Georgia Bulldogs Begin Weekend with Lacrosse Victories, Track Records, and an Encouraging Gymnastics Performance

It has been both a busy week and a busy day, for reasons having nothing whatever to do with actual sporting events being played. Nevertheless, actual sporting events have been played, and we thought you might be interested in knowing about them, so here is a brief rundown of your Friday Georgia sports action before you call it a night and get your weekend underway:

The Gym Dogs were in Salt Lake City on Friday night to take on No. 1-ranked Utah. The teams took turns on the bars and on the vault in the first two rotations, with each side taking one event. On the vault, the Athenians rode Kaylan Earls’s 9.825, Cat Hires’s 9.85, and Kat Ding’s 9.9 to an overall 49.175 mark, but that was not enough to match the Red Rocks’ 49.225 score in the event. On the bars, Georgia earned a pair of 9.825s, plus a 9.9 from Gina Nuccio and a 9.925 from Ding to cobble together a cumulative 49.275 tally to top Utah’s 49.25 on the same apparatus.

The third rotation had the Bulldogs competing in the floor exercise, where a trio of 9.825s, a 9.875 from Nuccio, and a 9.95 from Noel Couch gave Georgia a 49.3 total. Because the Utes notched a beam score of 49.175, the Red and Black found themselves sporting a 147.75-147.65 lead heading into the final frame. There, the Gym Dogs carded two 9.825s, a 9.85 from Couch, and a 9.9 from Shayla Worley, combining for the 49.2 mark on the beam that awarded the Athenians a 196.95 score for the meet.

Unfortunately, the Red Rocks delivered an otherworldly performance on the floor, receiving two 9.95s and two 9.875s en route to the 49.5 tally that pushed the home team’s total to 197.15 overall. While the setback was disappointing, the effort was not, and, after earning an overall 197.25 in last week’s meet and following up that performance with this one, the Gym Dogs at long last are starting to look like the team they were when Suzanne Yoculan was striding the floor in high heels and short skirts. I’m not prepared to say Jay Clark has turned a corner, but the last two weekends at least offer some cause for hope.

We begin with signing day news. Yes, there’s a track and field signing day, and Georgia nabbed five athletes, including Bahamian sprint champion Shaunae Miller and Estonian decathlete Maicel Uibo. Meanwhile, those competitors who are on campus already were in action in the Virginia Tech VPI Elite meet in Blacksburg, where six Bulldogs carded career-best marks when Chris Foster improved upon his top collegiate time with a 48.1-second 400-meter dash, Quintunya Chapman finished the women’s 200 in 25.22 seconds, Jared Dunn tied his individual record with an 8.27 time in the 60 hurdle prelims, and Justin Welch (67’8”), Caleb Whitener (60’7.25”), and Burke McCarty (56’8.75”) all hit personal high water marks in the weight throw.

Honestly, I didn’t know we had lacrosse teams, until Dawg2011 mentioned that fact in a comment, but my eight-year-old son happens to be a big fan of lacrosse, and the University of Georgia seems to excel at sports with high financial barriers to participation, and tonight happened to be the first game of the season for both the men’s and women’s club teams, so I thought, what the heck? I’m not guaranteeing this will be a regular thing, but, for now, here goes:

The Red and Black ladies opened the season at Georgia Tech and were up 3-0 with 26 and a half minutes remaining in the first half, thanks to a pair of early goals by sophomore attack wing Murphy Ferguson. A Yellow Jacket goal just inside the 14-minute mark cut the Bulldog lead to 7-2, but the Athenians surged ahead by an 11-3 margin. Georgia held off another Georgia Tech charge, extending the Classic City Canines’ advantage to 19-9 with 187 seconds left on the clock before an interception by goalie Emily Seidel sealed the deal. Midfielders Lisa “Avatar” Riondet and Taylor “Kevin” Lugash were among the standout performers in the ten-goal victory.

While the Red and Black women were closing out their victory over the Engineers, the Bulldog men were entertaining Ole Miss at the Georgia Rec Complex. A goal by midfielder Matt O’Neil allowed the Red and Black to forge a 1-1 tie with the Rebels at the end of the first quarter, then attacker Michael Trainer exploded for a trio of goals in the second period to give the Athenians a 5-3 halftime advantage. Thanks to a fourth goal by Trainer and a second by attacker Trent Dean, the home team was up, 8-3, after three quarters, and midfielders Justin Mobley and Conner Reed tacked on two more in the fourth frame to give the Athenians the 10-4 triumph to start both Georgia lacrosse teams at 1-0 for the season.

Go ‘Dawgs!

Like Dawg Sports on Facebook

Follow Dawg Sports on Twitter