Gym Dogs

DGD

After leading the Gym Dogs to a fifth straight national championship Courtney Kupets returned to the floor in Lincoln to collect three event titles for herself, thank ya very much.

The Georgia gymnast and 2004 U.S. Olympian won three event titles on Saturday at the Bob Devaney Sports Center, making her the NCAA’s all-time winningest champion with nine individual titles.

After becoming the first NCAA gymnast to win a title on every event she earned the ultimate praise from Gym Dog Coach Suzanne Yoculan.

“There’s no question she’s the greatest college gymnast of all time,” said Georgia coach Suzanne Yoculan. “She’s the Muhammad Ali of gymnastics. The greatest.”

Despite such high praise Kupets keeps still sees herself as someone fortunate to do something she loves.

“I don’t really believe that because, I don’t know, I just do what I do and I love it,” she said. “It’s kind of crazy for someone to say that about me. It’s really an honor. I just don’t believe that people would think that about me. I just have fun with what I do.”

Coutney Kupets, Champion.

Image: Kelly Lambert/Athens Banner-Herald

The Gym Dogs came out and gave their best performance of the year against the hated Florida Gators Saturday night to defeat them 198.200-196.650 to remain undefeated in the 2009 regular season.

Courtney Cupets sealed the deal by delivering the fourth 10 of her career.

“Courtney really grabbed a hold of that leadership role,” Yoculan said. “She really took it to heart, spent sometime thinking about it and ran all over town trying to find 15 pairs of boxing gloves. You’ve got to hand it to her. She’s definitely learned a few things from this old coach.”

With the victory Georgia tightens it’s hold on the number 1 ranking. Though, Yoculan questioned whether or not the Gym Dogs were deserving of that ranking to motivate the team for the Florida meet.

This past week, Georgia coach Suzanne Yoculan challenged her seniors to emerge as leaders and voiced concern that she didn’t feel the Gym Dogs were the No. 1 team in the country, even though the rankings proved otherwise.

The Gym Dogs responded by delivering the finest performance in over a decade. Can they stay consistent and deliver a fourth straight national title to Athens?

The up and down Gym Dogs produced the highest score of the season in their match with Auburn yesterday:

Third-ranked Georgia bounced back from its lowest score of the season last week to post a season-high team score with a 197.250-195.925 victory over fifth-ranked Auburn in front of a sellout crowd of 10,224 at Stegeman Coliseum on Saturday. Georgia’s team score was the highest in the nation as of Saturday afternoon.

It’s so impressive that the Gym Dogs sellout Stegeman. Proof that if you put a winner on the floor the Dawg Nation will come out and support.