From Deseret News archives:
Georgia, Florida, Nebraska advance
The slugfest went Georgia's way with the Gym Dogs, sparked by all-around champion Courtney Kupets, handing the Gators their first loss of the season. Georgia scored 197.7 to Florida's 197.4.
Joining the two SEC schools in the Super Six is Nebraska, which recovered from Emily Parsons' opening fall on bars to score 196.625 and best Oklahoma, Alabama and Oregon State for the third spot from the afternoon session at the Jon M. Huntsman Center.
Georgia, Florida and Nebraska will be joined by Utah, Stanford and UCLA, which advanced out of the evening session.
Georgia coach Suzanne Yoculan was ecstatic about her team"s performance, which she said was sparked by the 11th different lineup this season.
"Adversity was a tremendous motivator for us today," she said. "Our team has a history of getting every bit of energy from each athlete. They really rallied around each other."
Alabama, which hadn't missed a Super Six competition since 1996, finished a surprising fifth, recording no falls but failing to stick a number of landings, which ultimately hurt its overall score.
"You have to stick landings," she said. "It's good to have a pressure-packed session, because tomorrow we have nothing to lose."
After Parsons' fall on bars, Nebraska coach Dan Kendig said he wasn't worried about his star gymnast as much as the next bars competitiors.
"Sometimes it's hard (for a team) to recover from that. I knew Emily would have a good meet, so I was focused on getting the girls into a solid mental state. And they pulled together to record a total team effort."
In the evening session, Stanford posted a 49.525 on vault to match Georgia"s afternoon score for the highest event score of the day. Utah was only .25 behind with 49.5, tying its season high for vault.
Stanford led much of the evening contest and only Utah's beam performance in the final rotation vaulted the Utes ahead to capture the session with a score of 197.325 to Stanford's 197.200. UCLA's third-place score was 196.475. LSU, Denver and Michigan failed to advance to tonight's finals.
"We did what we had to do something our gymnasts have been doing all year long," Stanford coach Kristyn Smith said. "It"s great to be in the Super Six." UCLA coach Valorie Kondos Field echoed those remarks, saying, "It was great to focus on our routines and know exactly what we had to do. No one is going to give this competition to you, you have to take it."
Both coaches praised the partisan Utah crowd. "Great job, Greg," Field said.
With Florida and Georgia representing the SEC and Stanford and UCLA the Pac-10, Utah and Nebraska could have their work cut out for them. Either way, tonight's Super Six promises to be one of the closest competitions ever.
"Tomorrow is what we've trained for all year, it's what dreams are made of," said Nebraska's Kendig. "I think that emotion and momentum will be big tomorrow. All six teams will be ready."
E-mail: jringwood@desnews.com
Comments
- Opposition to wild horse plan 9:10 a.m.
- Climate drama climax looks elusive 8:46 a.m.
- Russian nightclub fire kills 109 8:38 a.m.
- Texas-Neb. will impact other games 8:35 a.m.
- Day 2 of U.S.-Afghan offensive 8:34 a.m.
- Senators target insurance exec pay 8:32 a.m.
- Gunmen kill 3 peacekeepers in Darfur 8:29 a.m.
- This weekend on TV 8:28 a.m.
- George lost in rivalry hatefest 1:33 a.m.
- Paul returns after being out 1:04 a.m.
- Ed Smart 'appalled' at testimony
- Mr. Football 2009: Tuni Kanuch
- 5A high school football All-State
- 4A high school football: All-State
- Utah Jazz going green with unis
- Miller predicted Tiger's rough road
- Nutty Putty Cave to be sealed today
- Harpring's NBA career is over
- MVPs wrap up stellar prep careers
- Y. profs: Beck not all-knowing
- Hall reprimanded by MWC
410 - Why is Y. ignoring spew of hatred?
294 - BYU says Hall incident resolved
247 - Letters: Liberal because LDS
238 - 2 citations issued at Y.-U. game
189 - Hate not limited to 1 in-state rivalry
185 - Aggies shoot past Cougars
179 - Max Hall: a fixture in rivalry lore
118 - N.Y. Senate rejects gay marriage
118 - Unbeaten BYU takes trip to Logan
104
Harvey Unga's future seems to be a hot talking point among fans so let's...
All you Y fans better enjoy this win. You'll never catch Utah in BSC bowl...
Mormons celebrate Advent and Christmas like everyone else that is a Christian.
BYU only gets faster and better. look at the records since both coaches...
Charities often do this to individuals who volunteer their services in the...
Let's nix sports, all of them, meet in the middle of the fields and arenas,...
is so typical. Koolade for everyone. That's why everyone laughs in your...
A fluke is something that happens once like the accidental National...
Think Obama has the guts to stare Ahmadinejad in the eyes and win this chess...
This story is new to me and never heard about it until yesterday, but...
Mitchell appears to be a narcissistic pedophile, parading behind a facade of...

You can be the first to comment on this story.