University of Georgia Athletics
No. 1 Gym Dogs Prepare For SEC Championship
March 19, 2009 | Gymnastics
ATHENS, Ga. --- The top-ranked and undefeated Georgia gymnastics team will kick off the postseason this weekend in the Southeastern Conference Championship.
The Gym Dogs, the 2008 winners, will join the other six teams from the league on Saturday in Nashville, Tenn., at the Sommet Center. The meet will begin at 5:05 p.m. Eastern.
“First of all, I am so excited for Nashville,” Georgia coach Suzanne Yoculan said. “I love neutral sites. I love being able to expose other areas and other people to what a great sport collegiate gymnastics is. Our team is ready. We are looking forward to defending our title and competing against some of the best teams in the country.”
Georgia enters the meet with a 12-0 record, including a 6-0 mark against its counterparts from the league. The Gym Dogs posted home victories over Alabama (2-4), Auburn (3-3) and Florida (3-3) and recorded road wins against LSU (4-2), Kentucky (0-6) and Arkansas (3-3).
Yoculan said the Gym Dogs are anticipating a difficult meet on Saturday. The SEC has six of the top 11 teams in this week’s GymInfo rankings No. 1 Georgia, No. 4 LSU, No. 5 Alabama, No. 6 Florida, No. 9 Arkansas and No. 11 Auburn. Kentucky checks in ranked No. 22.
“It’s certainly the most wide-open that the SEC Championship has ever been,” Yoculan said. “It’s going to be a fight not just for first but also for second, third and fourth. Anyone can emerge as the SEC champ this year. It will be a fight to the end.
“At the SECs, every team brings its A’ game. Ten years ago, it used to be that the SECs was looked at as another road score, one more to help with the RQS. Now it’s definitely all about winning the SEC title. It’s huge. Do you think anyone on our campus cares what we score? No, they only care that we win. It’s one of the eight championships that our gymnasts have an opportunity to win during their careers. We tell our freshmen that on the first day of practice. Four SECs and four NCAAs. And we don’t put a greater emphasis on either one. We really do train to peak for the SECs, then tone it down a little bit and have some down time, and then peak again for the NCAAs.”
The Gym Dogs have won 16 conference titles, including the 2008 crown. Alabama and Florida have won five each, and LSU has won one. Yoculan is a seven-time SEC Coach of the Year, winning most recently in 2008. Georgia has dominated the individual titles and awards, and the current roster includes 2006 and 2008 Freshmen of the Year Courtney Kupets and Cassidy McComb, 2006 bars champ Kupets, 2007 all-around, vault and floor winner Kupets, 2008 beam champ Grace Taylor, and 2008 bars winners Taylor and Tiffany Tolnay.
Georgia enters the meet with the SEC’s best team effort this season in the all-around (198.2), bars (49.55), beam (49.55) and floor (49.675) and the second-best vault score (49.475). Kupets has the conference’s best scores in the all-around at 39.85, bars at 10.0 and floor at 10.0, and she is tied for first with McCool and Taylor on beam with 10.0s. Kupets, McComb and Hilary Mauro share the second-best vault score of 9.95.
The competition draw, featuring Yoculan and senior Abby Stack, will take place on Friday from 3:50-4:20 p.m. Eastern at the Sommet Center. The Gym Dogs then will practice from 4:30-5:10 p.m. Eastern. All practices on Friday are open to the public.
“Momentum is an essential component in the success of this team and we need to start off strong and end even stronger,” Stack said. “The SEC is very competitive; there is simply no weak team in the conference. Even though it is a random pick, like the coin toss before a football game, I will be practicing my picking skills and rubbing my rabbit’s foot to prepare.”
GYM DOGS REMAIN NO. 1
Georgia remained No. 1 in the GymInfo rankings this week with a regional qualifying score (RQS) of 197.255. Utah is No. 2 with an RQS of 197.030. As a team, the Gym Dogs are No. 1 on bars and beam, No. 2 on floor and No. 3 on vault.
Courtney Kupets is ranked No. 1 in the nation in the all-around as well as on bars and beam. She is No. 2 on vault and floor. Grace Taylor is No. 2 on beam, No. 4 on bars and No. 10 on floor, while Tiffany Tolnay is No. 13 on bars and No. 15 on vault, and Gina Nuccio is No. 16 on bars.
