announced Tuesday. This is her second SEC Gymnast of the Week honor of her career and she is the first Gator to claim the award this season. In the eight-year history of the award, a Gator has picked up the honor 12 times.
Reed was awarded the SEC Gymnast of the Week after setting or matching all of her collegiate-best apparatus marks Friday in the Gators' win versus #10 Auburn. She used the fifth-best all-around total in UF history of 39.675 to claim her second title of the season and her seventh as a Gator. She also shared the evening's vault (9.925), balance beam (9.90) and floor exercise (9.95) titles. Reed also matched her collegiate-best of 9.90 to take second on the uneven bars.
Reed now owns or shares the Florida season-best marks for vault (9.925), floor (9.95) and all-around (39.675). She leads the Gators this season with 11 event titles. Reed holds the #6 position in the latest national all-around standings with her season average of 39.319. She is one of three Gator gymnasts currently ranked among the nation's top 12 all-arounders.
Athlete of the Week - 2006
Each Sunday until competition begins, the coaches will select one gymnast as the "Athlete of the Week."
Criteria for selection are based on the following:
** Best work ethic and positive attitude in the gym **
** Support, leadership, and cheering of teammates in and out of the gym **
**Involvement with community service and strong academic work ethic **