Georgia Bulldogs Football Forum Message Board and Blog > Sports > Georgia Bulldog Sports - Other > UGA's Gym Dogs To Face No. 4 Florida On Friday |
Georgia Bulldogs Football Forum Message Board and Blog > Sports > Georgia Bulldog Sports - Other > UGA's Gym Dogs To Face No. 4 Florida On Friday |
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ATHENS, Ga. ----- The No. 7 Georgia gymnastics team (3-3, 2-2) will hit the road for the first time in three weeks when it heads to Gainesville, Fla., for a meeting with the fourth-ranked Gators on Fri., Feb. 19 at 7 p.m. at the O'Connell Center. Georgia will be going for its first road win of the 2010 campaign. The Gym Dogs are riding a two-meet winning streak and are coming off a 196.725-195.875 win over then-No. 3 Arkansas last Friday at Stegeman Coliseum. The previous week, the Gym Dogs downed Kentucky with their highest point total of the season (197.220). Friday's meet will be aired on a tape-delayed basis on Feb. 25 at 9 p.m. on ESPNU. GXtra will also provide both video coverage and live audio of the meet on http://www.georgiadogs.com. "I think consistency is something we are achieving - it's a constant process and I don't know if we've achieved it yet just because we have had two fairly good meets [in a row]," said head coach Jay Clark. "The previous three meets didn't define us, and I don't know if the last two will define us." "We have to continue to build upon what we've got. We have confidence and some momentum now, and the sense that we can go out there and put a meet together, which is the biggest key right now. I don't know if you can call us consistent yet when there are teams out there who have hit every meet so far and we certainly haven't done that yet." Rankings The Georgia gymnastics team moved up two spots from ninth to seventh in the latest GymInfo Top 25 released Mon., Feb. 15. Alabama came in at No. 1 with a 196.575 average, followed by Oklahoma (196.563), Oregon State (196.129), Florida (196.117), Utah (196.008), Arkansas (196.079), Georgia (195.996), Stanford (195.983), UCLA (195.982) and Nebraska (195.721) to round out the top-10. Georgia had scores of 49.000 or above on each event in posting the second-highest total score of the season in the Arkansas win. In the team event rankings, Georgia is 13th on vault (49.013), third on bars (49.146), fifth on beam (48.996) and 13th on floor (48.842). Individually, Georgia has five gymnasts ranked in the top-20 in four events: Courtney McCool is first on floor (9.917), Shayla Worley is third in the all-around (39.438), Kat Ding is eighth on bars (9.883), Noel Couch is tied for 15th on beam (9.825) and Gina Nuccio is tied for 20th on bars (9.833). Georgia-Florida This weekend will mark the 114th all-time meeting between the SEC rivals. Georgia holds a mark of 84-28-1 against the Gators in their histories, dating back to the first records kept in 1980. Those 28 wins, however, make Florida the second-most winningest team against Georgia behind only Alabama, with 42 victories against the Gym Dogs. Florida is one of only five teams with double-digit victories vs. UGA. Last season, Georgia tallied its highest point total of the season vs. UF in a 198.200-196.650 win over the Gators on Feb. 28, before defeating Florida again at the 2009 NCAA Championships in Lincoln, Neb. The Gym Dogs were ranked first and Florida No. 7 on that day. Georgia and Florida have faced in 29 consecutive regular seasons, in all but 1981 -- the Gym Dogs' first year of official competition. Event Domination The Gym Dogs have seen plenty of success on the individual events so far this season, with sophomore Kat Ding winning five of six bars titles, senior Courtney McCool winning five of six floor titles, and senior Grace Taylor winning four of six beam titles through Georgia's first six meets of 2010. Last Time Out UGA posted scores of 49 or above on each event on its way to a 196.725-195.875 win over No. 3 Arkansas Friday night in Stegeman Coliseum. The win was the Gym Dogs' second in a row as they are now a perfect 3-0 at home this season and improved to 3-3 (2-2) overall. The Razorbacks dropped to 3-3 (2-3) with the loss. The meet marked the annual Pink Out event for the Gym Dogs, as the team continues to partner with Athens Regional Medical Center to raise money and awareness in the fight against breast cancer. The Gym Dogs