ON THE AIR
GXtra, the official premium online service of the Georgia Bulldogs, will stream live audio of Saturday’s meet, with commentary provided by former Gym Dogs Katie Heenan Dodson and Emily Bridgers. Live scoring also will be provided on georgiadogs.com.
A two-hour highlight show from the meet will air on a tape-delay basis on FSN South/SEC-TV. The air date is Saturday, March 28, at 7 p.m.
PERFECT ON BEAM
The Gym Dogs came into the 2009 campaign with just five perfect 10.0s on beam in the program’s history. By comparison, Georgia entered the year with 64 on vault, 51 on floor and 25 on bars.
But as Georgia heads into the SEC Championship, the number of 10.0s on beam has jumped to eight after Courtney Kupets, Courtney McCool and Grace Taylor achieved perfection earlier this year.
Georgia has reached a high score of 49.55 this season and boasts a regional qualifying score of 49.4 both of which are tops in the nation.
“We could legitimately earn three 10.0s in a row on beam, and I never thought I’d see that day,” Georgia coach Suzanne Yoculan said. “Whether the judges would put up three 10.0s in a row is another question, but we could legitimately earn three in a row. They are phenomenal, and in my book Tiffany Tolnay is right in there with them as well.
“No one can match Tolnay, Taylor, Kupets and McCool on balance beam. Can someone beat us on beam? Yes. They can have bad days and wobble and fall. But I don’t think anyone can deny that’s potentially the best beam lineup in the country, especially since Hilary Mauro and Cassidy McComb can be 9.9s.”
Kupets is No. 1 in the nation on beam, while Taylor is second and Tolnay is 28th. Due to an injury that sidelined her for most of the season, McCool does not have enough scores to appear in the rankings.
Kupets also notched 10.0s this year on bars and floor.
LINEUP FOR THE SECs
The Gym Dogs have the nation’s top regional qualifying scores on bars (49.46) and beam (49.4) and they are third on vault (49.355). And despite the fact that Georgia is No. 2 on floor at 49.29, just .01 out of first place, recent injuries have Coach Suzanne Yoculan fretting about that event.
Yoculan can pencil in Abby Stack, Hilary Mauro, Grace Taylor and Courtney Kupets into four of the six spots. The other candidates are Marcia Newby, Tiffany Tolnay, Cassidy McComb, who are dealing with leg injuries, and Courtney McCool, who hasn’t trained much on floor due to an earlier foot injury.
“We are peaking on every event but floor,” Yoculan said. “Floor has become a little bit of a nightmare because of the chronic leg problems. They have really hit us hard going into the last stretch. We are healthy and strong and consistent with Abby, Hilary, Grace and Kupets. It’s just a question mark as to who the other two are going to be.”
Here is the lineup for Saturday’s SEC Championship. As always, the lineup is subject to change.
Vault: Lauren Sessler, Hilary Mauro, Cassidy McComb, Marcia Newby, Courtney Kupets, Tiffany Tolnay.
Bars: Marcia Newby, Kathryn Ding, Gina Nuccio, Grace Taylor, Tiffany Tolnay, Courtney Kupets.
Beam: Hilary Mauro, Cassidy McComb, Tiffany Tolnay, Grace Taylor, Courtney Kupets, Courtney McCool.
Floor: Abby Stack, Hilary Mauro, Cassidy McComb, Grace Taylor, Tiffany Tolnay, Courtney Kupets.
CONFERENCE CALLS FOR KUPETS
Courtney Kupets was chosen as the Southeastern Conference Athlete of the Week on Jan. 13, Jan. 20, Jan. 27 and March 4.
Returning from an Achilles injury that sidelined her for the latter part of the 2008 campaign, Kupets has been nothing short of spectacular this season.
In Georgia’s win over Florida, Kupets posted a career-best 39.850 in the all-around, the fourth-best figure in school history. She also registered her first career 10.0 on floor.
In the Gym Dogs’ victory over Alabama, Kupets scored two 10.0s and won the all-around with a career-high 39.825, which is the fifth-best figure in school history. Against the Tide, Kupets scored a 10.0 on bars and a 10.0 on beam to become the ninth Gym Dog ever with two perfect scores in the same meet.
Of the 50 possible titles in meets this year, Kupets has won outright or shared 40 of them.
