If there was any doubt left that the status quo in NCAA women's gymnastics was changing, it was erased Friday night when five time defending NCAA champion Georgia lost to no. 15 Auburn for the first time in program history, falling 195.225-194.9.
If Auburn had to end its losing streak to anyone, I imagine it would have preferred to do so to Alabama, the Tigers' in-state rival that has defeated them in 99 of their past 99 meetings. By comparison, Auburn has only lost to Georgia the last 64 times the teams have met.
This is jolting for both programs. Auburn is celebratory -- they are ranked no. 15 this week and were not favored to win this competition despite Georgia's problems. Georgia on the other hand did well against no. 3 Utah last week, even though Utah got the win. This loss undoubtedly stings a lot more, and leaves Georgia 1-3 for the first time in many, many years.
“We were not very good tonight,” Georgia head coach Jay Clark bluntly told GeorgiaDogs.com after the meet. “Compared to how we are performing every day in the gym, we are underachieving. This needs to hurt a little bit. I don’t think we are doing anything wrong in training, but we need to examine everything that we are doing. We are very disappointed tonight.”
Here's a fuller recap of that meet, as well as what else happened in NCAA competition last night:
Oregon State vs. Stanford and Seattle Pacific @ Oregon State: Oregon State 196.225, Stanford 195.775, Seattle Pacific 188.1. The Beavers are gaining some momentum. More than 6,000 fans, the largest crowd in 13 years, came out to watch OSU take down Stanford at the annual Pink Out meet to raise money and awareness for breast and cervical cancer. Senior Mandi Rodriguez won the all-around (39.475) over freshman teammate Makayla Stambaugh (39.375). Rodriguez also had the best score of the night on floor (9.9) and tied Stanford's Shelley Alexander for the top score on vault (9.9). Laura-Ann Chong won uneven bars (9.925) and Stambaugh tied sophomore Leslie Mak for top honors on balance beam (9.875). (OSUBeavers.com)
Auburn vs. Georgia @ Auburn: Auburn 195.225, Georgia 194.9. It all came apart for Georgia during the final rotation, when Cassidy McComb scratched due to injury and Georgia had to count a 9.675 from Hilary Mauro and a fall from Kat Ding after normally rock-solid Grace Taylor fell twice. Other than that, Georgia didn't look terrible, although the team is certainly not back in 2009 form. Georgia chose not to compete any gymnast in the all-around, leaving the title for Auburn's Krissy Voss (38.725). Almost everywhere the Gym Dogs posted high scores, they were matched by the Tigers. Ding and Auburn's Allison Sandusky and Justine Foster each scored 9.85 for a three-way tie for first place. Auburn's Petrina Yokay shared the bars title with Ding (9.85). Georgia's Courtney McCool won beam (9.85) and floor (9.875). (GeorgiaDogs.com)
Arkansas vs. Kentucky @ Arkansas: Arkansas 196.75, Kentucky 195.325. Razorback sophomore Jaime Pisani had a career night on vault, bars and the all-around, which she won with a 39.525 over teammates Casey Jo Magee (39.375) and Amy DeFillipo (39.225, career high). Pisani was the high scorer on vault (9.925), tying her with Kentucky's Whitney Rose, as well as floor (9.9) and shared top honors on uneven bars with Magee (9.875), who also won beam (9.925). (ArkansasRazorbacks.com)
LSU vs. Florida @ Florida: Florida 196.725, LSU 195.05. Florida traded its usual blue and orange for pretty pink and black leotards in the annual Link to Pink meet as it romped to a win over SEC rival LSU on the strength of performances like Maranda Smith and Ashanée Dickerson's floor-winning 9.925s. But there continues to be no stopping LSU senior Susan Jackson, who won the all-around with a 39.525, leaving Dickerson second for the first time this season (39.425). Jackson also won vault (9.95) and split the beam title with Florida freshman Liz Green (9.825). Florida's Alicia Goodwin took the bars title with 9.925, tying her career best. (GatorSports.com)
