It seems that some of the rumors I’d been hearing about injuries have been confirmed by UGA. Sophomore Gracie Cherrey, who contributed on bars and (a little) on beam last year as a freshman, has been ruled out of the entire 2017 season as she recovers from an ankle injury she suffered in December. According to UGA, she’ll be undergoing surgery sometime soon, and will be rehabbing with a goal of returning for the 2018 season.

This isn’t a great surprise, as we’ve seen Cherrey wearing a walking boot in all 3 meets so far this year. Still, it’s bad news for the team, and personally, I’m sorry to hear this for Gracie. It sounds like she’s trying to keep a positive attitude about her future with the Gym Dogs, however. Gracie was quoted as saying:

I'm extremely disappointed to be out this season. That being said, I have complete confidence in our sports medicine staff to help me recover and be back on the floor wearing the 'G' and representing the University of Georgia as soon as possible. In the meantime, I will focus on rehabbing my ankle and supporting my team in any and every way possible.

If there’s one thing I’ve learned over the years, it’s the Ron Courson and his UGA Sports Medicine staff are the best in the business, and they’ll do everything they can to help Gracie get back to competition form by next season. And until then, all of the other ladies on the team will have to step up and fill the gap in the lineup that Gracie’s injury creates.

We still don’t know about some of the other noticeable absences in the lineup, and UGA hasn’t commented on them officially. But I’ve been a little curious as to why we haven’t seen Natalie Vaculik yet this season, when she was generally expected to be one of our better competitors on several events. And given Jordyn Pedersen’s reputation coming in, it makes me wonder if something is up with her, as well, since we haven’t seen her compete yet.

Whatever the case may be with Vaculik and Pedersen, hopefully we’ll get a chance to see them competing soon. And we’ll look forward to seeing Gracie again on the mat for the Gym Dogs in 2018!

Go Dawgs!