We'll start with the good news about last Saturday's home meet against the Arkansas Razorbacks: the Gym Dogs posted a 197.9 team score en route to victory. The win over the nation's No. 11-ranked squad gave the Georgia gymnasts their third straight undefeated regular season in conference meets.
The Red and Black drew the vault in the first rotation, in which even Courtney Kupets's impressive 9.975 was overshadowed by Katie Heenan's perfect 10. Georgia's 49.575 mark put the hosts solidly in the lead against the visitors, none of whom exceeded a 9.875 on the uneven parallel bars in the course of chalking up a cumulative 49.175.
The teams switched places for the second rotation and the Bulldogs again posted impressive numbers on the bars, highlighted by Kupets's 9.95 score to boost the squad to an overall 49.5. The Razorbacks once more did not earn a mark above 9.875, collectively putting up a 49.15 in the vault.
Strong routines on the balance beam in the third rotation earned 9.925s for Grace Taylor and Courtney McCool, enabling the Bulldogs to claim a combined 49.325. Arkansas, in the meantime, continued its trend of maxing out at 9.875, notching a team tally of 49.1 in the floor exercise.
The Razorbacks remained consistent in the final rotation, posting a 9.875 on the beam but receiving no higher marks and ending up with a 48.525 overall score. Consequently, the 9.925s posted by Heenan and Cassidy McComb on the floor earned the Gym Dogs the 49.5 that clinched the 197.9-195.95 victory.
This brings us, unfortunately, to the bad news. Courtney Kupets was unable to complete her floor routine in the fourth rotation because she sustained a fall on the double Arabian and suffered a season-ending injury to her right Achilles tendon. The two-time defending N.C.A.A. all-around champion has had her injured tendon surgically repaired and she is expected to be able to return for her senior season next year.
The top-ranked Gym Dogs return to action on Friday against No. 4 Michigan in Ann Arbor, but, like every gymnastics fan in Bulldog Nation, we here at Dawg Sports send our best wishes to Courtney Kupets for a speedy and complete recovery.
Go 'Dawgs!