On Saturday, Georgia earned a 195.800 during the Southeastern Conference Championship afternoon session. The team finished in eighth, as Florida (198.20) took first, Alabama (197.825) finished second and Auburn (197.225) earned third.
Sophomore Victoria Nguyen earned high scores in two events- beam and bars. Nguyen’s high scoring potential allocated her the anchor position for the team on bars. She scored the highest of the session with a 9.900 tally.
Junior Haley De Jong scored a 9.850 and senior Megan Roberts contributed a 9.850 to the team’s overall score of 49.100.
“What a routine for Victoria Nguyen on bars,” Kupets Carter said. “I know we will continue to build from our performance today. This is one of the biggest stages in collegiate gymnastics and an important experience for our team.”
On beam, Nguyen earned a 9.850, the top score of the GymDogs. Junior Soraya Hawthorne also scored high with a 9.825. Senior Emily Schild then scored 9.800. Overall, the team scored 48.425.
The floor exercise is one of Georgia’s favorite events. The team earned their highest score on floor with a 49.250. Both senior Rachel Baumann and Hawthorne tallied 9.900 in the event.
“When you fall behind early like we did today it’s sometimes hard to gain back momentum,” Kupets Carter said. “I was proud of how we bounced back in our floor rotation.”
Baumann also led the team on vault, scoring 9.850. Hawthorne and Roberts also took a 9.825. The GymDogs finished the event with 49.025.
The GymDogs ended the regular-season with a 196.575 National Qualifying Score. Georgia still leads the SEC with 16 team titles and 101 event championships. The gymnastics team won their last conference championship in 2008.
Friday, Schild was named to the Southeastern Conference Community Team. This honor comes following her participation in various community service projects within the UGA and Athens community.
Schild has been a mentor at the Barrow Elementary School. She’s also involved with Team United and the Special Olympics.
The NCAA Selection show for Regionals will be Tuesday, March 22 at 12 p.m.