University of Georgia Athletics
Inside the Rivalry: Gym Dogs vs. Florida
February 19, 2010 | Gymnastics
Most Georgia fans equate the Georgia-Florida rivalry with images of the gridiron and the football team, but gymnastics may be the single sport in which the historic rivalry is most currently relevant.
The No. 7 Gym Dogs travel to face the No. 4 Gators Friday night in what is annually becoming one of the marquee dual meets on Georgia's schedule. This will be the 113th meeting between the schools – Alabama is the only opponent to face Georgia more often, as the two SEC powers squared off for the 119th time this January.
"It's certainly a much more intense rivalry in some of the traditional sports than it has been in gymnastics, although in the last 4 or 5 years, with Florida making a real push on the national scene, it has intensified our rivalry with them," Head Coach Jay Clark said. "It's certainly one of the biggest rivalries we have, and we know how much emphasis they put on beating us."
Florida has no national championships, but in 1998 the Gators came as close as any school outside the big four – Georgia, Utah, Alabama, and UCLA – to winning a title. Florida finished second behind an undefeated Gym Dogs squad led by Kim Arnold and Karin Lichey in the SEC Championship, NCAA Southeast Regional, and the NCAA Championship consecutively.
The Gators have not since come as close to a title as they did in 1998, but a recent resurgence from the Florida program makes the Gators possibly the biggest annual threat to crash the party at the NCAAs. This year that rings especially true, as the Stephen C. O'Connell Center in Gainesville will be the host site for the NCAA Championships.
"It doesn't hurt to get into an environment that you hope to be in later in the year, but most of us are fairly familiar with the environment," Clark said. "It won't even look the same when we go back for [NCAAs] because the podium will be in there, and the configuration will be a little bit different, but in terms of atmosphere it will be pretty much the same."
Though Florida's lack of an NCAA Championship may rob this particular rivalry of some of the glamour that exists when Georgia competes against Utah, Alabama, or UCLA; Georgia and Florida have combined to create high drama each year the other power programs have failed to match.
In 2007, when the current group of seniors was freshmen, No. 2 Georgia and No. 1 Florida battled to a 197.250 tie in Athens – the last time Georgia did not win on its home floor. The Gators then edged out the Gym Dogs for the SEC Championship by a margin of .150 before taking third behind Georgia at the NCAA Championship in Salt Lake City – the third of Georgia's current streak of five straight titles.
The Gym Dogs' last trip to Gainesville in 2008 was also high on drama, as the Gators were again ranked No. 1 when they faced Georgia during the regular season.
The Gym Dogs built a lead heading into the final rotation, but falls from the stalwart Grace Taylor and Courtney Kupets opened the door for Florida. The Gators' Amanda Castillo (now a senior) needed a 9.9 on the final floor routine of the night to tie the Gym Dogs and scored a 9.875, as Georgia held on to win by .025 – the smallest margin of victory possible in gymnastics.
That could only be topped by the wild 2008 SEC Championship in Duluth, where Georgia, Alabama, and Florida all finished within .025 of each other. Georgia's coaches actually told the team in the locker room that they had lost, and it took nearly half an hour for the judges to sort out the fact that Georgia had actually captured the title with a 197.350; Florida and Alabama finished tied for second with a 197.325.
"The thing about those recent meets is that when it's close like that, both teams feel like they've made mistakes, and both teams have walked out knowing that they could have performed better," Clark said. "The intensity of the rivalry sometimes contributes to those mistakes being made, and it would be nice this time to have both teams hit and have a true sense of where both teams are."
A unique subplot of this year's edition of the Georgia-Florida rivalry will be the homecoming of sorts for freshman Shayla Worley. The Orlando native said she expects at least 30 family members to be in attendance, though there was some family controversy as to what colors they would be wearing in the stands.
"I'm embarrassed to say, but I was brought up a Florida fan, but I quickly made the conversion when I came here," Worley said. "Even growing up, I never really saw myself there, so my family's all going to be there this week, and they'll all be wearing Georgia gear."
That wasn't the case, though, when Worley's uncle came to Tuscaloosa for the Gym Dogs' meet against the tide wearing something both sides could agree they didn't want to see – blue and orange.
"My dad was born and raised in Gainesville, and my uncle still lives in Gainesville, so that's where it comes from," Worley laughed. "We took care of that, and now he's decked out in Georgia gear."
Worley dismissed the notion that there was any pressure for her to stay in her home state and try to bring the Gators their first NCAA Title.
"I came to Athens, and you've got to be crazy if you don't come to Athens and fall in love with it. This school just sells itself," Worley said. "I never got that feeling of, ‘Oh, I'm definitely going to come [to Florida].' From a young age, I just didn't see myself there."
As for Worley's family, they've worked out a compromise with Shayla: "Although they might be Florida football fans, they will always be Georgia gymnastics fans," she said.
The Gym Dogs look for their first road win of 2010 as they square off against the Gators at 7:00 p.m. ET Friday. Check out georgiadogs.com for live scoring and video updates as part of Meet Central presented by Athens Regional Medical Center.
