It’s been quite a year for your Georgia Gymdogs, and it’s not over yet.
The Bulldogs will take flight this afternoon in Seattle in the NCAA Washington Regional, with the action kicking off at 4:00 Eastern/1:00 Pacific on ESPN+. The #10-ranked Gymdogs qualified for Regionals for the first time since 2019.
In light of that, it probably makes sense to offer a brief refresher on how the competition works. Teams will be split into two sessions. Session I will include the Dawgs, #7 seed Missouri, Arizona, and Arizona State. Session II will match #2 seed Oklahoma, #15 seed Auburn, Nebraska, and Illinois at 10 p.m. Eastern.
The top two teams from each second-round session will then advance to the Regional Final at 8 p.m. Eastern on Sunday.
It’s already been a year of rebirth for the once proud program. Georgia has won 10 NCAA gymnastics championships but had wandered in the wilderness following the retirement of legendary coach Suzanne Yoculan. But Athletic Director Josh Brooks earned credit for thinking outside the box last spring by bringing in Cecile Canqueteau-Landi and promoting assistant Ryan Roberts to serve as co-head coaches. Landi has coached Olympian and former Florida Gator Jordan Chiles as well as the undisputed greatest of U.S. gymnasts, Simone Biles (who even stopped over in Athens this season for a meet).
Georgia responded to the new leadership by winning four consecutive home meets to open the season. The Bulldogs closed the season by posting a season high 197.975 against Oklahoma, the sixth highest regular season meet score in program history and the highest team score since 2009.
And individual honors have come with the team’s success. Sophomore Lily Smith earned All-SEC recognition and was named second team All-American on floor and bars. Freshman Nyla Aquino earned a spot in the regular rotation and an SEC All-Freshman nod.
The Red and Black do come into Regionals off a tough night in the SEC gymnastics meet, in which they finished tied for 7th with #12 Auburn. All eight teams competing in the event were ranked in the national top 13, and the margin for error is razor thin. LSU took home the title with an impressive 198.200. The Dawgs finished at 195.950, in part due to difficulty on the beam, an event that had been a strong point for most of the season. If the Gymdogs can return to form on that event, I like their odds to advance to Sunday’s final. Until later…
Go ‘Dawgs!!!