Georgia 197.55, Louisiana State 195.925

by T Kyle King on Jan 26, 2008 8:33 PM EST in News

The second-ranked Gym Dogs began their home schedule against No. 5 L.S.U. in Stegeman Coliseum and the Georgia gymnasts demonstrated their determination from the outset of the meet, showing no mercy in riding season-high scores to victory over Louisiana State.

In the first rotation, Katie Heenan and Courtney Kupets carded a 9.9 and a 9.925, respectively, to guide the home team to the 49.15 team tally in the vault that gave the Red and Black an early lead on the visitors. None of the Tigers earned above a 9.825 on the parallel bars, so L.S.U. had to settle for a 48.825.

It was Georgia's turn on the bars during the second rotation and the Bulldog gymnasts continued to perform well, with Heenan (9.95) and Kupets (9.925) once again leading the way. Despite Ashleigh Clare-Kearney's 9.925 effort in the vault, Louisiana State's 49.0 mark was unable to match the Gym Dogs' 49.325.

Kupets posted another solid score (9.95) on the balance beam, but the Red and Black's best routine of the third rotation came from Courtney McCool, who registered a 9.975 to give the home team a 49.5 overall score. The Bayou Bengals, who did not have a gymnast surpass a 9.875 in the floor exercise, could not keep pace, recording a 49.15.

There was no letup from Suzanne Yoculan's squad in the meet's final stanza. Indeed, the Gym Dogs got stronger with each successive floor exercise, improving from Nikki Childs's 9.675 to Hilary Mauro's 9.85 to Abby Stack's 9.875 to Cassidy McComb's 9.925 to Kupets's 9.95 to McCool's 9.975. Georgia's 49.575 score in the fourth rotation gave the Red and Black a cumulative mark of 197.55. L.S.U.'s 48.95 on the beam in the closing quarter left the Tigers well behind their hosts, with a final tally of 195.925.

After last week's road win over top-ranked Florida, I wrote:

Coach Yoculan's seasoned team has opened the campaign with three straight away meets over top-tier opposition, emerging with a 2-1 record and coming within one ill-timed fall of making it a clean sweep. When the Gym Dogs host L.S.U. for their first home meet on Saturday, January 26, they should come into the contest with confidence, boasting a winning record and home floor advantage despite having yet to hit their stride.

If the Red and Black break 197 for the first time this winter against the Bayou Bengals next Saturday, don't be surprised if the Georgia gymnasts go on a tear that leads them all the way to a fourth straight national title.

Much like John "Hannibal" Smith, I love it when a plan comes together. Next up for the Gym Dogs is a Friday night fight with third-ranked archrival Alabama in Tuscaloosa on February 1.

Go 'Dawgs!

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You never forget your first time

I've never been much of a gymnastics fan; I like the Olympics a lot, so all my life I've been content to watch one night of gymnastics every four years. Of course, that was more a vehicle of patriotic fervor than anything else--a time to cheer for the Americans and against the Communists.

But I went to the Gym Dogs meet this afternoon. I didn't wear any pink (because, well, I don't own any pink), but I wore my red UGA polo shirt that had faded the most.

I'm telling you guys, this was impressive. The crowd was into it, the students were there in full force, and the athletes gave a very strong performance. I don't have anything to compare this to, never having seen gymnastics in person before, but I have a few thoughts.

What really struck me was that if LSU is the fifth best team in the country, then we have a REAAALLLLLY good team. A REAAALLLLLy good team. The outcome was never in doubt; we took the lead early and never looked back. Also, LSU didn't seem to really do anything all that wrong. They didn't have any big falls, they seemed to get very respectable scores all afternoon. The Gym Dogs just looked like they were on a totally different level. This was a woodshed performance against what seemed to be a quality opponent playing pretty well.

I'm just saying that even if you're not a fan of gymnastics, if you're just a sports fan, this team is absolutely worth an afternoon of your attention. Personally, I like watching world-class athletes playing for the good guys and beating the whatchamacallit out of all comers.

by mcboyt on Jan 26, 2008 9:29 PM EST 0 recs

imo

a GymDogs meet is the best date (not including downtown businesses) opportunity in Athens. I say that because it's one of the few instances where any girl can be smarter than you about a sport.

I too was there yesterday in the student section (wearing pink mind you, mostly because my gf told me to) and the team looked great. I did not know what the previous Nation high score was but I was flipping through the program and noticed that we beat UF's score pretty handily (in turn we did indeed end up setting the new Nation high along with Kupet's Nation high AA score).

i say all that to say that the gym dogs are incredible. Even the possibility of four straight NC is a incredible thought to have.

by loran smith on Jan 27, 2008 2:51 PM EST 0 recs