25 Cheers for 25 Years: Gators Go Back to Back in Gymnastics

The Florida Gators celebrate their national championship after the finals of the 2014 NCAA Gymnastics Championships. The championships are located at the BJCC in Birmingham, Alabama. The Florida Gators and Oklahoma Sooners were co-national champions. (Photo by Michael Wade/Icon SMI/Corbis/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)

After six intense rotations and 198.175 points apiece, the 2014 NCAA Women’s Gymnastics Championship ended in something the sport had never seen before: a tie for the national title.

The Florida Gators and Oklahoma Sooners stood side-by-side at the top of the podium — equal champions in one of the greatest gymnastics meets in history.

Florida came to Birmingham as the defending champs. They had experience, and they needed it all. Oklahoma was flawless. The Gators had to be almost perfect to stay in the race.

The night was electric from the start.

Florida opened strong and stayed the course. A misstep on beam could’ve derailed the whole thing, but the team bounced back behind veterans like Bridget Sloan and Kytra Hunter. Sloan, already an NCAA all-around champ, nailed her vault.

Hunter, one of the most powerful gymnasts in the nation at the time, was unbelievable in the final floor rotation with a 9.95. That floor set was what pulled them into the tie.

“We knew coming in that we could do it,” head coach Rhonda Faehn said. “And obviously that’s what it took.”

When the final scores flashed, there was confusion. Then the celebration began. There were no tiebreakers or rematches. It was two elite teams who had pushed each other to the edge and landed in the same place.

“I’ve always felt that if there’s a tie, it needs to remain a tie,” Faehn said afterward. “It’s too hard, too competitive. If both teams were that good, they both deserve it.”

The athletes embraced the moment.

Sloan said, “I think a tie is one of the best ways to do it. Both teams were phenomenal.”

Sophomore Bridgette Caquatto, who closed out Florida’s night with that pressure-packed floor routine, later said sharing the title “was so much fun” and that she “wouldn’t want it any other way.”

Florida’s 198.175 was a program record at the time. It matched Oklahoma’s to the last decimal, and in doing so, it made Florida back-to-back national champs.

For Oklahoma, it was their first national title. For college gymnastics, it was a shift. Alabama, Georgia, UCLA, and Utah had long ruled the sport. Now Florida and Oklahoma were raining on the parade.

The two newcomers had earned their seat at the table, and they'd done it by putting on one of the best shows the NCAA had ever seen.

Florida’s share of the 2014 title was bigger than a win. It was a statement. It showed that the Gators were here to stay in the world of gymnastics, and they proved that sentiment even by doing the three-peat a year later.