Florida Gators Gymnastics: Kayla Dicello can power squad to national title

Coming into the 2023 season, the Florida Gators had a strong roster on paper that was expected to be in the running for the national title after just missing out last year to Oklahoma. And as the season has progressed the Gators were certainly among the elite in college gymnastics, but it still felt like there was a gap between Florida and Oklahoma.

Following last night’s dominating win over Missouri which saw the Florida Gators top 198.000 for the first time this season, Florida has reminded the college gymnastics world to not forget about them when thinking about title contenders.

Florida Gators: Kayla Dicello breakout party

Last week the Gators were leap frogged by Michigan and dropped to third in the country. The reality was that Oklahoma, Michigan, and Utah had all topped the 198.000 mark and Florida had not. This may sound like a high bar when one considers that only 16 teams in the country have topped the 197.000 mark, and the gap between a team like Florida and a team like Missouri was evident last night, but if a squad wants to be serious about a national title then 198.000 and above is the standard.

So while Trinity Thomas and Leanne Wong brought high end fire power, Florida needed more high end scores to get over that hump.

Enter freshman Kayla Dicello’s breakout performance last night. Dicello isn’t a charity case that all of a sudden had a great night, but she was only rated the 19th best incoming freshman by College Gym News.

But Dicello’s night powered Florida to a season high 198.350, the second best score by any team at any meet in the country this season. Competing in the all-around competition once again, Dicello better last week’s all-around score by 0.3 and posted a personal best 39.750.

He big moment came on the uneven bars, when she posted her first career perfect 10. And she became the first freshman in the country to post a perfect 10 this season.

If Florida has designs on beating Oklahoma, Michigan, and Utah, it has to have multiple 9.950 and above scores. Scoring a 9.900 is the bare minimum, but won’t be enough to reach the summit.

And while Dicello lost out on all-around honors to Thomas, her presence as an elite level scorer should give Florida Gators fans renewed hope the squad can win it all at season’s end.