Georgia Gym Dogs 197.15, Utah Red Rocks 196.725
by T Kyle King on Jan 19, 2009 8:00 PM EST
in News
12 comments
The top two intercollegiate women’s gymnastics programs in the history of the sport hooked up with one another in the Classic City on Monday afternoon as Georgia, fresh off of a victory Friday over L.S.U., outlasted Utah in Stegeman Coliseum.
The Red Rocks grabbed an early lead in the opening rotation when high scores by Daria Bijak (9.9) and Kristina Baskett (9.925) earned the visitors a 49.4 score on the parallel bars. The Gym Dogs were solid on the vault, where Courtney Kupets (9.95) and Tiffany Tolnay (9.9) paced a 49.3 effort.
The home team moved out in front in the second rotation on strong bar routines by Kupets (9.975), Grace Taylor (9.925), and Tolnay (9.9). Although Utah strung together five vault scores of 9.8 or better, the Red Rocks’ overall 49.075 tally trailed the Gym Dogs’ 49.45 mark, so the host squad led 98.75-98.475 at the halfway point.
The third stanza opened for Georgia with Paige Burns on the balance beam, where trouble with the landing on one of her leaps dropped her score to 9.15 and put the team in a hole. Hilary Mauro and Taylor came through with marks of 9.825 and 9.9, respectively, but 9.775s from Kupets and Cassidy McComb carded a team score of 49.025. A pair of 9.9s from the Red Rocks’ Annie Diluzio and Nina Kim earned Utah a cumulative 49.3 in the floor exercise to tie the teams after three rotations at 147.775 per side.
The squads switched spots for the fourth frame and Gael Mackie led off the final rotation for the Beehive State gymnasts with a 9.175 on the beam. None of her teammates were able to make up for the low score with a mark higher than 9.85, so the Red Rocks had to settle for an overall 48.95.
Suzanne Yoculan’s charges, on the other hand, saved their best for last. McComb’s and Taylor’s 9.85s were the lowest scores notched by Georgia gymnasts on the floor, where a trio of 9.875s by Mauro, Abby Stack, and Tolnay, along with a 9.9 by Kupets, earned the 49.375 that gave No. 4 Georgia the 197.15-196.725 victory over No. 3 Utah. Kupets won the all-around crown for the third meet in a row by chalking up a 39.6 for the afternoon.
The Gym Dogs are set to host archrival Alabama in Athens on Friday, January 23, but notice has been served that the four-time defending national champions have no intention of giving up the N.C.A.A. championship trophy without a fight.
Go ‘Dawgs!
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Kyle, I hate to be picky, but...
I think you meant to say that Utah was on the uneven bars for the first rotation. Parallel bars are only used in men’s competition.
Sic 'em Dawgs
by ClassicCityDawg on Jan 19, 2009 10:54 PM EST reply actions 0 recs
Aren't they both?
Uneven and parallel, I mean.
You certainly are right that they’re the former, for which I apologize, but aren’t they also the latter?
Go 'Dawgs!
by T Kyle King on Jan 20, 2009 9:13 AM EST up reply actions 0 recs
They are indeed parallel...
…but the parallel bars are a totally different apparatus.
Sic 'em Dawgs
by ClassicCityDawg on Jan 20, 2009 11:46 AM EST up reply actions 0 recs
Duly noted
I stand corrected and I will make sure to use the terms correctly in the future. Thanks for the correction.
Go 'Dawgs!
by T Kyle King on Jan 20, 2009 12:12 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs
Fair enough...
… but the event is often referred to as “uneven parallel bars”. I think one would be safe it “uneven bars” (which is common) or “uneven parallel bars”, but I agree that “parallel bars” refers to the men’s event exclusively. And from this casual observer’s standpoint, the women’s uneven bars event is more similar to the men’s high bar (but with an extra bar as a prop) than it is to the triceps-from-hell event that is the parallel bars.
by NCT on Jan 21, 2009 1:51 AM EST up reply actions 0 recs
The Red Rocks?
What happened to the Utes? (Or, maybe, in this case, the Utettes?)
Or, if they’re going to go by the “Red Rock” moniker, shouldn’t they then be called the “Red Rockettes?”
by vineyarddawg on Jan 20, 2009 7:39 PM EST reply actions 0 recs
I'm not sure where that comes from . . .
. . . other than their school colors and the fact that they’re located near the mountains, but I always heard “Red Rocks.”
Of course, I’ve been corrected in this comment thread already, so I freely admit I may have gotten this one wrong, too . . . and, come to think of it, when you go back to the “whoever”/“whomever” gaffe NCT pointed out . . . yikes, I’m getting downright sloppy, aren’t I?
Dang, I am totally off my game. . . .
Go 'Dawgs!
by T Kyle King on Jan 20, 2009 9:50 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs
whoever
I hope you understand that it is only because I was certain you knew better that I mentioned that at all. As another who is fond of language and its proper use, I can easily find humor in my own mistakes that should have been obvious (and thus avoided) when made, and I figured you could take it, too. It’s the mistakes I make when I truly think I am correct that cause embarrassment. Um, that is, those mistakes would cause embarrassment if I made them.
by NCT on Jan 21, 2009 1:59 AM EST up reply actions 0 recs
Understood (and appreciated)
I’ve just been “off,” sports-wise and blogging-wise, ever since the Alabama game.
Go 'Dawgs!
by T Kyle King on Jan 21, 2009 7:15 AM EST up reply actions 0 recs
Directly from the source
Well, it seems that the Utah gymnastics team is called both the Utes and the Red Rocks. On their official website, one headline states “#2 Ute gymnasts to face Georgia…” Another headline states, however, “Rocks still in running despite loss.”
At least they don’t call themselves something completely absurd like the Golden Tornado (or Plainsmen… which would be especially absurd, seeing as they’re women, and don’t live on the plains).
by vineyarddawg on Jan 21, 2009 11:54 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs
Nice win!
I was a little nervous about this one, but apparently I should not have been.
Go Dawgs!
by Muckbeast on Jan 20, 2009 9:57 PM EST reply actions 0 recs
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