Ga. soph wins all-around as injured sister watches

Georgia sophomore Courtney Kupets had to compete like it was her senior season Thursday afternoon.

Not because her collegiate career is over, but because older sister Ashley Kupets, one of the team's two senior captains, cannot stand on the mat and perform her last routine as a Gym Dog.

"Now I'm competing for both of us," Courtney Kupets said after earning a 39.750 to win the all-around competition. Ashley Kupets was injured in the regional meet just before performing her floor routine.

"The first day it happened, it was heart break. But the way she's handled it makes it so easy for us to deal with it.... She was right back in the gym telling us it was more about the team. She's the captain, and now she's the head cheer Dog."

While Kupets, the defending NCAA all-around champion and former Olympian, is about as experienced as a gymnast gets, she said she felt like a novice Thursday afternoon at the Huntsman Center.

"I felt like I'd never competed before," she said with a grin. "I was kind of nervous."

Ashley and Courtney always have been close. Maybe it's because two girls in between an older and younger brother. Maybe it's because they both found gymnastics to be their passion.

"We've always been so close," Courtney said. "It's weird because we don't really fight. We've learned when to back off and how to read each other."

Her sister may not be performing, but she's just as intensely advising her sister on how to shave tenths of points off her routines.

Having an extra coach must have helped because Courtney's lowest score was a 9.0 on beam; with 9.95 on every other event.

"She was a mental giant today," Georgia coach Suzanne Yoculan said. "When she gets in a zone, she's unbelievable.... I've never seen anyone as strong mentally as Courtney Kupets."

The sophomore's feat of winning back-to-back all-around titles has been accomplished only three other times. Georgia gymnast Kim Arnold did it in 1997 and 1998, while Jenny Hansen, Kentucky, won three times in a row. Utah's own Megan Marsden won back-to-back titles in 1983 and 1984.

She said her individual performance never actually entered her mind.

"It was all about what I could do to help the team," she said.