HARD TO SAY GOODBYE
Last week’s meet against Michigan was the final one at Stegeman Coliseum for Coach Suzanne Yoculan, who will be retiring at the end of the season. The emotional day began with family coming into town, followed by a team meeting in which the juniors unveiled a tribute video for Yoculan and seniors Paige Burns, Courtney Kupets, Abby Stack and Tiffany Tolnay.
“It was very emotional before the meet,” Yoculan said. “Once the meet got going, it was all business again. I was doing my job like I usually do and taking mental notes of all the things we need to work on before the SECs.”
Yoculan has been Georgia’s coach for the past 26 years, taking a fledgling program into one that has won to date nine NCAA and 16 SEC titles.
“It’s like you blink your eyes and 26 years goes by,” Yoculan said. “It says a lot about our program that we have been able to maintain a certain level of excellence for a period spanning three different decades. We have won NCAA titles in the 1980s, 1990s and 2000s. But it’s never been about the championships. All I have ever wanted was for young people to reach their potential athletically and academically, and that’s what I think we have accomplished with this program. That’s what I am most proud of.”
THE LAST TIME OUT
Sparked by a perfect 10.0 from Grace Taylor, Georgia capped an undefeated regular season with a 197.400-195.825 win over Michigan last Saturday. Courtney Kupets posted a 39.7 to win the all-around for the 10th time this season as the Gym Dogs moved to 12-0 for the season. It was the final home meet in the 26-year career of head coach Suzanne Yoculan, who has led Georgia to nine NCAA titles and 16 SEC titles to date. “It has been a journey,” Yoculan said. “Life is about opportunities and choices, and I have been blessed to have the success and support to build a program here. It’s amazing 26 years have gone by but gymnastics is just a sport and not the most important thing in life. It’s the experiences and relationships with the athletes that I will miss the most, and I am confident Jay Clark will continue to build this successful program.” It was also the final home meet for seniors Kupets, Paige Burns, Abby Stack and Tiffany Tolnay.
FIGHTING BACK
Before Georgia’s meet with Florida, senior Courtney Kupets gave her teammates boxing gloves and boxing shorts as a reminder and as a motivator to fight. The Gym Dogs entered Stegeman Coliseum with the theme from “Rocky” playing.
“We wanted to fight for everything,” Kupets said. “Inside we always felt we had this potential, so it was great to see. If we stay on the track we’re on, I think we will do great.”
The Gym Dogs responded with a198.20-196.65 win over the Gators. The 198.20 is the highest score in the nation this season.
YOCULAN ...THE FIFTH SENIOR
Coach Suzanne Yoculan shied away from too much retirement talk in the preseason, choosing instead to discuss the merits of the 2009 Gym Dogs. Memories and keepsakes and memorabilia and scrapbooks will have to wait until at least April.
“This season will be all about the process, and that’s the way we always approach a season,” Yoculan said. “It’s not about results or about the what ifs’ or about the championships. It’s about being consistent day-by-day, making sure that we are building a cohesive unit and giving our student-athletes what they need to be successful. A close, cohesive team isn’t concerned with stats, but rather the intangibles that you can’t measure.”
Toward that end, the Gym Dogs have been all about having fun, so much so that Yoculan has been dubbed “the fifth senior” as an honorary member of the class made up of Paige Burns, Courtney Kupets, Abby Stack and Tiffany Tolnay. They want to embrace the experience of another title run, knowing that while another NCAA crown would be historic, sending their coach out on top would be even more memorable.
“It’s the perfect role for her because she is the fifth senior,” Stack said. “She’s involved in our lives, she knows what we’re doing and she enjoys hanging out with us. This is Suzanne’s program and the fact that she doesn’t want this last year to be all about her is incredible. She’s such a team player.”
“I remember Suzanne asked all the seniors to come to practice early one day for a meeting,” Burns said. “We were all like, Oh no, what is this going to be about?’ She said she wanted to see if it was OK if she was considered the fifth senior. We all thought that was the coolest thing. So we were like, Sure, join our class.’”
GIVING BACK
Georgia’s Marcia Newby has been named to the Southeastern Conference Gymnastics Community Service Team, which highlights a student-athlete from each school who gives back to her community in superior service efforts.
Newby, a junior from Virginia Beach, Va., serves as the Vice President of Georgia’s Student-Athlete Advisory Committee, overseeing, coordinating and participating in several community service efforts.
