University of Georgia Athletics
Gym Dogs Host Arkansas Friday In Pink Out
February 10, 2010 | Gymnastics
ATHENS, Ga. --- The ninth-ranked Georgia gymnastics team (2-3, 1-2) will host its second straight home meet when it takes on No. 3 Arkansas on Fri., Feb. 12 at 7:30 p.m. in Stegeman Coliseum in a Pink Out.
The Gym Dogs most recently posted their highest score of the season in a 197.200-195.550 win over No. 11 Kentucky last Friday.
The meeting with Arkansas will pit two of the nation’s elite programs against one another as the Gym Dogs and Razorbacks currently own the second and third highest scores of the season, respectively.
“We had a lot of energy and a lot of intensity last week, and we need to build on that against Arkansas,” said head coach Jay Clark. “We need to stay focused on the things we can control and let the rest come to us. We want to try and develop some level of consistency from week to week.”
Friday’s meet will be aired on a tape-delayed basis on Feb. 20 at 9 p.m. on Fox Sports Net. GXtra will also provide a live video broadcast of the meet on here on Georgiadogs.com. Former Gym Dog Katie Heenan Dodson and Georgiadogs.com's Kevin Copp will host the broadcast. Click here for more information. GXtra subscription required to watch the live broadcast.
| SEC Freshman of the Week |
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| Georgia gymnast Shayla Worley has been named SEC Freshman of the Week following her performance against Kentucky, the league office announced Tuesday. Worley won the all-around title with a 39.500 in helping the Gym Dogs post their highest score of the season in a 197.200-195.550 win over the 11th-ranked Wildcats. Worley posted career-highs on vault (9.775), bars (9.850), beam (9.925) and floor (9.950). “Shayla is getting better and better,” Clark said. “She competed on vault for the first time against Kentucky, stepped up and had a good meet.” The Orlando, Fla., native was a last-minute addition to the vault lineup, and with her 39.500, she became the first Gym Dog to win the all-around title this season. Worley’s 9.950 on floor tied for the highest score by any SEC gymnast on the event this season. |
| Rankings |
| The Gym Dogs stayed put at No. 9 this week in the GymInfo poll following the win over Kentucky. Arkansas comes in at No. 3 this week after starting the season eighth. Oklahoma unseated Alabama at No. 1 this week (196.425), while the Crimson Tide are now ranked second (196.405) and Arkansas is No. 3 (196.120). Rounding out the top-five for this week are Utah (196.060) and UCLA (196.042). In the team event rankings, Georgia rose to No. 2 (49.120) on bars and fourth (48.975) on beam, while they are 12th on vault (49.015) and 19th on floor (48.740). Individually, the Gym Dogs have four gymnasts ranked in the top 25 in three events in addition to the all-around totals. Freshman Shayla Worley stands second in the nation in all-around as she holds a 39.500 there in her one attempt, behind only LSU’s Susan Jackson’s 39.535. Senior Courtney McCool is ranked second on floor (9.910) and is tied for 21st on beam (9.815), while freshman Noel Couch is tied for 16th on beam (9.825). On bars, sophomores Kat Ding and Gina Nuccio are eighth (9.880) and 19th (9.835), respectively. |
| The Arkansas Series |
| This is the 17th meeting between Georgia and Arkansas since records were first kept in 1980. Georgia has won all 16 previous meetings. Last season, the Gym Dogs won in Fayetteville by a score of 196.925-196.725. Arkansas was ranked No. 7 at that time. |
| Last Time Out |
| The Gym Dogs put up season-high scores in three events in addition to their highest overall score of the season en route to a 197.200-195.550 win over No. 11 Kentucky on Friday night in front of 9,864 at Stegeman Coliseum. Georgia was the best it has been all season on bars (49.450), beam (49.400), and floor (49.400) as the Gym Dogs moved to 2-3 (1-2 SEC). Kentucky dropped to 3-4 (1-3) on the year. The Gym Dogs edged the Wildcats on all events except for vault. Additionally, the Gym Dogs’ 197.200 was good for the second-highest score in the nation so far this season behind only Alabama’s 197.450. |
| A Look at the Razorbacks |