Utah vs. Washington @ Washington: Utah 195.85, Washington 194.65. Utah is undoubtedly happy to get a win, but even so Greg Marsden confessed he was looking for a little more from his team in Seattle. "I was pleased with some things, but my overall impression was that we seemed a little flat," he said after the meet. Still, Utah senior Daria Bijak won her second straight all-around title (39.225) in front of first-time collegiate all-around competitor Stephanie McCallister (39.1). Problems with the springboard in warmups sufficiently "freaked out" senior Annie DiLuzio so much that she didn't vault, but DiLuzio won floor (9.875) and notched a career best on beam (9.875). Jamie Deetscreek shared the vault title with teammate Kyndal Robarts (9.8) and won beam on her own (9.9), while Bijak was the top gymnast on bars (9.875). (UtahUtes.cstv.com)
George Washington vs. Kent State @ Kent State: Kent State 193.95, George Washington 188.6. Kent State's Christine Abou-Mitri won the all-around (39.175) and floor exercise (9.85) to lead Kent State over George Washington in a meet where Kent State was basically competing with themselves. Kent State's Christina Lenny won vault (9.85) and teammate Erin Rothrock turned in a dynamite bar routine to win that event with the fourth-best bars score in school history (9.925). George Washington's Brittany Burnham prevented a Kent State sweep by taking the beam title (9.725). (KentStateSports.com)
Sacramento State vs. Cal State Fullerton and Southern Utah @ Sacramento State: Southern Utah 193.575, Sacramento State (192.775), Cal State Fullerton (188.9). Senior Elise Wheeler won the all-around for SUU (39.2), while teammate Melissa Johnson had "the meet of her life," as SUU coach Scott Bauman put it, winning vault (9.9). Wheeler won floor exercise (9.8) and tied teammate Jenna Vogt for first place on uneven bars (9.85). Sacramento State's Lissa Zamolo was the top gymnast on balance beam (9.85). (SUUTBirds.com)
Boise State vs. Utah State @ Utah State: Boise State 191.625, Utah State 191.125. Boise State survived a close one against the Aggies but Bronco gymnasts still managed to put up the top scores of the night on all events. Hailey Gaspar had the top score of the meet on vault (9.9), Katie Tuller won bars (9.7), Kelsey Lang beam (9.825) and junior Hannah Redmon floor (9.825). The top all-around competitor, however, was Utah State's Lyndsie Boone (38.85). (BroncoSports.com)
Arizona vs. Cal @ Arizona: Arizona 194.7, Cal 189.375. Arizona easily topped the long-suffering Cal team at home, trumping the Golden Bears by more than five points. Arizona's Molly Quirk won the all-around (39.0), Sarah Tomczyk was the best vaulter of the night (9.85), Miranda Russell won bars (9.85), Quirk and Britnie Jones were the top scorers on beam (9.825) and Mykle Douglas paced the scoring on floor (9.775). (ArizonaWildcats.com)
Michigan vs. Iowa State and BYU @ Iowa State: Michigan 196.0, Iowa State 195.625, BYU 192.05. Michigan's Kylee Botterman was the star of the night for the winning team, taking the all-around (39.3), vault (9.875) and bars (9.85) titles. Michigan's Jordan Sexton and Kelsey Knutson tied for the beam title (9.85) and Natalie Beilstein had the highest score of the meet (9.9) to win floor exercise. (MGoBlue.com)
Here's what's happening tonight in NCAA women's gymnastics:
Jan. 30:
North Carolina State vs. Oklahoma, Alaska and Texas Women's @ Metroplex Challenge
Rutgers vs. Maryland, Denver and West Virginia @ Maryland
William & Mary vs. Towson @ Towson
Nebraska vs. Missouri @ Nebraska
San Jose State vs. Southern Utah @ San Jose State
Illinois vs. Iowa @ Iowa
Ohio State vs. Michigan State @ Michigan State
Pittsburgh vs. New Hampshire @ New Hampshire
Yale vs. Penn @ Yale
Eastern Michigan vs. Central Michigan @ Eastern Michigan
Penn State vs. Alabama and Minnesota @ Penn State
Air Force vs. UC Davis @ Air Force
UIC vs. Southeast Missouri State @ Southeast Missouri State
Follow Gymnastics Examiner Blythe Lawrence on Twitter at www.twitter.com/GymExaminer.
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