Gym Dogs Head to Penn State for NCAA Northeast Regional

Courtney Kupets

The top-ranked Georgia gymnastics team continues its drive for a fourth straight NCAA title Saturday, as the Gym Dogs are set to compete at the Northeast Regional at Penn State's Rec Hall at 6 p.m.

April 9, 2008

Note:  Courtney Kupets is this week's spotlight athlete.  For more please visit Georgia Gym Dogs Web Site. 

UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. --- The top-ranked Georgia gymnastics team continues its drive for a fourth straight NCAA title Saturday, as the Gym Dogs are set to compete at the Northeast Regional at Penn State's Rec Hall at 6 p.m.

"This team has proven that it is on a mission and ready to defend its three NCAA titles," Georgia head coach Suzanne Yoculan said. "They have been at their best at this time of the year and are excited about getting another chance to go to the NCAA Championships, especially since they will be at home."

Georgia, which finished No. 1 in the final rankings by RQS, will be joined in this contest by No. 12 Auburn, No. 13 Denver, No. 22 Penn State, No. 29 BYU and No. 30 Iowa State.

Georgia competed against two of the teams in its Regional already in 2008, defeating Auburn in a dual meet (197.125-195.475) and again in the Southeastern Conference Championships (197.350-196.100), and handing Iowa State a 196.750-194.450 defeat in the regular-season finale. Georgia holds an overall 122-3 all-time advantage over those teams, with Penn State being the only one to ever record a victory over the Gym Dogs.

Georgia (16-2) is coming off its 16th SEC title as a program two weekends ago where it scored a road-best 197.350. The Gym Dogs won by just .025 over Alabama and Florida, which tied for second place.

"We saw at SECs a few weeks ago just how close a competition can be when you have a few mental mistakes," Yoculan said. "We are really looking to stick landings and do the little things right so we don't give away critical tenths we'll really need from here on out."

That mark in SECs gave Georgia a final RQS of 197.400, enough for a No. 1 national ranking. In addition to a No. 1 overall RQS they are also ranked first on bars, beam and floor. They finished fifth on vault as well.

Several Gym Dogs travel to Regionals ranked in the top 10, including Courtney McCool on floor (1) and beam (6), Courtney Kupets on bars (1) and vault (4), Katie Heenan on vault (6) and bars (8), Grace Taylor on beam (4) and bars (9) and Tiffany Tolnay on bars (6).

The Gym Dogs will open this meet on a bye before starting competition on bars, which has been their best event all year long. They have been ranked No. 1 all season on the uneven bars and boast a 49.430 RQS - nearly a tenth higher than the second-place team - with three scores of 49.5 or higher this year.

Their complete rotation will be bye, bars, beam, bye, floor, vault.

"Bars has definitely been our best event all year, so hopefully we'll capture some momentum starting off there," Yoculan said. "If we can hit our average on bars and then just keep our focus throughout, I feel confident about our chances of winning this meet."

Georgia competed in Denver in last year's Regionals. They finished first in that meet and have come out on top at regional meets in nine of the last 10 years and all but five times in Yoculan's 25 years as head coach. The only loss in that span was when Georgia finished second in 2005 and still went on to claim the NCAA title.

In 2007, five different Georgia gymnasts won the five different event titles at the regional meet, including Courtney Kupets (AA), Tiffany Tolnay (VT), Kelsey Ericksen (UB), Katie Heenan (BB) and Courtney McCool (FX).

The last time Georgia competed in a Regional in Penn State was in 2004 and the Gym Dogs came in first place with a score of 197.525.

The individual all-around competitors not on a qualifying team in this region include Marissa Rosen (Pennsylvania), Alina Liao (Yale), Shannon Vafiadou (Pittsburgh), Lorraine Gallow (Bridgeport) and Laura Sevarino (Rutgers) with Maddie Pearsall (Cornell) as the alternate. The individual event specialists not on a qualifying team include Helena Diodati (New Hampshire/vault and bars), Taryn LaFountain (New Hampshire/beam) and Molly Moyer (Pittsburgh/floor).

Penn State is one of six schools hosting a regional meet. Others include Florida, LSU, Minnesota, Oklahoma and Oregon State. The top two teams and the top two all-around competitors not on an advancing team from each of the six Regionals will receive an automatic berth to the NCAA Championships being held in Athens, Ga., on April 24-26. In addition, individual event winners also will advance if they are not a part of an advancing team or one of the all-around qualifiers.

Tickets for the regional meet will be on sale at the door the day of the event and it will be general admission seating. Tickets are $7 for adults and $4 for youth and students. Groups of 20 or more, any age, are just $4 per person for adult, youth and students. For additional ticket information, please call 814-863-1000.

Source:  Georgia Athletics