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[continued below]
To take the meet title, Florida needed to overcome a .40 deficit to LSU at
the midpoint of the meet. Florida came off of bye to the uneven bars for the
fourth rotation and quickly made up ground on the Tigers. The Gators
posted a 49.575 - matching the third-highest team total ever for UF on the
event. Sinclair, making her first competitive appearance since the U.S.
Classic in July of 2005, lived up to her reputation as a top bars performer.
Her mark of 9.975 shared top honors on the event with Denver's Jessica
Lopez and is the second-highest score ever for UF on the event (three share
the UF bar record of 10.0). The mark also matched the meet record set by
UCLA's Jamie Dantzscher in 2002.

Sinclair, who sat out last season recovering from a knee injury, truly
enjoyed making her collegiate competitive debut Friday evening.

"It was amazing. I missed that feeling of competing, the crowd, the team - I
just loved all of it. It was so exciting to be competing for the team," Sinclair
said. "Last year sitting on the sideline was exciting, but now to be out there
was amazing."

Every Gator in the lineup posted a bars mark of 9.875 or higher. Sophomore
All-American Corey Hartung posted a collegiate-best of 9.925 to tie for third
overall, while UF also got marks of 9.90 from junior Nicola Willis and
freshman Amanda Castillo. Freshman Rebekah Zaiser and senior All-
American Samantha Lutz both posted marks of 9.875.
UF Gymnastics - 1/6/07
Florida Gymnasts Open Season with Super Six Challenge Team
Title

After runner-up finishes in its previous two Super Six Challenge
appearances, the No. 3 University of Florida gymnastics team moved up to
the top position Friday, claiming its first team title for the event Friday
evening in front of a Barnhill Arena crowd of 2,066. Florida, making its
seventh appearance in the event, becomes the third program (Georgia -
titles in 2002, '01, '03, '05 and Alabama - 2000, '01, '04, '06) to take the
Super Six Challenge crown.

Florida finished the meet with a team total of 196.55 - just a fraction away
from UF's all-time best season-opening score set in the 2003 Super Six
Challenge (196.575). No. 7 Nebraska (195.20) was second, followed by No.
14 Penn State (194.575), No. 9 LSU (194.075), No. 17 Denver (192.975)
and No. 15 Arkansas (192.80). The meet will air tape-delayed on ESPN2
Jan. 14 at 3:30 p.m. (ET).

A Gator claimed at least a share of four of the individual event titles Friday.
Red-shirt freshman Melanie Sinclair won the all-around at 39.275 and
shared the uneven bars title by matching the meet-record mark of
9.975.Junior Ashley Reed won the balance beam (9.90) and shared the
floor exercise title (9.85).
UF turned in the evening's highest balance beam team total of 49.075, as the first five Gators all turned in hit routines.
Reed, who had matched her previous collegiate beam best of 9.85 seven times, upped that mark to 9.90 Friday to take the
event title. Sinclair was runner-up on the event at 9.85. Hartung also posted a 9.825 to finish fourth.

Florida opened the season and the meet with the floor exercise, totaling a 48.85. An out-of-bounds deduction and extra
steps on some landings hurt UF's score. Reed, debuting her floor routine set to "The Mile High Jump", shared the meet
title with Denver's Lopez with her mark of 9.85. Willis also turned in a 9.825 Friday for her new routine, tying for third
overall.

The vault also provided some solid scores for Florida, with three marks above 9.825. Reed and freshman Castillo anchored
the Gator vault set with identical marks of 9.85 to tie for fifth overall. Willis also posted a 9.825 on the event.

"I was really proud of the athletes. They came out really aggressive. We started off on floor where we had several new
skills and competitors, including Melanie (Sinclair), who hasn't competed in such a long time. Amanda Castillo also was
making her first collegiate appearance and Katie Rue was debuting a double layout for her opening pass. We had a few
mistakes, but they did a nice job of staying focused throughout the rest of competition and not relaxing. The team was
very positive," UF Head Coach Rhonda Faehn said. "We accomplished our goals that we set coming into this competition.
We just wanted to focus on ourselves. There are definitely some things that we need to work on to get better, but I am very
happy with our start. This is exactly where we want to be at this point of the season."

The Super Six Challenge, considered one of the premier competitions of the collegiate gymnastics regular season, was
started eight years ago. Former Southeastern Conference Commissioner Roy Kramer initiated the competition to create a
showcase event for the league's gymnastics program.

Florida returns home to play host to a Meet the Team event in the Ted Crom Gymnastics Studio on Sunday, Jan. 7 at 2
p.m. Fans planning to attend should enter at Gate 4 of the Stephen C. O'Connell Center. Admission is free and 2007 Gator
Gymnastics squad will sign autographs immediately following the event.

The 2007 home season begins Friday, Jan. 12 when No. 12 Oregon State visits for a dual meet. Admission is $4.00 for
adults, while youth 17 and under and UF students with identification are admitted free.

No. 3 Florida at the Super Six Challenge
Fayetteville, Ark. - Jan. 5, 2007

GATORS 196.550
Nebraska 195.200
PSU 194.575
LSU 194.075
Denver 192.975
Arkansas 192.800


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