University of Georgia Athletics
SEC Gymnastics Championship Preview
March 21, 2012 | Gymnastics
March 21, 2012
ATHENS-----Fifth-ranked Georgia will begin postseason competition this weekend at the SEC Championship in Duluth, Ga. The Gym Dogs will join the other six teams in the conference Saturday at 4 p.m. ET at the Gwinnett Arena.
Georgia will learn its rotation for the SEC Championship at the competition draw Friday afternoon at 2:50 p.m.
Georgia enters the meet with an 8-3 record, including a 4-2 mark against its SEC counterparts. The Gym Dogs posted wins over Arkansas, Auburn, Kentucky and LSU, while falling on the road at Alabama and Florida.
UGA has won a total of 16 SEC titles, which is more than all other teams combined. Florida and Alabama have won seven apiece, while LSU has won one. Georgia's last SEC title came in 2008, which was the last time the championship was held in Duluth. The Gym Dogs edged Florida and Alabama by the smallest of margins, 197.350-197.325.
2011 Flashback
Georgia came away with a pair of individual titles at the 2011 SEC Championship in Birmingham. Cassidy McComb won the 17th SEC all-around title in Georgia history with a 39.4, and Kat Ding repeated as the SEC champion on the uneven bars with a 9.925. Ding went on to win the NCAA title on bars, becoming just the third gymnast in Georgia history to win the outright SEC and NCAA bars titles in the same year.
Noteworthy
Nearly half (5 out of 11) of Georgia's meets this year were against teams ranked in the top-three, and three of those were on the road - at No. 2 Alabama, at No. 1 Utah and at No. 1 Florida ... Beginning with the LSU meet, Georgia strung together 27 straight rotations with a 49.0 or higher ... Noel Couch has competed in the all-around in a school record 25-straight meets. She set a career-high with a 39.550 on March 2 against UCLA. She had recorded a career-best 39.450 against Kentucky three weeks ago, then nearly matched it with a 39.425 at Florida the following week ... Georgia's scoring average of 196.868 ranks third nationally.
Last Time Out
Kat Ding won the all-around for the fourth time with a 39.500 as the No. 5 Gym Dogs rolled past No. 21 NC State, 197.375-195.525, on March 11. Georgia's 197.375 was its second-highest score of the season, which was boosted by nine 9.9s or higher by the Gym Dogs. UGA posted its top floor score of the season, a 49.550, and its third-highest bars and beam scores with a 49.325. Chelsea Davis, Shayla Worley and Noel Couch tied their career-highs on bars, beam and floor, respectively, with a trio of 9.95s. Couch placed second in the all-around with a 39.350.
Rankings
Georgia enters postseason competition ranked No. 5 with a 196.995 RQS, according to the latest GymInfo Top 25 released Monday. In the team events, Georgia is second on floor (49.320) and bars (49.305), fourth on beam (49.225) and ninth on vault (49.270).
Individually, Kat Ding remains No. 1 on the uneven bars with a 9.930 RQS, and she is tied for ninth on vault with a 9.910. Junior Noel Couch is ranked fourth on floor (9.915) and 18th in the all-around (39.285), and Shayla Worley is sixth on the balance beam (9.890). On bars, Chelsea Davis is tied for seventh (9.895), and senior Gina Nuccio is tied for 17th (9.880).
Up Next
Georgia will learn its NCAA Regional destination on Monday, March 26. The Gym Dogs will travel to one of these six sites: Auburn, Ala., Champaign, Ill., Fayetteville, Ark., Raleigh, N.C., Salt Lake City, Utah, or Seattle, Wash.