| After setting a school record for points (197.025) in Friday’s win over No. 16 Auburn, good for the third best score in the nation to date, Arkansas moved to No. 3 in the polls to match its highest ranking ever. The Razorbacks were also ranked third for one week last season and went on to finish fifth at the NCAA Super Six. In the Auburn win, the Razorbacks had a 49.300 on vault, which ties for seventh-best in school history, while posting their second-best all-time scores on bars (49.250) and beam (49.350). In the individual events, Arkansas sits at No. 2 on beam, No. 5 on bars, No. 6 on floor and No. 14 on vault in this week’s rankings. It was the Razorbacks’ first time eclipsing the 197 mark in school history. Individually, sophomore Jaime Pisani stands at No. 9 in the all-around ranks in addition to 12th on floor, 20th on vault, and 26th on bars. Arkansas is one of only two schools (Alabama) with three gymnasts currently ranked in the top 15 of the all-around competition, as Casey Jo Magee is No. 10 and Amy DeFilippo at No. 14 behind Pisani. With a record of 3-2, Arkansas started the season with a win over Arizona at home before two straight road losses at Florida and Alabama. But the Razorbacks have since rebounded with two wins at home vs. Kentucky and Auburn as Georgia and Arkansas already shared three common opponents. Razorbacks co-head coaches Mark and Rene Cook have been at the helm for seven season entering 2010, and have guided the program to four straight top 15 rankings and a Super Six appearance in 2009. In the previous seven seasons, Arkansas gymnastics has competed in six NCAA Regional Championships. |
| Think Pink |
| Friday’s meet with the Razorbacks will serve as the annual Pink Out Meet as the Gym Dogs team up with Athens Regional Medical Center to raise money and awareness in the fight against breast cancer. Georgia fans are being asked to wear pink to the meet. The first 5,000 fans in attendance will receive pink shakers and the first 900 students in the end zone student sections receive t-shirts. Pink shoes will be sold for $5 inside the area with all proceeds going directly to Athens Regional. |
| 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 each week. 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. |
| Top-10 Opponents |
| Georgia again faces one of the toughest schedules in the nation, as it has already faced three teams ranked in the top-10 with three more opponents remaining currently ranked in the top-10, including No. 3 Arkansas. After this weekend, the Gym Dogs will tackle No. 5 UCLA and No. 6 Florida. |
| Record Crowd |
| Georgia’s meet at Utah on Jan. 22 attracted 15,552 fans to the Huntman Center in Salt Lake City - the largest crowd in the history of college women’s gymnastics. A total of 48,569 fans have watched the Gym Dogs’ four meets this season - an average of over 12,000 per meet. Georgia’s season-opener vs. Stanford was a sell-out at Stegeman Coliseum. |
| Seamless Transition |
| Head coach Jay Clark enters his first season at the helm of the five-time defending national champion gymnastics team, but is no stranger to the program after spending 17 years as an assistant on the Gym Dogs’ staff and the last five as associate head coach. Clark is the sixth head coach in the program’s 38-year history that includes 10 national championships, 16 Southeastern Conference titles and 21 NCAA Regional crowns. Clark succeeds Suzanne Yoculan, under whom he served as an assistant while overseeing the Gym Dogs’ success on the uneven bars. This season, he will continue to lead Georgia’s bar performers while again coordinating the recruiting efforts. |
| Stegeman Coliseum |
| The Gym Dogs have maintained an overall record of 266-19-1 overall while competing inside Stegeman Coliseum in Athens. That includes a regular-season ledger of 184-10-1 and a mark of 82-9-0 in the postseason. Overall, the Georgia gymnastics team boasts an overall record of 879-146-6 (.852) in program history. |
| Winning Streak at Stegeman |
| The Gym Dogs are unbeaten at home in their last 30 regular season dual meets dating back to the 2005 season. Following a loss to Alabama on Feb. 18, 2005, Georgia won its next 10 dual meets in Stegeman Coliseum until tying top-ranked Florida on Jan. 27, 2007. Since then, the Gym Dogs have won 19 straight meets at home. |
| Stegeman to Undergo Makeover |
| Earlier this month, the UGA Athletic Board voted to expand and renovate the concourse at Stegeman Coliseum. Additional space will be created for more restrooms and concession stands, and the project also includes a glass facade. The project is expected to be completed by the start of the 2011 gymnastics season. |
| Georgia Adds Two for 2011 |
| In November, two gymnasts signed national letters of intent to attend Georgia and compete next year for the Gym Dogs: Kaylan Earls of Chicago, Ill., and Cat Hires of Tampa, Fla. Earls trains at Arena Gymnastics under Dan Miller in Joliet, Ill. At the Junior Olympic Nationals, she won her second straight all-around title and finished first on bars and beam. Earls was a Level 10 regional champion and a Junior Olympic national champion in 2008. Hires will arrive in Athens from Tampa, Fla., where she trains at LaFleur’s. She won the bars title at the 2008 Junior Olympic National Championships and finished third on vault. Hires also won the all-around state championship in 2008. |
| On Deck |
| Next weekend, the Gym Dogs will be back on the road as they head to Gainesville, Fla., for a meeting with the sixth-ranked Gators. The meet is set for 7 p.m. |
