ATHENS, Ga.–Just in case Georgia needed another piece of evidence for its claim to a college gymnastics dynasty, Utah head coach Greg Marsden confirmed his thoughts on the matter.
“You thought, well maybe after two, well they could be after three,” Marsden said facetiously. “They are the juggernaut right now. Hats off to Georgia, they are the dynasty.”
If anyone would know what a gymnastics juggernaut looked like, Marsden would be that person.
“I can remember once when everybody was sick of us winning,” Marsden said.
In college gymnastics’ infancy, Marsden and his Utah gymnastics team won five straight championships from 1982 to 1986 and then another four between 1990 and 1995.
Georgia has now won four straight and is still sitting with a good chance to win another at Lincoln, Neb., in 2009.
Georgia claimed its fourth title in the same impressive fashion that it clinched its previous three. Making matters more impressive for Georgia is that the fourth title once again came without one of its top gymnasts. When the Gym Dogs finished ahead of Utah last season in Salt Lake City, they had to do it without the services of Ashley Kupets and Kelsey Erickson, who both went down with postseason injuries. Georgia managed to win by .600 in the national championship.
This year, Georgia had to do it without two-time defending all-around champion Courtney Kupets. Even without the boost of its home crowd, Georgia proved to be too much for the rest of the competition. The win gave Georgia its ninth NCAA Championship, which tied it with Utah for most all-time NCAA National Championships.
“I love this place,” Georgia senior Katie Heenan said. “When we first came here, we didn’t know what we were getting into. It has been a great ride, and I think tonight was a culmination of all four years.”
Each of Heenan’s four years at Georgia came with a national championship victory.
“We did it from the beginning all the way to the end,” Heenan said. “I think we left there tonight without a doubt in anyone’s mind that we should have won. This is what we have all dreamed of and we accomplished it. It’s been amazing.”
Georgia won its first national championship in 1987, when it broke Utah’s string of five straight. Georgia has won five titles in the last decade and could give Suzanne Yoculan an all-time leading 10th championship in her final season as a head coach in 2009.