The Red and Black

Issue date: 3/16/09 Section: Sports

Senior Abby Stack performs a floor routine to music from "Speed Racer." Her teammates cheer her on with checkered racing flags. [Click to enlarge]

Gym Dog Grace Taylor charted the second 10 of her career on Saturday against Michigan, this time coming on beam, where she's the reigning NCAA champion.

But during the previous week and earlier in the day, Taylor was helping her fellow underclassmen prepare a video poking good-natured fun at the team's five "seniors," including coach Suzanne Yoculan.

"It was a crazy little scheme we came up with," said Taylor, whose 10 was the fifth by a Georgia gymnast this season.

"[Juniors Marcia Newby, Lauren Johnson] and I got together and wrote this crazy script that really just showcased all their crazy quirks and basically flat out made fun of every single senior, including Suzanne."

The video was shown during the Gym Dogs' pre-meet meeting on Saturday, to rave reviews.

"All the little quirks that we have were displayed on the video by [the underclassmen], and they had our names around their necks, it was so funny," senior Courtney Kupets said.

"There was a disclaimer before it saying this isn't making fun of you, it's all in fun. It helped lighten things up a little bit."

On what promised and proved to be a very emotional Senior Night, especially considering Yoculan's ever-nearing departure, the humorous video engineered by Taylor served to temper some of the overflow of sentimentality.

"It was perfect because the meeting started and everyone wanted to cry," Taylor said. "The door shut and we were all like [sobbing noises]. Then we just realized it's all for fun, we do gymnastics because we love it.

"And like Suzanne always says, it's what we do, not who we are. It was all just for kicks and giggles and for that joy."

Then-Georgia senior Katie Heenan scored a perfect 10 as the final competitor during last year's Senior Night, and Kupets said she received some advice about how to handle the night from Heenan earlier in the day.

Kupets filled the same spot in Georgia's final rotation Saturday, and although she couldn't quite muster a 10 like Heenan, scoring a 9.950, Taylor was there again to pick up her seniors.

"Grace stepped in there and got [the 10] for [the seniors]," Kupets said. "We're a team, she got it for us. So it's OK."

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