University of Georgia Athletics
Gymdogs See Improvement In Tough Loss
January 19, 2016 | Gymnastics
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By John Frierson
UGAAA Staff Writer
When it was going well for the Georgia gymnastics team Monday in the Gymdogs' home opener against Stanford, it was going really, really well. Better than it has gone all season, in fact.
And it went well for a long time -- until a costly 10-minute stretch on the balance beam, which proved to be Georgia's undoing. Four straight falls on beam, during the meet's third rotation, took the No. 9-ranked Gymdogs from a comfortable lead over the No. 24 Cardinal, to trailing entering the final event.
"I think when you're rolling like we were rolling, and then all of a sudden [the falls start happening] and you get a little tight, I think it's human nature for that to happen," Georgia coach Danna Durante said.
Georgia rallied with a strong floor routine (while Stanford was on beam), and the meet was tied with one performer left for each squad, but Stanford was able to eke out the win, scoring 195.875 to the Gymdogs' 195.750.
The loss was a disappointing result at the end of a meet in which Georgia outperformed the Cardinal 75 percent of the time. In fact, the Gymdogs posted their best scores of the season in their first two events, the vault and uneven bars, and in the floor routine, their final event.
"No question, we needed to bounce back and be strong and finish strong on floor," Durante said. "For them to have a season high on floor and also a season high on vault and on bars, there were so many great things in the routines and in the execution that we saw had improved from Michigan to Arkansas to today.
"Those are the things we'll be taking out of [the meet] and obviously we'll be looking at making some adjustments on beam."
Losing always stinks, for sure, but doing your best work of the season in three of the four events, and starting the meet as Georgia did -- the Gymdogs got a glimpse of the team they can be.
Starts don't get much better, either. The Gymdogs, surrounded by a packed and spirited Stegeman Coliseum crowd, seized the momentum in a matter of seconds.
Georgia started on vault and Stanford on the uneven bars. The Gymdogs went first (the teams took turns: Georgia gymnast, Stanford gymnast, etc.) and Ashlyn Broussard led off the vault for the Gymdogs. It was like lighting up a fireworks display.
However long it took the junior from Plano, Texas, to go from one end of the runway, propel off the vault, twisting and turning, and then stick the landing, that's how long it took for Georgia to seize the momentum. She scored a 9.85, drawing a roar from the crowd, and her teammates followed that with a lot of great scores, including a 9.95 from Brittany Rogers and a 9.975 from Brandie Jay.
"It was definitely very exciting. I remember when I landed, just soaking everything in," said Broussard, who also got Georgia off to a good start on beam with a 9.80.
"She's been huge for us in that leadoff position," Jay said of Broussard. "She wasn't training for that this fall, so they just kind of threw her in there and she took it and has run with it."
Georgia, whose vault score was the highest in the country this season, led Stanford 49.50-48.85 after the first rotation. The lead then grew (98.850 to 97.875) after the Gymdogs made a strong showing on the bars, led by Rogers' 9.925 and Jay's 9.90. Watching from the stands, it felt halfway through the meet that a rout could be on. The Gymdogs may have been thinking that, too.
"You saw how amazing we were on vault and bars," Rogers said. "We may have gotten a little ahead of ourselves and we didn't quite leave the past behind and focus on beam, but who knows? ... Pretty much we all made a mistake on beam.
"All I can say is it's just another lesson learned for next time. We'll get it, I know we will. I'm proud of the other three events because we definitely made progress on those."
Learning to balance building and seizing the momentum, and riding the wave it can create, while also staying grounded and focused, it's a tricky thing. That's something usually acquired through experience, which the Gymdogs sure got Monday.
Georgia is back in action Friday at Missouri.
John Frierson is the staff writer for the UGA Athletic Association and curator of the ITA Men's Tennis Hall of Fame. You can find his work at: Frierson Files. He's also on Twitter: @FriersonFiles and @ITAHallofFame.
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