University of Georgia Athletics
Gym Dogs Look Ahead At The SEC Championships
March 21, 2007 | Gymnastics
A Look Ahead at the SEC Championships
Georgia’s next competition is March 31 in Little Rock, Ark., at the SEC Championships. And for the third time in program history, the Gym Dogs will try to win their fourth consecutive SEC title. Georgia won four straight from 1991-94 and 1996-99.
The Gym Dogs recently completed their SEC schedule with a record of 5-0-1. It marked the eighth time in 11 years that Georgia was unbeaten in conference action.
Georgia has won 15 SEC Championships all-time, which is more than all other schools combined.
Peaking at the Right Time
A trend the Georgia gymnastics team has enjoyed the last two years and hopes to continue again in Little Rock and Salt Lake City is posting its highest scores at the end of the season. Right now the Gym Dogs appear to be heading toward that goal. In their last meet against Michigan, the Gym Dogs set season highs on vault, floor and the all-around – both team and individual. And Georgia’s team score of 197.875 was its second-highest of the season.
At the 2005 and 2006 Super Six Finals, Georgia notched its highest team scores of the year.
Taylor Enjoying Successful Freshman Campaign
Georgia freshman Grace Taylor has continued a Gym Dog trend of successful rookie seasons. The Aiken, S.C., native has been a regular all season on the bars, beam and floor lineups. She is ranked No. 7 nationally on the bars and No. 11 on the balance beam.
In 30 total events Taylor has 10 scores of 9.9 or better. In fact, during the SEC’s six-meet regular-season schedule, no other freshman gymnast had a higher scoring average than Taylor.
| Gymnast | Avg. Score in 6 SEC Meets | No. Events |
| Grace Taylor, UGA | 9.866 | 17 |
| Kassi Price, Ala. | 9.835 | 17 |
| Amanda Castillo, UF | 9.834 | 24 |
| Morgan Dennis, Ala. | 9.811 | 22 |
| Melanie Sinclair, UF | 9.804 | 17 |
| Ricki Lebergern, Ala. | 9.804 | 21 |
Heenan and Tolnay 1-2 Punch
Georgia reclaimed the No. 1 spot atop the national team rankings earlier this week, and Katie Heenan and Tiffany Tolnay remained as the top two gymnasts in the all-around. They are looking to become the first pair of Georgia gymnasts to finish 1-2 in the national all-around rankings since Kim Arnold and Karin Lichey in 1998.
Heenan is also ranked sixth nationally on floor, 11th on beam, 13th on bars and third on vault. She joins UCLA’s Tasha Schwikert as the only gymnasts ranked in the top 15 on each individual event.
Tolnay also ranks second nationally on floor, eighth on beam, 25th on bars and sixth on vault.
Kupets Sisters Perfect in 2007
Thanks to Ashley Kupets’ 10.0 on vault last week against Michigan, Georgia’s record book now includes two sets of sisters that notched perfect scores in their careers.
Karin (1996-99) and Kristi Lichey (1998-01) had a combined total of 25 perfect 10s, but they never scored one in the same season.
Courtney Kupets was perfect on the uneven bars earlier this year against Alabama, and Ashley followed on senior night with the first 10.0 of her career.
Courtney Kupets is currently ranked No. 1 nationally on the balance beam and is No. 2 on the uneven bars. Her all-around scoring average of 39.53 in five opportunities is higher than any gymnast that is ranked nationally.
Now the race is on for combined All-America awards, as Karin and Kristi Lichey had 21 between them. The Kupets sisters already have 10 certificates entering this post-season.
McCool Hitting Her Stride
Freshman Courtney McCool has competed on beam in every meet this year and the floor exercise in all but one. This year’s season-opener was her first live gymnastics competition since the 2004 Olympic Games and she is now starting to regain her silver-medal form.
She is currently ranked in the nation’s top 20 on both beam and floor.
In her last five floor exercise opportunities, she has scored at least a 9.9 each time including a 9.95 twice. She’s scored a 9.925 and 9.9, respectively, on the balance beam in Georgia’s last two meets.
Ericksen Moving Up Georgia Record List
She missed five meets in a row with a foot injury, but Kelsey Ericksen has made her way into the top 10 for points earned as a Gym Dog with 1,774.3 in 181 events.
Last week Ericksen tied her season high with a 9.875 on vault and had a 9.9 on the floor exercise.
Also moving up Georgia’s all-time points list is Katie Heenan (1,601.8 in 163 events) in 15th place and Ashley Kupets (1,548.125 in 158 events) in 18th place.