Making the Super Six used to be taken for granted at Georgia. But after Friday night’s semifinals, the Gym Dogs have missed the finals for the third straight year. Georgia scored a 196.50 to finish fifth in its semifinals grouping, which prevented the Gym Dogs from reaching the Super Six. Only the top three of each semifinals grouping advances to the finals.
However, Georgia did get All-American performances from Kat Ding, Lindsey Cheek and Chelsea Davis, but it wasn’t enough to qualify the team for Saturday’s finals.
This comes on the heels of five straight NCAA titles from 2005-2009. Under former coach Suzanne Yoculan, the Gym Dogs were staples not only in the Super Six, but were regarded as the premier college gymnastics program in the country. The Super Six, or the NCAA finals, was a regular landing place for Georgia, which made it there every year from its inception in 1993 through Yoculan’s retirement in 2009. Her teams won 10 national titles, 16 SEC titles and 21 NCAA Regionals. Four times, the Gym Dogs went through the entire season without losing a single meet.
Former Yoculan assistant Jay Clark took over in 2010 and has yet to lead his team to the Super Six. But in just his third year as a head coach, Clark has seen improvement in his squad every year. In 2010, Georgia did not qualify for the semifinals and last season, Georgia lost five meets and finished second in the NCAA Regionals. In his third season, Clark’s squad won its regional and was seeded fifth for the NCAA Championships.
Despite not making it to Saturday’s Super Six, Clark’s program can be expected to continue to improve. With just three seniors departing, the Gym Dogs will be highly ranked going into 2013.
Loading ...
