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Prayers for complete recovery.

Micah Handlogten suffered a devastating injury during the SEC Championship with a fracture of his leg. However, after an upsetting result for him, his family, and the Gators, positive news has come out in regards to his status following the moment.

Handlogten as well as his mother, Danielle Handlogten, shared tweets about his condition this evening. They both shared that he is out of his surgery after the break today. They added that is doing fine and that doctors expect him to fully recover from this incident.

“Out of surgery and doing well!” wrote Handlogten on Twitter. “Thank you all again for the support!

“Thank you for the love and support of the Herd family,” Mrs. Handlogten wrote in a response to a tweet from those at Marshall. “Micah is out of surgery and is expected to have a full recovery.”

 

Handlogten came to Florida this past year as a sophomore after his freshman year with the Thundering Herd.

In 31 starts over 32 appearances, Handlogten averaged 5.5 points, 7.1 rebound, and just under a block in 19.5 minutes per game. He did so while shooting 62.2% from the floor this season.

 

Those statistics were good for second in rebounding, third in blocks, and tops in field-goal percentage.

Handlogten went down within the first few minutes of the title game in the SEC Tournament against Auburn. After going up for a rebound, he landed in a way that led to the fracturing of his lower leg. It was one of those unfortunate injuries that you never want to see. It was also one that clearly affected the emotions of him, the two teams, and the audience both in Bridgestone Arena and watching on ESPN.

 

Considering all things, this is fantastic news on the 7’1 center within a couple hours of his gruesome moment. It’s about all that you could hope for as he now begins his rehab while his team prepares to play in the NCAA Tournament

 

Florida’s Micah Handlogten stretchered off the court after scary leg injury in SEC Tournament title game

Handlogten thanks fans for prayers, support

Florida suffered a hugely unfortunate and serious injury early in the championship of the SEC Tournament against Auburn when big man Micah Handlogten crumpled to the floor and needed immediate medical attention.

 

Blood dripped onto his leg which flopped after he came down on it funny after attempting to secure a rebound just over two minutes into the game. Todd Golden confirmed to ESPN that he had suffered a fractured lower left leg.

Still, he appeared to be in good spirits despite the injury while being tended to at Vanderbilt University Medical Center in Nashville, Tennessee.

 

“Gator Nation, Thank you for all of the love and prayers!” Handlogten wrote on his Twitter account. “It has helped more than anyone could imagine. Keep supporting the boys so we can make a deep run in the NCAAT! I love you all!”

He concluded his tweet with a pair of orange and blue hearts as well as a gator emoji.

Congrats, Gators SEC Champs!

Special report on the Florida Gators gymnastics team:

LEXINGTON, Ky. – No. 5 Florida gymnastics wasn’t in a sharing mood.

UF’s win over No. 6 Kentucky Sunday afternoon at the Rupp Arena at Central Bank Center gives Florida sole possession of its sixth consecutive Southeastern Conference regular-season title.

Florida’s season-high 198.225 took the win as Kentucky posted a program-record 198.10 Sunday.

SEC TITLE CLINCHED:

For the third consecutive year, the Florida-Kentucky dual meet included a SEC regular-season title storyline. And in the 2024 version, there were three teams involved in that narrative.

Florida clinched at least a share of its sixth consecutive title with its win last week versus No. 2 LSU. Two other teams had the opportunity to share the 2024 title with wins in their SEC regular-season finale. LSU claimed a home win over Alabama on Friday. Kentucky needed a win over Florida to have three teams tied at the top with 5-2 records.

To claim sole possession of the 2024 title, Florida needed to come back Sunday after trailing the Wildcats by 0.25 at the meet’s midpoint.

Florida’s season-best floor exercise total of 49.725 – which included a 10.0 by freshman Anya Pilgrim – put the Gators up 0.30 heading into the final rotation. What the team needed to seal the win was a solid balance beam performance as the Wildcats rotated to floor exercise, their strongest scoring event.

The Gators got just that, posting their second-highest beam total (49.575) of the season to hold off Kentucky’s season-high performance on floor exercise.

Leanne Wong anchored the beam lineup with a near-perfect 9.975. She used the same mark to win uneven bars. Wong won all-around at 39.775 – her fifth of the season and fourth consecutive.

Pilgrim made it a one-two Florida all-around finish, as she upped her collegiate high and the nation’s top freshman total to 39.675 to take second.

