Georgia Travels to Face Auburn Friday

Meet Information
No. 14 Georgia at No. 7 Auburn
Friday, February 24 | 7:30 p.m. ET | Neville Arena | Auburn, Ala.
MEDIA GUIDE
MEET NOTES

ATHENS, Ga. --- The University of Georgia gymnastics team travels to Auburn, Alabama to face the Tigers on Friday, February 24 at Neville Arena.  The meet will be broadcast live on the SEC Network, beginning at 7:30 p.m. ET.

IN THE RANKINGS
With the first week of NQS scores, freshman Naya Howard ranks 20th in the nation in the all-around. She ranks eighth in the SEC but is the best all-around freshman in the conference.

Senior Haley de Jong is ranked as the 25th all-around gymnast in the country and 19th on vault.

On floor, Soraya Hawthorne ranks ninth and Amanda Cashman is 24th.

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.  Fourteen different GymDogs have earned a spot in the lineup.

GEORGIA SCORES SEASON-BEST 197.325 AGAINST ALABAMA
Georgia scored a season-best 197.325 in front of a sold-out crowd in Stegeman Coliseum, but ultimately fell to Alabama's score of 197.525.

With outstanding performances in the final two rotations, the GymDogs posted their best beam (49.400) and floor (49.500) scores of the season to finish the meet. Graduate Josie Angeny and senior Haley de Jong each notched season-high scores on beam (9.925). Angeny also reached her season-high on vault (9.825). Freshman Naya Howard flipped to a career-high on floor with a score of 9.900 while tying her career-high all around (39.475). Finnegan's career-high came on vault (9.850), as Sandra Elsadek scored her career-high on floor with a 9.925.

MY GOD, A FRESHMAN
Freshman Naya Howard is the first GymDog freshman to compete all-around since 2017. Her total of 39.475 against Kentucky is the best all-around score from a GymDog since the 2019 Regional Finals, which she notched again against Alabama.

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.

She has also added the move to her floor routine, which is performed to Michael Jackson.

Next Event

Players Mentioned

Josie Angeny

Amanda Cashman

Haley de Jong

Sandra Elsadek

Soraya Hawthorne

Naya Howard