The NCAA News - News and Features

The NCAA News -- May 10, 1999

Georgia floors competition to defend title in gymnastics

Georgia successfully defended its National Collegiate Women's Gymnastics Championships title by earning a 196.850 in the Super Six competition April 22-24 at Utah and became only the second team in the history of the event to win back-to-back crowns.

Georgia's fifth championship was a struggle as the Bulldogs had to stave off Michigan, which took second place with a 196.550 score. Alabama finished third at 195.950, the Crimson Tide's 11th top-three finish in 12 years.

Michigan trailed Georgia entering the last rotation. The Wolverines finished their championship run on the uneven bars, beating Georgia's team score in the event, but they were unable to make up the point total Georgia posted on its last event, the floor exercise.

"We just felt like we were an emotional team, and when you're an emotional team, it's an advantage to be on vault or floor exercise last. We just knew the draw was good for us," said Georgia head coach Suzanne Yoculan.

Karin Lichey of Georgia took three first-place finishes during the team finals but admitted to not knowing the team standings as she completed her floor routine, the last routine of the night.

"I was so excited because everyone else was excited," she said. "I had no idea what we needed or if I had to hit or not. I'm just so happy because this year has had so many ups and downs with so many injuries, and we have worked so hard."

Wolverines head coach Bev Plocki was delighted with her squad's second-place performance.

"I'm still very proud and pleased," Plocki said. "I said that I would never be disappointed in this team if it did the best it could. I'm proud of the way our athletes hung in there and gave Georgia a run for their money. I said at the start of this year that we were very talented, it was just a matter of us coming together."

Of the top three teams, only Alabama had a team member earn an individual title during the individual-event championships.

Freshman Andreé Pickens tied for the balance beam crown along with freshman Theresa Kulikowski of Utah and Kiralee Hayashi of UCLA.

UCLA's Heidi Moneymaker was not able to repeat as the uneven bars champion, but she took first place in the vault competition, posting a 9.8625 to take the title.

Utah's Angie Leonard won the uneven bars title with her 9.950 routine, the highest individual score earned during the event championships.

Bowling Green's Marny Oestreng, a freshman from Norway, won the floor exercise with a 9.925.

"This is the first time we've ever had a gymnast make the national championships, let alone win a championship," said Bowling Green head coach Dan Connelly. "This will be a great boost to our program."

Kulikowski was named all-around champion after posting a 39.675 in all four events, but she was disappointed that the Utes did not advance to the team finals.

"Individually, I had one of the best meets I've had all this year," Kulikowski said. "We've all been training very hard. It's unfortunate that we had to count a couple of falls on the beam. It would have been nice to be celebrating with my team. It's kind of hard right now."

The three-day attendance total of 25,612 marked the third-highest attendance in the 18-year history of the event.

TEAM RESULTS

(Note: Scores for the top six teams are from the team-final session. Scores for all other teams are from the team-preliminary session.)

1. Georgia, 196.850; 2. Michigan, 196.550; 3. Alabama, 195.950; 4. Arizona St., 195.900; 5. UCLA, 195.850; 6. Nebraska, 194.800; 7. Utah, 195.475; 8. Penn St., 194.775; 9. LSU, 194.475; 10. (tie) Florida and Stanford, 194.000; 12. West Virginia, 191.850.

INDIVIDUAL RESULTS

All-around: 1. Theresa Kulikowski, Utah, 39.675; 2. Karin Lichey, Georgia, 39.575; 3. Heather Brink, Nebraska, 39.400; 4. Kristi Lichey, Georgia, 39.375; 5. Chrissy Van Fleet, Florida, 39.325; 6. (tie) Sarah Cain, Michigan, and Lisa Simes, Michigan, 39.275.

Vault: 1. Heidi Moneymaker, UCLA, 9.8625; 2. Theresa Kulikowski, Utah, 9.8375; 3. (tie) Larissa Fontaine, Stanford, and Karin Lichey, Georgia, 9.8125; 5. Andreé Pickens, Alabama, 9.7875; 6. Luisa Portocarrero, UCLA, 9.7750.

Uneven bars: 1. Angie Leonard, Utah, 9.950; 2. (tie) Sarah Cain, Michigan, and Nikki Peters, Michigan, 9.925; 4. (tie) Jenni Beathard, Georgia; Lena Degteva, UCLA; Karin Lichey, Georgia; and Andreé Pickens, Alabama, 9.900.

Balance beam: 1. (tie) Kiralee Hayashi, UCLA; Theresa Kulikowski, Utah; and Andreé Pickens, Alabama, 9.900; 4. (tie) Shannon Bowles, Utah, and Lissy Smith, Alabama, 9.850; 6. Jenni Beathard, Georgia, 9.825.

Floor exercise: 1. Marny Oestreng, Bowling Green, 9.925; 2. Theresa Kulikowski, Utah, 9.900; 3. Elizabeth McNabb, Arizona St., 9.875; 4. (tie) Heather Brink, Nebraska, and Kiralee Hayashi, UCLA, 9.850; 6. (tie) Kelly Christensen, Arizona St.; Karin Lichey, Georgia; and Nikki Peters, Michigan, 9.800.