Newby helped spearhead the Together We Can food drive that collected more than 1,200 pounds of food. She volunteered for Special Olympics, including participation with a Special Olympian in the SOAR 5K Walk/Run and helping an Olympian learn gymnastics routines. Newby participated in the Do It For Broph 5K Run/Walk, with proceeds benefiting a scholarship fund in honor of late UGA basketball player Kevin Brophy. She organized a team of four and raised money for the Stiletto Race Against Breast Cancer, with proceeds going to Athens Regional Medical Center’s Breast Health Center. Newby also sent holiday cards to state of Georgia soldiers serving in Iraq, read to elementary school students, visited patients at St. Mary’s Hospital, and visited and brought Christmas gifts to seniors at an Athens nursing home.
GYM DOGS ADD FOUR SIGNEES FOR 2010
Christa Tanella, Kati Breazeal, Noel Couch and Shayla Worley have signed national letters of intent to compete for the Georgia gymnastics team. Tanella, Breazeal, Couch and Worley will make up the first freshman class for Jay Clark, who will succeed Suzanne Yoculan as Georgia’s head coach for the 2010 season.
“We all are thrilled with this class,” Yoculan said. “These young women will be a great addition to the program. I can’t imagine a better class of freshmen coming in for Jay’s first year. This class has a little bit of everything in terms of gymnastics, but the young women also have great character. They understand the tradition of Georgia gymnastics, and they will be great stewards of it. We are excited that they are going to be a part of that tradition and that they will be starting their own.”
NCAA TICKETS ON SALE
Tickets to the 2009 NCAA Championships in Lincoln, Neb., April 16-18 are on sale now and can be purchased through the UGA Athletic Association ticket office online via georgiadogs.com or by calling (877) 542-1231. The all-session ticket package is $30. The deadline to order tickets through the UGA Athletic Association ticket office is March 16.
NCAA HONORS MCMINN
Dr. Kathy McMinn, the former gymnast who was the first Georgia student-athlete to be named All-American four straight years, was among the six women and men selected to receive the prestigious NCAA Silver Anniversary Award recently.
The honor recognizes former student-athletes who successfully completed collegiate careers in various sports and have excelled in their chosen professions. The Silver Anniversary Award acknowledges the former student-athletes on the 25th anniversary of completing their athletics eligibility.
“I was quite surprised to get the call about the NCAA Silver Anniversary Award, and I was very honored by it,” McMinn said. “You don’t realize how much the things that you do in your younger years help to mold the person you become later in life. The NCAA award has brought back so many memories not just of my gymnastics days at Georgia, but also of all the incredible people who have influenced and supported me.”
HEAVY HEARTS IN RALEIGH
Georgia had its meet with North Carolina State just hours after the funeral for longtime Wolfpack women’s basketball coach Kay Yow, who died after a lengthy battle with breast cancer. She was 66.
“Kay Yow was a great coach and an even greater person,” Georgia gymnastics coach Suzanne Yoculan said. “Her strength and perseverance and unwavering resolve in the face of adversity was inspirational. She lived every day to the fullest, and that’s the way we all should live. Coach Yow won a lot of games at North Carolina State, but her true legacy is in how she loved her student-athletes and the way she showed us all how to fight in a dignified and courageous way.”
After former Georgia gymnast Talya Vexler was diagnosed with breast cancer in 2003, the Gym Dogs provided their support for Athens Regional Medical Center’s Breast Health Center. Yoculan spearheaded the drive that raised $100,000 for the center, which was dedicated in 2005. The last several years, Georgia has had a Pink-Out meet to continue to support ARMC financially. This year, in addition to the Pink-Out meet, the Gym Dogs participated in the In Their Shoes 5K and the inaugural Stiletto Race Against Breast Cancer.
“There’s other things more important in life than sports, and athletes need to know that and so do fans,” Yoculan said. “This is our way of getting that message across.”
MAKING THE GRADES
Fall report cards are in, and seven members of the Georgia gymnastics team recorded grade point averages of 3.0 or better to make the Athletic Director’s Honor Roll. They are: Lauren Johnson, Grace Taylor, Courtney Kupets, Marcia Newby, Lauren Sessler, Tiffany Tolnay and Amber Trani.