held a 147.375-146.850 heading into the final rotation, which was floor. Courtney McCool - at the sixth spot - posted a 9.950 to tie her season-high score and lead the way for Georgia and all Georgia competitors had at least 9.800s. Shayla Worley and Grace Taylor logged 9.900s, which was a season high for the latter as well as her second 9.900 performance of the night. Freshman Noel Couch's 9.800 tied her season-best effort as the Gym Dogs closed it out with a 49.350 on floor - their highest event total of the night. Arkansas finished with a 49.025 on beam as the Gym Dogs held on for the victory. In the all-around, Worley picked up her second straight win with a 39.375 as Georgia's lone all-arounder. The Razorbacks had four gymnasts compete in all four events, led by Casey Jo Magee's 39.350. A Look At The Gators Florida stands at 4-2 on the season, most recently falling to No. 2 Alabama by a score of 197.425-196.600 last Friday. The scores were the second-highest of the season for both teams. Florida turned in its season-best scores on both vault (49.425) and beam (49.175) against Alabama. Florida has also collected wins vs. Arkansas, Kentucky, and LSU while falling to Oklahoma and N.C. State. The Gators started the season ranked fourth in the GymInfo rankings, while their freshman class was ranked tops in the nation. Florida reached the NCAA Super Six team final for the fourth straight year, where the squad took fourth. That came after UF tied for third at the SEC meet and took their fifth NCAA Regional title. Florida returned four All-Americans from last year's roster - including sophomore Elizabeth Mahlich, junior Alicia Goodwin, and seniors Maranda Smith and Amanda Castillo. Head coach Rhonda Faehn has held the reigns since 2002, and has led Florida to four top-five NCAA finishes, five straight NCAA Regional titles, and the 2007 SEC title. SEC Freshman of the Week (Again) For the second straight week, Georgia's Shayla Worley has been named SEC Freshman Gymnast of the Week, the league office announced Tuesday. The Orlando, Fla., native won her second straight all-around title with a 39.375 in Georgia's win over then-No. 3 Arkansas last Friday. She finished above the Razorbacks' Jaime Pisani and Casey Jo Magee, who entered the meet ranked ninth and 10th, respectively, in the all- around. Worley finished in the top-three in three events including second on beam (9.875), tied for second on floor (9.900) and third on bars with a season-high 9.850. Worley is now ranked third nationally with a 39.438 all-around average. She also claimed the honor last week after posting a 39.500 in the all-around against Kentucky on Feb. 5. Steady Improvement Jay Clark said after the Kentucky meet that the floor exercise had been the "bugaboo" for the Gym Dogs at the start of this season, although Georgia has found a way to improve its floor score steadily as the season has progressed. The Gym Dogs started the season with a 48.225 on floor in the season- opener vs. Stanford back on Jan. 9, before raising it to a 48.475 at Alabama and a 48.775 at Utah. The team raised its floor score even more, to a 48.775 at Auburn on Jan. 29, before really turning the corner in that event on Feb. 5 at home vs. Kentucky. There, the Gym Dogs scored a season-high 49.400. Floor was one of three events (bars, beam) in which Georgia posted season-best performances vs. Kentucky, in addition to its overall best score of the season with a 197.200. Against Arkansas the Gym Dogs were again well above the 49-point mark as they raked in a 49.350 for their second-highest total of the year. Top-10 Opponents Georgia again faces one of the toughest schedules in the nation, as it has already faced four teams ranked in the top-10 with two more opponents remaining currently ranked in the top-10, including No. 4 Florida. After this weekend, the Gym Dogs will tackle No. 9 UCLA. On Deck The Gym Dogs will return home for two straight meets after this weekend, as they host No. 11 LSU and No. 9 UCLA in consecutive weeks. The meeting with the Tigers is set for Feb. 26 at 7:30 p.m., while the UCLA match-up will take place March 6 at 4:00 p.m., both at Stegeman Coliseum.
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| Georgia Bulldogs Football Forum Message Board and Blog > Sports > Georgia Bulldog Sports - Other > UGA's Gym Dogs To Face No. 4 Florida On Friday | |
