Yoculan Preps for Last Home Meet

From UGA Athletics...

In what promises to be the most emotional meet of the season to date, the No. 1 Georgia gymnastics team will entertain No. 14 Michigan on Saturday at Stegeman Coliseum.

The meet, which will begin at 7:30 p.m., will mark the final Stegeman Coliseum appearance of Coach Suzanne Yoculan and seniors Paige Burns, Courtney Kupets, Abby Stack and Tiffany Tolnay.

"I have tried not to think about (the last home meet) too much, but I know it will be a tearful event," Yoculan said. "I just want to make it a great team celebration."

Said Stack, "We're all going to need a Kleenex, but Suzanne's going to need a whole box."

To date, Yoculan has led the Gym Dogs to nine NCAA and 16 SEC titles, with the 2009 championships on the horizon. The senior class of Burns, Kupets, Stack and Tolnay has been a part of three of those national titles and boasts a career record of 109-4-1.

"I feel like we complement each other," Stack said. "We all have very different personalities, but we brought it all together into a force. We each bring something different to the team. It was this year that we started to become leaders."

Burns, Kupets, Stack, Tolnay and Yoculan will be honored in a pre-meet ceremony on Saturday.

"I am glad we have the chance to have this time with our fans," Yoculan said. "We all love our fans so much. I know for a fact that we could not have done all of this without their support. Their cheers, words of encouragement and prayers mean more to all of us than they will ever know."

Georgia is a perfect 14-0 against Michigan in Athens and has an overall record of 35-3.