The Gym Dogs, the 2008 winners, will join the other six teams from the league on Saturday in Nashville, Tenn., at the Sommet Center. The meet will begin at 5:05 p.m. Eastern.
“First of all, I am so excited for Nashville,” Georgia coach Suzanne Yoculan said. “I love neutral sites. I love being able to expose other areas and other people to what a great sport collegiate gymnastics is. Our team is ready. We are looking forward to defending our title and competing against some of the best teams in the country.”
Georgia enters the meet with a 12-0 record, including a 6-0 mark against its counterparts from the league. The Gym Dogs posted home victories over Alabama (2-4), Auburn (3-3) and Florida (3-3) and recorded road wins against LSU (4-2), Kentucky (0-6) and Arkansas (3-3).
Yoculan said the Gym Dogs are anticipating a difficult meet on Saturday. The SEC has six of the top 11 teams in this week’s GymInfo rankings No. 1 Georgia, No. 4 LSU, No. 5 Alabama, No. 6 Florida, No. 9 Arkansas and No. 11 Auburn. Kentucky checks in ranked No. 22.
“It’s certainly the most wide-open that the SEC Championship has ever been,” Yoculan said. “It’s going to be a fight not just for first but also for second, third and fourth. Anyone can emerge as the SEC champ this year. It will be a fight to the end.
“At the SECs, every team brings its A’ game. Ten years ago, it used to be that the SECs was looked at as another road score, one more to help with the RQS. Now it’s definitely all about winning the SEC title. It’s huge. Do you think anyone on our campus cares what we score? No, they only care that we win. It’s one of the eight championships that our gymnasts have an opportunity to win during their careers. We tell our freshmen that on the first day of practice. Four SECs and four NCAAs. And we don’t put a greater emphasis on either one. We really do train to peak for the SECs, then tone it down a little bit and have some down time, and then peak again for the NCAAs.”
The Gym Dogs have won 16 conference titles, including the 2008 crown. Alabama and Florida have won five each, and LSU has won one. Yoculan is a seven-time SEC Coach of the Year, winning most recently in 2008. Georgia has dominated the individual titles and awards, and the current roster includes 2006 and 2008 Freshmen of the Year Courtney Kupets and Cassidy McComb, 2006 bars champ Kupets, 2007 all-around, vault and floor winner Kupets, 2008 beam champ Grace Taylor, and 2008 bars winners Taylor and Tiffany Tolnay.
Georgia enters the meet with the SEC’s best team effort this season in the all-around (198.2), bars (49.55), beam (49.55) and floor (49.675) and the second-best vault score (49.475). Kupets has the conference’s best scores in the all-around at 39.85, bars at 10.0 and floor at 10.0, and she is tied for first with McCool and Taylor on beam with 10.0s. Kupets, McComb and Hilary Mauro share the second-best vault score of 9.95.
The competition draw, featuring Yoculan and senior Abby Stack, will take place on Friday from 3:50-4:20 p.m. Eastern at the Sommet Center. The Gym Dogs then will practice from 4:30-5:10 p.m. Eastern. All practices on Friday are open to the public.
“Momentum is an essential component in the success of this team and we need to start off strong and end even stronger,” Stack said. “The SEC is very competitive; there is simply no weak team in the conference. Even though it is a random pick, like the coin toss before a football game, I will be practicing my picking skills and rubbing my rabbit’s foot to prepare.”
GYM DOGS REMAIN NO. 1
Georgia remained No. 1 in the GymInfo rankings this week with a regional qualifying score (RQS) of 197.255. Utah is No. 2 with an RQS of 197.030. As a team, the Gym Dogs are No. 1 on bars and beam, No. 2 on floor and No. 3 on vault.
Courtney Kupets is ranked No. 1 in the nation in the all-around as well as on bars and beam. She is No. 2 on vault and floor. Grace Taylor is No. 2 on beam, No. 4 on bars and No. 10 on floor, while Tiffany Tolnay is No. 13 on bars and No. 15 on vault, and Gina Nuccio is No. 16 on bars.
ON THE AIR
GXtra, the official premium online service of the Georgia Bulldogs, will stream live audio of Saturday’s meet, with commentary provided by former Gym Dogs Katie Heenan Dodson and Emily Bridgers. Live scoring also will be provided on georgiadogs.com.
A two-hour highlight show from the meet will air on a tape-delay basis on FSN South/SEC-TV. The air date is Saturday, March 28, at 7 p.m.
