The No. 7 Georgia gymnastics team scored a 196.075, falling to the top-ranked Florida Gators’ score of 197.250 on Friday night at the Exactech Arena at the Stephen C. O’Connel Center.  

In her first time competing all-around, sophomore Haley de Jong took home the crown with the highest collective score of the night- a 39.175.

“I can not be more proud of this team for their resilience throughout the whole meet,” head coach Courtney Kupets Carter said. “Many lineup changes were needed in the middle of competition and they answered well. We saw improvements in our vault scores and even bigger ones on floor. This is always a big meet for Rachel Baumann and she kept her head in the game and improved on every event from last week. Megan Roberts really stepped up and performed all-around. A meet like this is what is going to take us from being a good team to a great team as we continue to grow and improve on the little things. We will get back to the gym and keep working, but overall I’m really proud of this team.”

The GymDogs began competition on bars, swinging to a 49.050.  Junior Megan Roberts and senior Marissa Oakley led the squad with scores of 9.850.  Freshman Victoria Nguyen and de Jong followed, each receiving a 9.800.  Sophomore Amanda Cashman contributed a 9.750 to the team total. 

Rachel Baumann started the team off on vault with a 9.875 and led the GymDogs in that event. Following her was junior Abbey Ward with a 9.850.  Junior Rachael Lukacs competed for the first time this season, notching a score of 9.825 to match de Jong, and Nguyen contributed a 9.700. The team improved its vault score from last week to a 49.050. 

Before the third rotation, Georgia made changes to the floor lineup and subsequently the beam one as well.  They GymDogs were able to adjust quickly and saw even bigger improvements in the total floor score- a 49.350.  In the anchor position, it was Baumann again who led the GymDogs with a 9.925.  Sophomore Soraya Hawthrone and Roberts scored a 9.875 apiece and de Jong performed to a 9.850.  Cashman tumbled to a 9.825 to round out the event. 

The meet with be broadcast in a tape delay on ESPN2 on Sunday, January 17 at 2 p.m.

Georgia is back on the road next week as the team takes on the No. 5 LSU Tigers in Baton Rouge on Friday, January 22 at 8:15 p.m. ET.

FINAL RESULTS

GEORGIA- 196.075 (VT- 49.175, UB- 49.050, BB- 48.500, FX-49.350)

FLORIDA- 197.250 (VT- 49.250, UB- 49.225, BB- 49.375, FX-49.400)

VAULT: 49.175

Rachel Baumann- 9.875

Haley de Jong- 9.825

Victoria Nguyen- 9.800

Abbey Ward- 9.850

Megan Roberts- 9.700

Rachael Lukacs- 9.825

BARS: 49.050

Amanda Cashman- 9.750

Abbey Ward- 9.525

Haley de Jong- 9.800

Megan Roberts- 9.850

Victoria Nguyen- 9.800

Marissa Oakley- 9.850

BEAM: 48.500

Emily Schild- 9.600

Alyssa Perez-Lugones- 9.525

Soraya Hawthorne- 9.650

Haley de Jong- 9.700

Rachel Baumann- 9.825

Megan Roberts- 9.725

FLOOR: 49.350

Haley de Jong- 9.850

Megan Roberts- 9.875

Amanda Cashman- 9.825

Soraya Hawthorne- 9.875

Alyssa Perez-Lugones- 9.700

Rachel Baumann- 9.925