GymDogs Travels To Face Arkansas Friday

Meet Information
Georgia at Arkansas
Friday, February 25 | 9:00 p.m. ET | Barnhill Arena | Fayetteville, Ark.
Watch: SEC Network
Stream
Stats
Notes

ATHENS, Ga. --- The University of Georgia gymnastics team travels to Fayetteville to face Arkansas on Friday, February 25 at Barnhill Arena. Competition is scheduled to begin at 9:00 p.m. ET and will be broadcast live on the SEC Network.

GYMDOGS HITTING CAREER HIGH MARKS IN 2022
Six Georgia gymnasts have hit nine new career high scores so far in 2022.  Additionally, two gymnasts have matched their career high scores, for a total of 11 routines hitting a GymDogs' best score.  Senior Rachel Baumann has hit two vault scores better than her previous high at the end of 2021.  Sophomore Katie Finnegan began the season with a career-high of 9.850 on bars. She then scored a 9.875 in the second meet of the season and increased that again to 9.900 in meet four.  Her 9.875 in meet six, although no longer matching her career-high, is still an increase of her previous best score.  Similarly, senior Abbey Ward began the 2022 season with a career-high score of 9.575 on bars.  She hit a 9.825 in meet two to notch a new career-high and did it again in meet five with a 9.850.

See more stats in the notes packet.

STEPPING UP FOR THE TEAM
Prior to this season, senior Abbey Ward had only competed bars twice in her collegiate career. When she saw the lack of depth on the event, she stepped up and consistently trained the event so that she would be ready to compete for the GymDogs.

PERFECT 10 FOR RACHEL BAUMANN
Senior Rachel Baumann earned a Perfect 10 on floor against Florida. It marked the first Perfect 10 by a GymDog since Marissa Oakley earned the score on bars at the 2019 Athens Regional.

Georgia's last three Perfect 10s on floor were all against Florida (Sydney Snead in 2018 and Courtney Kupets in 2009).

COURTNEY KUPETS CARTER EXPECTING BABY No. 4
Head coach Courtney Kupets Carter and her husband Chris are expecting their fourth child in July. The couple has two daughters, Brooklyn (6) and Savannah (3), and a son Bentley (4).

FORMER GYMDOG JOINS TEAM IN NEW ROLE
Former GymDog Cat Hires has joined the Georgia Gymnastics staff as Director of Operations. As a GymDog she competed vault, bars, and floor, earning career-highs of 9.925, 9.950, and 9.900, on each event respectively. She was a second team NCAA All-American on floor as a senior in 2014. She was named to the SEC Community Service Team and earned SEC Academic Honor Roll recognition. She also earned the team's Suzanne Yoculan No Dream Too Big Award.

RACHAEL LUKACS TEARS ACHILLES
Senior Rachael Lukacs announced on instagram that she tore her Achilles during her floor routine in Georgia's meet against LSU, thus ending her gymnastics career.

FACING COVID CHALLENGES EARLY
The GymDogs had to postpone meets two and three- at Kentucky and home against Iowa- due to COVID protocols within the program. The meet with Kentucky was rescheduled for February 4 in Lexington, the Iowa meet has yet to be determined.

COMPETING NEW SKILLS
Haley de Jong is competing a round-off, back handspring, back layout 3/1 in the first pass of her floor routine. She competed this skill prior to coming to Georgia, but this is the first season she is competing it as a GymDog.

HAWTHORNE CONTINUES THE MOONWALK
Junior Soraya Hawthorne assumed the responsibility of taking over the Georgia moonwalk tradition on beam as a sophomore and debuted the move at LSU in 2021. She is the seventh GymDog to perform the moonwalk on the balance beam, following Nikki Childs, Cassidy McComb, Lindsey Cheek, Mary Beth Box, Morgan Reynolds, and Sabrina Vega.

FOLLOW THE GYMDOGS
For all the latest on Georgia gymnastics, follow the team on Twitter (@UGAGymnastics), Instagram (ugagymnastics), Facebook (Georgia Gymnastics), and keep checking in to georgiadogs.com.

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Players Mentioned

Rachel Baumann

Haley de Jong

Katie Finnegan

Soraya Hawthorne

Rachael Lukacs

Marissa Oakley

Abbey Ward