The 2019 season is almost upon us, which means that the 2009 season was already somehow 10 years ago. It was also the Suzanne Yoculan and Courtney Kupets swan song (for awhile). Let’s dig into this decade-old rivalry meet.
Good start. Did you know that Suzanne had a “FINAL SEASON” graphic all to herself?!The houndstooth has reached new heights. Also, this is her face while Bart is telling the TV audience about the Kupets-Yoculan dynasty, which feels appropriate.We’re not even sure.
Alabama stuck its first landing, but Georgia started out with a big old Yurchenko full step.The broadcast froze here. HOW DID THE VAULT TURN OUT? We will never know.Thank you, Texas Dreams, for not subscribing to the WOGAchev theory of releases.Hmmm Alabama keeps sticking and Georgia keeps…not.Geralen Stack-Eaton crushing the Tkatchev immediate Pak.She’s probably one of the best-ever at this vault, but the hops are killing the Dawgs.Check out these guys in the student section. Is that a Roman emperor costume?Whoops. At least it’s only the fourth meet.More whoops.Pretty close after one! Some ouch at not hitting 49.000 on vault at home though. So far this meet is a story of landings. Alabama has been on top of them, and Georgia has been hopping around like the mascot before the start. The Gymdogs have been throwing difficulty though, which is good to see so early in the season.Besties for the resties.“This rivalry has added a great deal to gymnastics and to women’s sports in general.” We agree.Not really the ideal way to land. Fortunes seem to be reversed here so far in the second rotation.I spy a Dana, also rocking some houndstooth.Georgia is winning the handstand game over on bars.There we go, bringing the stick train to vault now.Yes more please.Not so stuck, but we see that one and a half.Hi, Jay.There’s a stick, and exactly what you expect from Kupets.I mean, of course.We love a good back-and-forth meet! Georgia came roaring back with a difficult and well-executed bar rotation. Landings were better, handstands were excellent and there were no real breaks. Alabama was good on vault, but a few steps here and there lost the Crimson Tide the lead at the half.Does everyone still think of this as Moceanu’s mount? Good, us too.Beam tour jetes: exciting and RISKY, especially in a leadoff.Super dramatic Alabama leadoff gave Bart and Kathy the chance to remind us that Alabama is historically really good, too, after the Georgia love-fest at the open.Her beam music is Avril Lavigne’s Keep Holding On. She managed to, but that’s two medium beam bobbles in a row.Oops.You knew we’d GIF it.Just tipped right out of bounds. That’s two in a row.Same. It’s the routine you’d expect from Tiffany Tolnay.Three in a row!Have you watched a Grace Taylor beam routine lately? You should.Ashley Priess got it done. Back on track for the Tide.Another Kupets 10.0 for you.Anchor got it done. But oof, Alabama, that was sketchy in the middle there.Georgia really opened it up here. The Gymdogs were completely solid on beam, excepting those two medium, bobbles. It’s hard to beat a team when the star is so on, but three steps out of bounds didn’t help Alabama, either.Just a teeny bobble in the leadoff.There’s a lot going on in this routine. She started with a nice triple twist, and we’re having a Chariots of Fire moment.There is a lot of pretty beam in this dual.The OOB bug bites the Dawgs.Back to some sticks!Taylor might be our new-old favorite gymnast.A small full turn bobble. She Onodi-s, though, so we forgive her.Oops. They’ll count that out of bounds, now.Priess comes in clutch again. She missed a connection, but covered it well and threw in a second acro series.They want another Kupets 10.0. Not quite, just a 9.95.Not a wobble in sight.Georgia has this one locked down, and Tolnay’s Bad to the Bone set is icing on the cake.And there you have it! Alabama’s out of bounds adventure on floor really hurt, but the Tide came back strong on beam to finish the night. Georgia had a hoppy vault rotation but came roaring back with a huge 49.525 on bars and rolled on from there. There were a few gifts (we’ll give a little side-eye at a 49.200 on floor while counting an out of bounds) but overall Georgia put up a 197-quality meet.
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