Georgia honored their gymnastics alumni by sweeping all four apparatus and winning the Quad Meet with a season-high 197.675 points at Stegman Coliseum on Friday night.
The GymDogs faced stiff competition from a game Central Michigan squad. Lia Kmieciak and Luciana Alvarado-Reid gave the Chippewas two top-five finishes to help pace the squad to a season-high score of 195.900. Kmieciak tied UGA’s CaMarah Williams for the top score- 9.875 in the vault.
“Going into this meet, we really focused on the details and staying focused on our performances,” said Head Coach Christine MacDonald. “No matter the size of the meet, our focus has remained on our team goals.”
Lily Smith scored the sole perfect score of the night with a dynamic floor routine. Georgia had four competitors in the top three positions on the apparatus on the heels of Smith’s 10.000, a 9.950 from Williams, and a pair of 9.875’s from Harley Tomlin and Ady Wahl. Smith also led the GymDogs to a sweep of the top four positions in the balance beam with a 9.975. Georgia
CMU’s Alvarado-Reid scored a 9.875 on the uneven bars and floor exercises to pick up two third-place finishes. The senior finished the all-around with 39.425 (VT 9.800, UB 9.875, BB 9.875, Floor 9.875). Ciniah Rosby had a 38.525 score in the all-around for Fisk. The junior from Charlotte, NC finished with four top-20 finishes (vault-19, uneven bars-13, balance beam-17, floor-12).
An approaching winter storm threatened to postpone another meet for Fisk University. Fortunately for the Bulldogs, the inclement weather held off until after the meet concluded. Aliyah Reed-Hamilton had the best finish of the night for the Bulldogs, tying for 10th place on the balance beam with a 9.725. Zyia Coleman earned a 9.750 score on the floor exercise for 11th place.
Temple was led by Amelia Budd’s 9.825 on the vault. Budd had the fourth-best score on the apparatus. Reese DeHaan, Brooklyn Thomas, and Nikki Rengifo posted 9.775 scores in the unbalanced bars, floor exercise, and vault.
Consistency Over Perfection
A score of 10 is rare in gymnastics. There have only been six perfect scores this season. Lily Smith and UCLA’s Jordan Chiles are the only gymnasts with perfect scores on floor. Chiles also has a perfect score on the vault. Utah’s Avery Neff also has a perfect score on the apparatus. Kailin Chio is the only gymnast with a 10 on the balance beam. There has yet to be a perfect score on the uneven bars.
The national championship is still three months away, and eight teams are averaging over 197 points. Six more have scored over 197 points at least once. While it is inconceivable that a squad will ever reach 200 points, Oklahoma and LSU have scored over 198. The Sooners scored 198.425 in their head-to-head win over the GymDogs (stats).
Georgia held their own in the floor exercise with a pair of 9.950 scores from Williams and Smith. It was the only apparatus where the GymDogs equaled the Sooners’ best. Building a consensus of consistency will be the key for any squad looking to hold up the national trophy. Friday proved the GymDogs still have some work to do in that respect.