THIS AFTERNOON’S MEET
Three marks of 9.9 or better were used toward Florida’s 49.425 on uneven bars. Gabby Disidore and Anya Pilgrim posted 9.9s and Wong anchored the lineup with a near-perfect 9.975.

Collegiate bests of 9.95 by two freshmen – Skylar Draser and Danie Ferris – led the Gators on vault. Sloane Blakely also turned in a 9.9 as Florida posted its second-highest vault total (49.50) of the season.

Florida trailed by 0.025 at the meet’s midpoint.

Five consecutive floor exercise marks of 9.9 or better tallied up to Florida’s season-high total of the season (49.725). That included Pilgrim’s 10.0, making her the only freshmen among the 15 different gymnasts across the nation with a perfect floor mark. Morgan Hurd and Wong both earned a 9.95, Blakely a 9.925 and Victoria Nguyen a 9.9.

Four marks of 9.9 or better helped UF earn its second-highest beam total of the season (49.575). Wong closed the lineup with her third near-perfect 9.975 of the season. Pilgrim was just behind at 9.95, with Blakely and Ellie Lazzari earning 9.9s.

Apparatus winners:
Makenzie Wilson, UK 10.00 Vault
Leanne Wong, UF 9.975 Uneven Bars
Leanne Wong, UF 9.975 Balance Beam
Anya Pilgrim, UF 10.0 Floor Exercise
Raena Worley, UK 10.0 Floor Exercise

SEC TITLE:

* Florida claims sole possession of its 16th SEC gymnastics title and sixth consecutive (1982, ’83, ’84, ’85, ’89, ’07, ’10, ’12, ’13, 16, ’19, ’20, ’21, ’22, ’23, ‘24). This is the eighth year awarding a regular-season SEC gymnastics title. From 1981-2016, the winner at the SEC Championship meet was considered the league champion.
* This is the third time in Florida’s last four SEC regular-season titles it needed to earn sole possession of the title at the current No. 2 team’s arena.
* 2021: Florida (7-0) won 197.425 – 197.225 at Alabama (5-2)
* 2022: Florida (6-0-1) and Auburn (5-1-1) tied at 198.575
* 2024: Florida (6-1) won 198.225 – 198.10 at Kentucky (5-3)
* Florida has won four SEC titles in 2023-24 – women’s cross country, gymnastics, men’s & women’s swimming & diving. The Gator program has 265 SEC titles and add in the 11 conference titles won by Florida lacrosse, the Florida program has claimed 276 conference titles. Florida’s picked up at least one SEC team title for 46 consecutive seasons – the league’s longest current streak

SEC Standings (as of March 3, 2024)

School

SEC Record

Overall

Florida

6-1

11-1

LSU

5-2

8-3

Kentucky

4-3

7-4

Alabama

3-3-1

9-3-1

Arkansas

4-2-1

7-5-1

Missouri

2-5

8-5

Auburn

2-5

6-7

Georgia

1-6

2-6

TOP WEEKEND FOR TOP-10 DUALS
March opens like a lion with a season-high four top-10 duals across the nation.

Florida was the only road team to win in those four duals.
Friday, March 1
No. 7 Michigan (197.325) at No. 1 Oklahoma (198.65)
No. 9 Alabama (197.325) at No. 2 LSU (198.325)

Saturday, March 2
No. 4 Utah (197.70) at No. 3 California (198.10)

Sunday, March 3
No. 5 Florida (198.225) at No. 6 Kentucky (198.10)

GATOR PERFORMANCE NOTES:

* Florida’s 198.225 is its 2024 high. The Gators are the nation’s only program to improve their team score each meet this season.
* Of the 15 different gymnasts with a floor 10.0 in 2024, Anya Pilgrim is the only freshman. She is just the second Gator freshman with a floor 10.0, joining Sloane Blakely who posted a perfect mark in the 2022 SEC regular-season finale at Auburn.
* Florida’s floor exercise total of 49.725 is a season high and ties for No. 5 in program history.
* Leanne Wong’s three titles Sunday moves her to 11th at 55 on Florida career event wins chart.
* The all-around win was her fifth of 2024, 14th of her career, fifth of the season and fourth consecutive. Wong is now tied for 10th with Gator Great Corey Hartung on UF’s career all-around victories list.
* Anya Pilgrim’s all-around of 39.675 is the nation’s leader for 2024 freshmen. Only Pilgrim has more than two totals among the nation’s 2024 freshmen leading all-around performances. Here’s how her all-around totals rank among 2024 freshmen:
* No. 1 39.675 (3-3-24)
* No. 2 39.65 (2-23-24)
* No. T3 39.60 (2-9-24)
* No. T5 39.55 (2-2-24)
* No. T9 39.525 (1-12-24 & 1-26-24)

