Senior Sydney Snead Leads GymDogs to a 196.875

Friday, January 18

Athens, GA

7:30 p.m.

University of Georgia

196.875

196.900

Alabama

January 18, 2019 | Gymnastics

ATHENS, Ga. --- Senior Sydney Snead earned her career-high score in the all-around as the University of Georgia gymnastics team was edged by Alabama, 196.900-196.875 on Friday night in front of a capacity crowd at Stegeman Coliseum.

The lone senior for the GymDogs earned a 9.900 on vault, 9.850 on bars, and a pair of 9.925's on beam and floor for a 39.600 all-around score. The Raleigh, North Carolina, native also earned the event titles for vault, beam, floor, and the all-around. Freshman Alexa Al-Hameed won the event title on bars with a 9.925 for a sweep for the GymDogs.

"Picking a focus was easy this week," Georgia head coach Courtney Kupets Carter said. "We focused on Georgia versus Alabama gymnastics, the rivalry has been there for probably a couple of decades. The energy created by the fans and the rivalry stemmed to the student-athletes, which let them know to really go full out and attack everything. The intention going into the meet was to know that they have to be aggressive in everything that they do. They can use the crowd and they can use the rivalry. They are going to be going against top teams throughout the country and this is a really good example for them to push hard and push past mistakes."

"Honestly, the Georgia-Alabama rivalry is so huge," Snead said. "Before we even started the meet we were super pumped, more than normal, more than usual. I think tonight we did a great job being aggressive and being confident. The routines just built off each other, which is exactly what they are supposed to do."

The GymDogs started competition with a 49.150 on vault. Snead led the squad with her 9.900 in the anchor position, and freshman Abbey Ward showed continued improvement with a 9.850. Juniors Sabrina Vega and Rachel Dickson, and freshman Rachael Lukacs each contributed scores of 9.800. Alabama scored a 49.125 to conclude the first rotation.

The GymDogs gained momentum on bars, swinging to a 49.275. Al-Hameed earned the top score of the day for bars with a 9.925, her best of the season. Freshman Megan Roberts made her lineup debut after returning from injury and stuck a landing to earn a 9.875. Snead and sophomores Emily Schild and Marissa Oakley earned scored of 9.850, 9.825, and 9.800 for Georgia. The Crimson Tide posted a 49.275 on vault to give the GymDogs a 0.025 advantage after two rotations.

Moving on to beam, Georgia scored a 49.125. Snead led off with a beautiful 9.925 and the GymDogs also counted scores from juniors Rachel Dickson and Sabrina Vega and freshmen Mikayla Magee and Rachel Baumann. Alabama was able to take the lead with a 49.300 on floor.

Georgia finished competition on floor, posting its highest score of any event so far this season with a 49.325. Snead and Dickson earned a 9.925's and Lukacs earned her second career 9.900. In her Stegeman debut, freshman Sami Davis scored a 9.725 and Vega concluded the meet with a 9.850.

Georgia is back in action for a meet on Monday, Jan. 21, against Iowa State at 1:45 p.m., before continuing SEC action on the road at Auburn on Friday, Jan. 25.

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FINAL RESULTS
GEORGIA- 196.875 (VT- 49.150, UB- 49.275, BB- 49.125, FX- 49.325)
ALABAMA- 196.900 (VT- 49.275, UB- 49.125, BB- 49.200, FX- 49.300)

VAULT- 49.150
Mikayla Magee- 9.775
Sabrina Vega- 9.800
Abbey Ward- 9.850
Rachel Dickson- 9.800
Rachael Lukacs- 9.800
Sydney Snead- 9.900

BARS- 49.425
Sydney Snead- 9.850
Megan Roberts- 9.875
Alexa Al-Hameed- 9.925
Emily Schild- 9.825
Rachel Dickson- 9.325
Marissa Oakley- 9.800

BEAM- 49.125
Sydney Snead- 9.925
Rachel Dickson- 9.800
Mikayla Magee- 9.775
Rachel Baumann- 9.800
Marissa Oakley- 9.250
Sabrina Vega- 9.825

FLOOR- 49.325
Rachel Baumann- 9.325
Sami Davis- 9.725
Sydney Snead- 9.925
Rachael Lukacs- 9.900
Rachel Dickson- 9.925
Sabrina Vega- 9.850