Kevin Copp is the host of the Georgia Gym Dogs Show, which airs on georgiadogs.com, and the play-by-play broadcaster for Georgia gymnastics, soccer, volleyball, and softball.
The No. 7 Gym Dogs travel to face the No. 4 Gators Friday night in what is annually becoming one of the marquee dual meets on Georgia's schedule. This will be the 113th meeting between the schools – Alabama is the only opponent to face Georgia more often, as the two SEC powers squared off for the 119th time this January.
"It's certainly a much more intense rivalry in some of the traditional sports than it has been in gymnastics, although in the last 4 or 5 years, with Florida making a real push on the national scene, it has intensified our rivalry with them," Head Coach Jay Clark said. "It's certainly one of the biggest rivalries we have, and we know how much emphasis they put on beating us."
Florida has no national championships, but in 1998 the Gators came as close as any school outside the big four – Georgia, Utah, Alabama, and UCLA – to winning a title. Florida finished second behind an undefeated Gym Dogs squad led by Kim Arnold and Karin Lichey in the SEC Championship, NCAA Southeast Regional, and the NCAA Championship consecutively.
The Gators have not since come as close to a title as they did in 1998, but a recent resurgence from the Florida program makes the Gators possibly the biggest annual threat to crash the party at the NCAAs. This year that rings especially true, as the Stephen C. O'Connell Center in Gainesville will be the host site for the NCAA Championships.
"It doesn't hurt to get into an environment that you hope to be in later in the year, but most of us are fairly familiar with the environment," Clark said. "It won't even look the same when we go back for [NCAAs] because the podium will be in there, and the configuration will be a little bit different, but in terms of atmosphere it will be pretty much the same."
Though Florida's lack of an NCAA Championship may rob this particular rivalry of some of the glamour that exists when Georgia competes against Utah, Alabama, or UCLA; Georgia and Florida have combined to create high drama each year the other power programs have failed to match.
In 2007, when the current group of seniors was freshmen, No. 2 Georgia and No. 1 Florida battled to a 197.250 tie in Athens – the last time Georgia did not win on its home floor. The Gators then edged out the Gym Dogs for the SEC Championship by a margin of .150 before taking third behind Georgia at the NCAA Championship in Salt Lake City – the third of Georgia's current streak of five straight titles.
The Gym Dogs' last trip to Gainesville in 2008 was also high on drama, as the Gators were again ranked No. 1 when they faced Georgia during the regular season.
The Gym Dogs built a lead heading into the final rotation, but falls from the stalwart Grace Taylor and Courtney Kupets opened the door for Florida. The Gators' Amanda Castillo (now a senior) needed a 9.9 on the final floor routine of the night to tie the Gym Dogs and scored a 9.875, as Georgia held on to win by .025 – the smallest margin of victory possible in gymnastics.
That could only be topped by the wild 2008 SEC Championship in Duluth, where Georgia, Alabama, and Florida all finished within .025 of each other. Georgia's coaches actually told the team in the locker room that they had lost, and it took nearly half an hour for the judges to sort out the fact that Georgia had actually captured the title with a 197.350; Florida and Alabama finished tied for second with a 197.325.
"The thing about those recent meets is that when it's close like that, both teams feel like they've made mistakes, and both teams have walked out knowing that they could have performed better," Clark said. "The intensity of the rivalry sometimes contributes to those mistakes being made, and it would be nice this time to have both teams hit and have a true sense of where both teams are."
A unique subplot of this year's edition of the Georgia-Florida rivalry will be the homecoming of sorts for freshman Shayla Worley. The Orlando native said she expects at least 30 family members to be in attendance, though there was some family controversy as to what colors they would be wearing in the stands.
"I'm embarrassed to say, but I was brought up a Florida fan, but I quickly made the conversion when I came here," Worley said. "Even growing up, I never really saw myself there, so my family's all going to be there this week, and they'll all be wearing Georgia gear."
That wasn't the case, though, when Worley's uncle came to Tuscaloosa for the Gym Dogs' meet against the tide wearing something both sides could agree they didn't want to see – blue and orange.
"My dad was born and raised in Gainesville, and my uncle still lives in Gainesville, so that's where it comes from," Worley laughed. "We took care of that, and now he's decked out in Georgia gear."
Worley dismissed the notion that there was any pressure for her to stay in her home state and try to bring the Gators their first NCAA Title.
"I came to Athens, and you've got to be crazy if you don't come to Athens and fall in love with it. This school just sells itself," Worley said. "I never got that feeling of, ‘Oh, I'm definitely going to come [to Florida].' From a young age, I just didn't see myself there."
As for Worley's family, they've worked out a compromise with Shayla: "Although they might be Florida football fans, they will always be Georgia gymnastics fans," she said.
The Gym Dogs look for their first road win of 2010 as they square off against the Gators at 7:00 p.m. ET Friday. Check out georgiadogs.com for live scoring and video updates as part of Meet Central presented by Athens Regional Medical Center.
Kevin Copp is the host of the Georgia Gym Dogs Show, which airs on georgiadogs.com, and the play-by-play broadcaster for Georgia gymnastics, soccer, volleyball, and softball.
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