PERFECT ON BEAM
The Gym Dogs came into the 2009 campaign with just five perfect 10.0s on beam in the program’s history. By comparison, Georgia entered the year with 64 on vault, 51 on floor and 25 on bars.
But as Georgia heads into the SEC Championship, the number of 10.0s on beam has jumped to eight after Courtney Kupets, Courtney McCool and Grace Taylor achieved perfection earlier this year.
Georgia has reached a high score of 49.55 this season and boasts a regional qualifying score of 49.4 both of which are tops in the nation.
“We could legitimately earn three 10.0s in a row on beam, and I never thought I’d see that day,” Georgia coach Suzanne Yoculan said. “Whether the judges would put up three 10.0s in a row is another question, but we could legitimately earn three in a row. They are phenomenal, and in my book Tiffany Tolnay is right in there with them as well.
“No one can match Tolnay, Taylor, Kupets and McCool on balance beam. Can someone beat us on beam? Yes. They can have bad days and wobble and fall. But I don’t think anyone can deny that’s potentially the best beam lineup in the country, especially since Hilary Mauro and Cassidy McComb can be 9.9s.”
Kupets is No. 1 in the nation on beam, while Taylor is second and Tolnay is 28th. Due to an injury that sidelined her for most of the season, McCool does not have enough scores to appear in the rankings.
Kupets also notched 10.0s this year on bars and floor.
LINEUP FOR THE SECs
The Gym Dogs have the nation’s top regional qualifying scores on bars (49.46) and beam (49.4) and they are third on vault (49.355). And despite the fact that Georgia is No. 2 on floor at 49.29, just .01 out of first place, recent injuries have Coach Suzanne Yoculan fretting about that event.
Yoculan can pencil in Abby Stack, Hilary Mauro, Grace Taylor and Courtney Kupets into four of the six spots. The other candidates are Marcia Newby, Tiffany Tolnay, Cassidy McComb, who are dealing with leg injuries, and Courtney McCool, who hasn’t trained much on floor due to an earlier foot injury.
“We are peaking on every event but floor,” Yoculan said. “Floor has become a little bit of a nightmare because of the chronic leg problems. They have really hit us hard going into the last stretch. We are healthy and strong and consistent with Abby, Hilary, Grace and Kupets. It’s just a question mark as to who the other two are going to be.”
Here is the lineup for Saturday’s SEC Championship. As always, the lineup is subject to change.
Vault: Lauren Sessler, Hilary Mauro, Cassidy McComb, Marcia Newby, Courtney Kupets, Tiffany Tolnay.
Bars: Marcia Newby, Kathryn Ding, Gina Nuccio, Grace Taylor, Tiffany Tolnay, Courtney Kupets.
Beam: Hilary Mauro, Cassidy McComb, Tiffany Tolnay, Grace Taylor, Courtney Kupets, Courtney McCool.
Floor: Abby Stack, Hilary Mauro, Cassidy McComb, Grace Taylor, Tiffany Tolnay, Courtney Kupets.
CONFERENCE CALLS FOR KUPETS
Courtney Kupets was chosen as the Southeastern Conference Athlete of the Week on Jan. 13, Jan. 20, Jan. 27 and March 4.
Returning from an Achilles injury that sidelined her for the latter part of the 2008 campaign, Kupets has been nothing short of spectacular this season.
In Georgia’s win over Florida, Kupets posted a career-best 39.850 in the all-around, the fourth-best figure in school history. She also registered her first career 10.0 on floor.
In the Gym Dogs’ victory over Alabama, Kupets scored two 10.0s and won the all-around with a career-high 39.825, which is the fifth-best figure in school history. Against the Tide, Kupets scored a 10.0 on bars and a 10.0 on beam to become the ninth Gym Dog ever with two perfect scores in the same meet.
Of the 50 possible titles in meets this year, Kupets has won outright or shared 40 of them.
HARD TO SAY GOODBYE
Last week’s meet against Michigan was the final one at Stegeman Coliseum for Coach Suzanne Yoculan, who will be retiring at the end of the season. The emotional day began with family coming into town, followed by a team meeting in which the juniors unveiled a tribute video for Yoculan and seniors Paige Burns, Courtney Kupets, Abby Stack and Tiffany Tolnay.