* Three Gators equaled or set collegiate bests Sunday:
* Skylar Draser – 9.95 (vault)
* Morgan Hurd – 9.95 (floor)
* Anya Pilgrim – 10.0 (floor)

FLORIDA COACH JENNY ROWLAND SAID:
“This week, the intention has been Gators versus Gators and the Gators controlling what we can control. We keep talking about trying to get one percent better – every day and every meet. This is the eighth consecutive meet to improve our score. That is hands down a feat within itself.

“With this team, starting on day one looking back to where we are now, I couldn’t be prouder. This SEC Championship is extremely meaningful. This team has been through highs and lows and did it together. They never stopped fighting. And today we get to celebrate a sole possession of the SEC Championship. They earned every tenth we received tonight so extremely proud of them.” – Florida Head Coach Jenny Rowland

 

2024 Gator Football Schedule

Florida’s 2024 college football schedule was officially released on Wednesday night. The SEC welcomes two new teams in Oklahoma and Texas next season. 2024 is the first year the SEC will play a schedule without divisions since 1991. The top two teams in the SEC league standings will play in the SEC Championship game on December 7th. There are two bye weeks for each SEC team next season. Here’s the Gators’ complete 2024 schedule.

(Home games in bold)

Week 1, August 31st: Miami (FL)

Week 2, September 7th: Samford

Week 3, September 14th: Texas A&M

Week 4, September 21st: Mississippi State

Week 5: BYE

Week 6, October 5th UCF 

. Week 7, October 12th: Tennessee

Week 8, October 19th: Kentucky

Week 9: BYE

Week 10, November 2nd: Georgia (Jacksonville)

Week 11, November 9th: Texas

L I Week 12, November 16th: LSU

Week 13, November 23rd: Ole Miss

Week 14, November 30th: Florida State

Notables

  • Florida’s bye weeks come in week five and week nine.
  • Florida’s last five opponents all finished inside the top  13 of the 2023 College Football Playoff Rankings, with three of them finishing in the top 5 (Georgia, Texas, FSU).
  • Florida plays six teams in 2024 that finished in the top 25 of the 2023 College Football Playoff Rankings.
  • Florida opens the 2024 season with three straight home games.

Gator Athletes Set Record

GAINESVILLE, Fla. – Gator student-athletes are achieving their goal of earning a University of Florida degree.
 
The NCAA Graduation Success Rates (GSR) published Wednesday shows UF set its all-time high for a second consecutive year. The GSR shows 95 percent of Gators student-athletes completing their degrees in the latest cycle. The Gators’ latest number is above NCAA Division I’s overall GSR of 91 percent – the highest rate recorded in the more two decades GSR has been tracked.
 
The GSR of 13 Gator teams are above or equal the national average for their sport – men’s & women’s basketball, football, men’s & women’s golf, gymnastics, lacrosse, softball, women’s swimming & diving, men’s & women’s tennis, men’s track & field/cross country and volleyball.
 
Florida set its all-time high with 10 teams posting a perfect 100 GSR in this report: men’s & women’s basketball, men’s & women’s golf, gymnastics, lacrosse, softball, men’s & women’s tennis and volleyball.
 
Earlier this fall, UF topped the Wall Street Journal rankings for public universities. The combined grade point average for all Gator student-athletes for the 2022-23 academic year is an all-time high 3.30 and 132 student-athletes earned bachelor or master degrees in the last academic year.
 
The most recent Graduation Success Rates are based on the four entering freshmen classes in Division I from 2013-14 to 2016-17.
 
University of Florida
Teams
UF Graduation
Success Rate
Overall DI National Average
Baseball
85
91
Men’s Basketball
100
86
Women’s Basketball
100
93
Men’s Cross Country & Track
94
86
Women’s Cross Country & Track
83
92
Football
92
84
Men’s Golf
100
95
Women’s Golf 
100
96
Gymnastics
100
98
Lacrosse
100
98
Soccer
94
97
Softball
100
95
Men’s Swimming
91
92
Women’s Swimming
97
97
Men’s Tennis
100
95
Women’s Tennis
100
96
Volleyball
100
95
Overall Athletics Program
95% – Florida’s Overall GSR
91% – Overall Division I GSR