The Red and Black

Issue date: 4/3/09 Section: Sports

Media Credit: DANIEL SHIREY Kathryn Ding performs on the uneven bars during the SEC Championships on March 21. [Click to enlarge]

For Georgia gymnastics, it's back to the house of horrors.

It's back to the place where they put up a 195.000, their lowest score since 2005, and back to the place where they uncharacteristically had nine scores below a 9.700.

It's back to Raleigh, N.C., the host of Saturday's NCAA Southeast Regional.

"I just don't think we were prepared to work hard [the last time in Raleigh]," said freshman Kat Ding. "We were up against a team that wasn't as good as we wanted our competition to be."

Sophomore Cassidy McComb had a particularly tough time the last time in Raleigh, falling on both bars and beam and scoring just a 9.65 on the floor exercise. But her team's unimpressive win over N.C. State at the end of January, in which the Wolfpack put up just a 193.150, is now just a distant memory.

"That seems so long ago. I don't really know what went wrong," McComb said. "All I know is that I had a terrible meet and our team wasn't connected."

But the top-ranked Gym Dogs have come a long way since their last trip to N.C. State.

They bounced back the following week to put up a 197.250 over Auburn, then exploded for a 198.200 against Florida a few weeks later.

"It might be the same gym, but that just means that we're used to the equipment now and we've gotten all our little bumps and mistakes out of the way, and we'll go kick some butt," said senior Courtney Kupets.

In terms of redemption, the task will be two-fold for Georgia - make a better name for itself in Raleigh, and bounce back from a disappointing second place finish to Alabama in the SEC Championships.

The top two scores from each of six regionals nationwide will spell berths to NCAA Championships, which begin April 16 in Lincoln, Neb. It will be the official start of the Gym Dogs' quest for a fifth straight national championship, in coach Suzanne Yoculan's 26th and final season.

"The good thing about going back to Raleigh is we didn't have a good meet so they're on a mission to come back strong this time," Yoculan said. "The girls are like that. It's redemption."

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