“It was very emotional before the meet,” Yoculan said. “Once the meet got going, it was all business again. I was doing my job like I usually do and taking mental notes of all the things we need to work on before the SECs.”
Yoculan has been Georgia’s coach for the past 26 years, taking a fledgling program into one that has won to date nine NCAA and 16 SEC titles.
“It’s like you blink your eyes and 26 years goes by,” Yoculan said. “It says a lot about our program that we have been able to maintain a certain level of excellence for a period spanning three different decades. We have won NCAA titles in the 1980s, 1990s and 2000s. But it’s never been about the championships. All I have ever wanted was for young people to reach their potential athletically and academically, and that’s what I think we have accomplished with this program. That’s what I am most proud of.”
THE LAST TIME OUT
Sparked by a perfect 10.0 from Grace Taylor, Georgia capped an undefeated regular season with a 197.400-195.825 win over Michigan last Saturday. Courtney Kupets posted a 39.7 to win the all-around for the 10th time this season as the Gym Dogs moved to 12-0 for the season. It was the final home meet in the 26-year career of head coach Suzanne Yoculan, who has led Georgia to nine NCAA titles and 16 SEC titles to date. “It has been a journey,” Yoculan said. “Life is about opportunities and choices, and I have been blessed to have the success and support to build a program here. It’s amazing 26 years have gone by but gymnastics is just a sport and not the most important thing in life. It’s the experiences and relationships with the athletes that I will miss the most, and I am confident Jay Clark will continue to build this successful program.” It was also the final home meet for seniors Kupets, Paige Burns, Abby Stack and Tiffany Tolnay.
FIGHTING BACK
Before Georgia’s meet with Florida, senior Courtney Kupets gave her teammates boxing gloves and boxing shorts as a reminder and as a motivator to fight. The Gym Dogs entered Stegeman Coliseum with the theme from “Rocky” playing.
“We wanted to fight for everything,” Kupets said. “Inside we always felt we had this potential, so it was great to see. If we stay on the track we’re on, I think we will do great.”
The Gym Dogs responded with a198.20-196.65 win over the Gators. The 198.20 is the highest score in the nation this season.
YOCULAN ...THE FIFTH SENIOR
Coach Suzanne Yoculan shied away from too much retirement talk in the preseason, choosing instead to discuss the merits of the 2009 Gym Dogs. Memories and keepsakes and memorabilia and scrapbooks will have to wait until at least April.
“This season will be all about the process, and that’s the way we always approach a season,” Yoculan said. “It’s not about results or about the what ifs’ or about the championships. It’s about being consistent day-by-day, making sure that we are building a cohesive unit and giving our student-athletes what they need to be successful. A close, cohesive team isn’t concerned with stats, but rather the intangibles that you can’t measure.”
Toward that end, the Gym Dogs have been all about having fun, so much so that Yoculan has been dubbed “the fifth senior” as an honorary member of the class made up of Paige Burns, Courtney Kupets, Abby Stack and Tiffany Tolnay. They want to embrace the experience of another title run, knowing that while another NCAA crown would be historic, sending their coach out on top would be even more memorable.
“It’s the perfect role for her because she is the fifth senior,” Stack said. “She’s involved in our lives, she knows what we’re doing and she enjoys hanging out with us. This is Suzanne’s program and the fact that she doesn’t want this last year to be all about her is incredible. She’s such a team player.”
“I remember Suzanne asked all the seniors to come to practice early one day for a meeting,” Burns said. “We were all like, Oh no, what is this going to be about?’ She said she wanted to see if it was OK if she was considered the fifth senior. We all thought that was the coolest thing. So we were like, Sure, join our class.’”
GIVING BACK
Georgia’s Marcia Newby has been named to the Southeastern Conference Gymnastics Community Service Team, which highlights a student-athlete from each school who gives back to her community in superior service efforts.
Newby, a junior from Virginia Beach, Va., serves as the Vice President of Georgia’s Student-Athlete Advisory Committee, overseeing, coordinating and participating in several community service efforts.
