They tried not to look at the giant scoreboard hanging in the University of Utah gymnasium. They tried not to listen to the cheers for the other teams.

And when it was all over, the Georgia women’s gymnasts’ plan to focus on only their own performance for each event paid off with the Bulldogs’ third national title in as many years.

Host Utah finished second, followed by Florida, UCLA, Stanford and Nebraska at the April 27-28 finals.

“Tonight, we just stuck with our plan — tunnel vision,” Georgia head coach Suzanne Yoculan said. “I did know what was going out there, though. I knew, but I didn’t say anything to our team … I did know how close it was out there.”

And close it was — tied with Utah after the first two events, the Georgia women scored 9.900 or better in nine of their last 11 routines on their way to the championship, sealing the win with a season-high-tying 49.525 team score on vault.
Georgia won the championship despite season-ending injuries to two seniors just weeks before the national competition. Ashley Kupets suffered an Achilles injury during warm-ups at regional competition early in April. Kelsey Ericksen hurt her anterior cruciate ligament during practice April 19. While the two couldn’t compete, they were in the stands cheering on their teammates.

Katie Heenan, who posted the team’s best performance on vault, said her team focused on staying “in the zone.”

“We had no reason to doubt ourselves tonight. You can never count a Bulldog out. We fought for everything tonight,” she said. “Not many teams can lose two seniors right before nationals, but they were our biggest supporters out there.”

Georgia opened the floor exercise with a fall, but the next five gymnasts received a 9.900 or better to post a team score of 49.575, their third highest of the season on that event.

Utah’s Ashley Postell said that while she was disappointed to finish second in the team standings, Utah’s season was so full of ups and downs, the team was pleased just to be able to compete.

“Our team came together really well at the end of the season,” she said.
Utah head coach Greg Marsden agreed.

“Two months ago, we were unsure if we’d be here, and to come so far in the last six weeks is unbelievable,” he said. “But we’d rather be first, of course.”

Postell won the all-around with a final score of 39.65, edging Georgia’s Heenan and Courtney Kupets, who tied for second place with 39.6.

In the individual championships, Kupets won the vault, Alabama’s Terin Humphrey won the uneven parallel bars, Postell won the balance beam and Alabama’s Morgan Dennis won the floor exercise.

Team results

1. Georgia, 197.850; 2. Utah. 197.250; 3. Florida, 197.225; 4. UCLA, 196.925; 5. Stanford, 196.825; 6. Nebraska, 195.976.

Individual results

All around: 1. Courtney Kupets, Georgia, 39.750; 2. Ashley Postell, Utah, 39.600; 3 Amanda Castillo, Florida, 39.550; 4 (tie) Tiffany, Tolnay, Georgia; Anna Li, UCLA; and Carly Janiga, Stanford, 39.500.

Vault: 1. Courtney Kupets, Georgia, 9.9188; 2. Annie DiLuzio, Utah, 9.8875; 3. (tie) Emily Parsons, Nebraska, and Brittney Koncak-Schumann, Oklahoma, 9.8500; 5. Mandi Rodriguez, Oregon St., 9.8375; 6. Savannah Evans, Florida, 9.8125.
Uneven parallel bars: 1. Terin Humphrey, Alabama, 9.950; 2. (tie) Tasha Schwikert, UCLA, and Courtney Kupets, Georgia, 9.9125; 4. Kristina Baskett, Utah, 9.9000; 5. (tie) Melanie Sinclair, Florida, and Katie Heenan, Georgia, 9.8875.

Balance beam: 1. Ashley Postell, Utah, 9.9375; 2. Grace Taylor, Georgia, 9.9000; 3. (tie) Amanda Castillo, Florida; Corey Hartung, Florida; Courtney Kupets, Georgia; and Nicole Ourada, Stanford; 9.8500.

Floor exercise: 1. Morgan Dennis, Alabama, 9.9625; 2. Courtney Kupets, Georgia, 9.9500; 3. Ashley Postell, Utah, 9.9250; 4. (tie) Corey Hartung, Florida; Savannah Evans, Florida; Emily Parsons, Nebraska; and Kiara Redmond, Oklahoma; 9.9000.