Georgia unity overcomes all as Gym dogs roll to championship

LOS ANGELES - A perfect ending for a perfect season - for Georgia, not Michigan.

Georgia junior Karin Lichey vaulted her top-ranked Gym dogs to their 17th victory in a row and the NCAA women's gymnastics title with a perfect 10 on Friday night at UCLA's Pauley Pavilion.

It was the fourth title for Georgia in school history and the 11th time that the national championship was won by the top seed. Georgia finshed with 197.725 points.

"Tonight, when we win, we'll be ready to sing, because we'll be wearing that big fat ring!" Georgia freshman Suzanne Sears recited after the meet from a poem she had written before the competition.

Competing in the Super 6 - the final round of competition - were Alabama, Arizona State, Florida, Utah and host UCLA. But Georgia's unity proved too much to overcome.

MARAGRET MYERS/Daily With eyes on the prize, Georgia's Kim Arnold vaults to a 9.925 this weekend. The Super 6 finals did not include Michigan, though, as the Wolverines had to watch from the sidelines after failing to qualify.

The Gym dogs pulled together all season and finished undefeated. Georgia coach Suzanne Yoculan said that although this is not the most talented gymnastics team that Georgia has had, it is unparalleled in team unity.

"We did it and I mean we did it," Yoculan said. "This is a team effort - it's been a player's team. They have managed themselves. This was a team on a mission."

Georgia senior Kim Arnold took the individual crown for the Gym dogs, with a 39.625 in the all-around competition.

Finishing just behind the Gym dogs were the two other Southeastern Conference teams - Florida, which scored 196.350, and Alabama, which finished with 196.300 points.

"In the SEC, we go head-to-head so often, it brings out the best in us," Florida coach Judi Markell said. "It shows that we are a good, strong conference."

After the first three rotations, Georgia and Florida stood in first and second place with Alabama trailing in fourth place by a 0.25-point margin.

Georgia kept its lead throughout the entire meet, and finished on the vault.

"Vault is their strongest event and it's also the event with the least amount of pressure," Michigan sophomore Sarah Cain said.

The vault could have been the key factor in Georgia's victory. That combined with Lichey's stick of her vault - a stick with perfect form.

Georgia was not the only school to have luck with scoring perfection. UCLA's senior Stella Umeh had perfect scores in two events.

She captured a 10 on the floor exercise, a career high she said she has been working long to achieve, and a 9.9 on the vault, the highest possible score for that particular vault.

"It felt really good to finally achieve a 10 on floor," Umeh said. "But when it was over, I realized it and had to focus on what we had ahead of us."

UCLA sophomore Heidi Moneymaker followed in the footsteps of her teammate, also scoring a perfect 9.9 on the vault.

UCLA, the defending national champion, finished fifth in the competition.

The Bruins' fault in the finals lay in their shaky start on the balance beam, the same thing that plagued Michigan in the preliminaries on Thursday.

Last year, UCLA's best event was the balance beam. The Bruins were looking forward to starting on it, but luck was not with them on Friday.

"I know it sounds odd being the defending national champions and finishing fifth," Umeh said. "But, we really had a lot of fun tonight. We go in to do our best. And we have achieved our goal after the meet if we have done that."

Florida junior Susan Hines also scored a 10 in the vault for the second time in the week. Hines was the 1997 NCAA vault champion, as well.

"It is exciting, but I set out to be a team player and that is what is important," Hines said.

04-20-98