Georgia to Host Quad-Meet on MLK Day

NOTES

ATHENS, Ga. --- The University of Georgia gymnastics team will host a quad-meet on Monday, January 16 at 2 p.m. in Stegeman Coliseum.  Competing against Georgia will be Ohio State, Rutgers, and Fisk.

This is the inaugural season of gymnastics at Fisk, which is coach by former all-american GymDog Corrinne Wright Tarver.

Georgia holds a 20-4-0 record against Ohio State.  Georgia won the 2019 season opener against Ohio State in Athens, 196.600-194.900.

Georgia is 2-0 against Rutgers.  After not meeting since 2014, Georgia and Rutgers are competing for the second time this season. Georgia finished second at the Super 16, ahead of Rutgers who finished fourth in the teams' session to open the season.

STRONG START ON BARS
The GymDogs have had a strong start on bars in the first two meets. At Missouri, the GymDogs started the meet, scoring a 49.475, which is the highest bars score since the 2019 Athens Regional Finals. Freshman JaFree Scott and senior Haley de Jong led the charge, both scoring 9.925.  Junior Katie Finnegan followed with a 9.900.  Freshman Naya Howard swung to a 9.875 and graduate Josie Angeny contributed a 9.850.

Coach Courtney Kupets Carter says the team has still not reached their full potential on that event.

FORMER GYMDOG COACHES FIRST HBCU GYMNASTICS PROGRAM
Corrinne Wright Tarver is the head coach and athletic director at Fisk University.  Fisk is the first HBCU school to have a gymnastics program.  Wright Tarver was a Georgia gymnast from 1987-1990.

Corrinne Wright was the first African-American gymnast at Georgia and when she left Athens she had made herself into one of Georgia's top athletes in any sport, winning nine All-America awards, including two NCAA individual national titles. As a freshman she held the nation's No. 3 ranking in the all-around for most of the season
including a season-best score against rival Alabama. She finished third in that event at her first NCAA Championships while helping the Gym Dogs clinch their first team title.

She was a Southeastern Conference champion on vault and floor as a freshman, and the SEC champ on bars and floor as a senior. In 1989 and 1990, Wright was named All-SEC. During the 1988 season, Wright was hampered by an ankle injury for most of the year and still managed two All-America honors on the vault and floor.

Wright was nominated for the Honda Sports Award, given annually to the nation's top gymnast, during her career. She was also named a team MVP in 1989 and was among those listed on the SEC Honor Roll in 1990. Wright was inducted into the UGA Circle of Honor in 2005.

In a feature published on georgiadogs.com, Wright Tarver said being a Georgia gymnast was "one of the best experiences of my life".

That feature can be found: https://georgiadogs.com/news/2022/2/21/gymnastics-one-of-the-best-experiences-of-my-life

GYMDOGS WIN EVENT TITLES
The GymDogs collected event titles at Missouri.  Freshman JaFree Scott and senior Haley de Jong shared the high score of the night after both recorded a 9.925 on bars. Amanda Cashman won the event title on floor with a 9.925, which she recieved for the second-stright week.

The last time a GymDog won the event titles on the road on bars and floor was in 2021 at Missouri.

FULL OF DEPTH
The 2023 GymDogs have the most depth of any team during the Kupets Carter era. At the Annual First Look, Georgia had seven gymnasts on vault, 11 on bars, 10 on beam, and 11 on floor with the potential for more.

NEW KIDS ON THE BLOCK
Georgia has seven returners on the roster of 18 total gymnasts.  The GymDogs welcomed three transfers and eight freshman this season.

Additionally, there are new assistant coaches on staff. Head coach Courtney Kupets Carter hired Ryan Roberts and Sam Welbourn as assistant coaches and Mollie Korth, former gymnast at Kentucky, as a volunteer coach.

HAWTHORNE CONTINUES THE MOONWALK
Senior Soraya Hawthorne assumed the responsibility of taking over the Georgia moonwalk tradition on beam as a sophomore and debuted the move at LSU in 2021. She is the seventh GymDog to perform the moonwalk on the balance beam, following Nikki Childs, Cassidy McComb, Lindsey Cheek, Mary Beth Box, Morgan Reynolds, and Sabrina Vega.

Next Event

Players Mentioned

Josie Angeny

Amanda Cashman

Haley de Jong

Katie Finnegan

Soraya Hawthorne

Naya Howard

Ja' Free Scott