Newby helped spearhead the Together We Can food drive that collected more than 1,200 pounds of food. She volunteered for Special Olympics, including participation with a Special Olympian in the SOAR 5K Walk/Run and helping an Olympian learn gymnastics routines. Newby participated in the Do It For Broph 5K Run/Walk, with proceeds benefiting a scholarship fund in honor of late UGA basketball player Kevin Brophy. She organized a team of four and raised money for the Stiletto Race Against Breast Cancer, with proceeds going to Athens Regional Medical Center’s Breast Health Center. Newby also sent holiday cards to state of Georgia soldiers serving in Iraq, read to elementary school students, visited patients at St. Mary’s Hospital, and visited and brought Christmas gifts to seniors at an Athens nursing home.
GYM DOGS ADD FOUR SIGNEES FOR 2010
Christa Tanella, Kati Breazeal, Noel Couch and Shayla Worley have signed national letters of intent to compete for the Georgia gymnastics team. Tanella, Breazeal, Couch and Worley will make up the first freshman class for Jay Clark, who will succeed Suzanne Yoculan as Georgia’s head coach for the 2010 season.
“We all are thrilled with this class,” Yoculan said. “These young women will be a great addition to the program. I can’t imagine a better class of freshmen coming in for Jay’s first year. This class has a little bit of everything in terms of gymnastics, but the young women also have great character. They understand the tradition of Georgia gymnastics, and they will be great stewards of it. We are excited that they are going to be a part of that tradition and that they will be starting their own.”
NCAA TICKETS ON SALE
Tickets to the 2009 NCAA Championships in Lincoln, Neb., April 16-18 are on sale now and can be purchased through the UGA Athletic Association ticket office online via georgiadogs.com or by calling (877) 542-1231. The all-session ticket package is $30. The deadline to order tickets through the UGA Athletic Association ticket office is March 16.
NCAA HONORS MCMINN
Dr. Kathy McMinn, the former gymnast who was the first Georgia student-athlete to be named All-American four straight years, was among the six women and men selected to receive the prestigious NCAA Silver Anniversary Award recently.
The honor recognizes former student-athletes who successfully completed collegiate careers in various sports and have excelled in their chosen professions. The Silver Anniversary Award acknowledges the former student-athletes on the 25th anniversary of completing their athletics eligibility.
“I was quite surprised to get the call about the NCAA Silver Anniversary Award, and I was very honored by it,” McMinn said. “You don’t realize how much the things that you do in your younger years help to mold the person you become later in life. The NCAA award has brought back so many memories not just of my gymnastics days at Georgia, but also of all the incredible people who have influenced and supported me.”
HEAVY HEARTS IN RALEIGH
Georgia had its meet with North Carolina State just hours after the funeral for longtime Wolfpack women’s basketball coach Kay Yow, who died after a lengthy battle with breast cancer. She was 66.
“Kay Yow was a great coach and an even greater person,” Georgia gymnastics coach Suzanne Yoculan said. “Her strength and perseverance and unwavering resolve in the face of adversity was inspirational. She lived every day to the fullest, and that’s the way we all should live. Coach Yow won a lot of games at North Carolina State, but her true legacy is in how she loved her student-athletes and the way she showed us all how to fight in a dignified and courageous way.”
After former Georgia gymnast Talya Vexler was diagnosed with breast cancer in 2003, the Gym Dogs provided their support for Athens Regional Medical Center’s Breast Health Center. Yoculan spearheaded the drive that raised $100,000 for the center, which was dedicated in 2005. The last several years, Georgia has had a Pink-Out meet to continue to support ARMC financially. This year, in addition to the Pink-Out meet, the Gym Dogs participated in the In Their Shoes 5K and the inaugural Stiletto Race Against Breast Cancer.
“There’s other things more important in life than sports, and athletes need to know that and so do fans,” Yoculan said. “This is our way of getting that message across.”
MAKING THE GRADES
Fall report cards are in, and seven members of the Georgia gymnastics team recorded grade point averages of 3.0 or better to make the Athletic Director’s Honor Roll. They are: Lauren Johnson, Grace Taylor, Courtney Kupets, Marcia Newby, Lauren Sessler, Tiffany Tolnay and Amber Trani.
Georgia Gymnastics Pre NCAAs Presser - Co-Head Coaches Cécile Canqueteau-Landi and Ryan Roberts
Tuesday, April 14
Georgia Gymnastics Pre NCAAs Presser - Nyla Aquino and Ady Wahl
Tuesday, April 14
GymDogs Punch Ticket to Nationals
Sunday, April 05
Gym NCAA Regional - Nyla Aquino - Floor
Thursday, April 02