The Gym Dogs ended on beam and had to sit out the final rotation and watch
Alabama
on vault and
Florida on beam. Alabama nailed vault after vault, finishing with
a meet-best 49.450 on the event. With just one competitor left on beam, Florida
needed a 9.875 to take over the lead. Gator sophomore Amanda Castillo fell in
the anchor position, giving Florida a 49.175 on beam.
Initial scores indicated a Georgia victory, but unofficial scoresheets passed
out showed an Alabama win. Teams, coaches and fans all had to wait while the
discrepancies were ironed out four nearly 30 minutes. Once the errors were corrected,
Georgia did come out on top with a 197.350 - just .025 higher than Florida and
Alabama with 197.325s.
"I've never been through anything like tonight with the scoring issues
we had," Georgia head coach Suzanne Yoculan said. "I had already told
the girls we won and we were celebrating in the locker room, and then someone
came in and told us that we hadn't won. Fortunately the result did come out
in our favor, but it was as close as it could possibly be.
"What a tremendous effort by our team," she added. "I didn't
like the draw when I first saw it but it ended up being a great situation for
us. We really set the pace early on floor and made ourselves the team to beat.
We really stuck with it until the end, and our victory is well deserved."
Several Georgia gymnasts placed on individual events earning All-SEC honors.
Katie Heenan finished second in the all-around with a 39.575 - a number that
made her the all-time leading scorer in Georgia gymnastics history. Tiffany
Tolnay finished fourth with a 39.525. LSU's Ashleigh Clare-Kearney won the all-around
with a 39.600.
Heenan also shared the vault title with a 9.950, while Tolnay and Taylor tied
for first on bars with a pair of 9.950s and Taylor also claimed a share of the
SEC beam title with a 9.900.
Additional accolades for Georgia announced following the meet were Cassidy
McComb as SEC Freshman of the Year and Suzanne Yoculan as co-SEC Coach of the
Year.
Georgia opened with a solid performance on floor led off by Abby Stack's 9.775.
Taylor added a 9.850 in the next spot. McComb stumbled out of bounds, but her
score was dropped as Tolnay (9.875), Heenan (9.925) and Courtney McCool's (9.900)
scores were higher.
As a team the Gym Dogs notched a 49.32 on floor and had the highest score of
any team competing in the opening rotation. While Georgia sat out the second
rotation, Florida posted a 49.375 on floor to take the lead of teams through
one event. Alabama's 49.125 on bars placed the Tide in third.
Georgia's next event was vault, where the team earned a 49.225. Heenan's near-perfect
vault scored a team-high 9.950 followed by Tolnay's 9.900. The Gym Dogs led
all teams with two event scores after this point, but Alabama only trailed,
98.55-98.475, after a 49.350 on beam.
Florida again took the lead after a 49.375 on vault with a 98.750 two-event
score while both Alabama and Georgia sat out with a bye.
The Gym Dogs next went to bars, unfortunately opening with a fall from Nikki
Childs. However, as they have done on several occasions and almost reminiscent
of floor exercise at last year's NCAA Super Six, the rest of the lineup stepped
up and nailed five routines for a team score of 49.500. Tolnay and Taylor both
posted 9.950s and McCool a 9.900.
Georgia closed out the meet on beam with a 49.300 behind a 9.900 from Taylor.
That gave the Gym Dogs a final score of 197.350 as they had to sit out the last
rotation with a bye.
That's when the scoring drama unfolded, though the end result was a victory
for Georgia.
SCORING
Team Results
1. Georgia - 197.350 (VT- 49.225, UB- 49.500, BB- 49.300, FX- 49.325)
2. Florida - 197.325 (VT- 49.375, UB- 49.400, BB- 49.175, FX- 49.375)
Alabama - 197.325 (VT- 49.450, UB- 49.125, BB- 49.350, FX- 49.400)
4. LSU - 196.500 (VT- 49.350, UB- 48.975, BB- 48.900, FX- 49.275)
5. Auburn - 196.100 (VT- 49.025, UB- 49.050, BB- 49.000, FX- 49.025)
6. Arkansas - 194.650 (VT- 48.625, UB- 47.950, BB- 49.025, FX- 49.050)
7. Kentucky - 194.025 (VT- 48.525, UB- 48.500, BB- 48.850, FX- 48.150)
Individual Results (Georgia competitors)
Vault: Paige Burns - 9.750; Lauren Sessler - 9.700; Cassidy McComb - 9.775;
Marcia Newby - 9.850; Katie Heenan - 9.950; Tiffany Tolnay - 9.900
Bars: Nikki Childs - 9.300; Cassidy McComb - 9.850; Courtney McCool - 9.900;
Tiffany Tolnay - 9.950; Grace Taylor - 9.950; Katie Heenan -9.850
Beam: Hilary Mauro - 9.825; Nikki Childs - 9.850; Tiffany Tolnay - 9.800; Grace
Taylor - 9.900; Katie Heenan - 9.850; Courtney McCool - 9.875
Floor: Abby Stack - 9.775; Grace Taylor - 9.850; Cassidy McComb - 9.700; Tiffany
Tolnay - 9.875; Katie Heenan - 9.925; Courtney McCool - 9.900
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