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Knee Injury Ends Toups’ Career

In the 2002 opener, the University of Kentucky gymnastics team found itself trailing No. 18 Ohio State by one tenth of a point heading into the last rotation. With three gymnasts waiting to compete, the GymKats and Buckeyes were tied.

Coach Leah Little pulled her troops together and gave the first big pep talk of the season, and her team responded.

Sophomore Julie Joy scored a 9.825 on the floor exercise to give UK the lead, and freshman Michelle Gales and sophomore Aronda Primault scored career-highs (9.900 and 9.925, respectively) to clinch the win.

Little saw fire in their eyes. She saw determination. She saw desire. She saw the ingredients necessary to move this program forward, the ingredients necessary to challenge the powerful Southeastern Conference.

On Friday, Jan. 18, the 13th-ranked GymKats (2-1) will receive their first SEC test when they face No. 11 Florida (4-3) in Memorial Coliseum at 7:30 p.m. ET.

“We have extreme confidence we can win,” Little said. “Being the first SEC meet, it is important we do. The crowd can help us, and all the fans will some great gymnastics in a tough SEC battle.”

UK has faced three ranked teams so far this season getting wins over BYU and OSU, while dropping a close decision to N.C. State by one tenth of a point.

The floor exercise has been the GymKats’ strongest event with two scores of 9.900 or better. Primault is ranked seventh in the nation, while Gales is at No. 18. UK also is strong on bars where Jessie Lemp, Julia Gore and Joy are tied for 20th nationally. On vault, Melanie Zaharias has earned a No. 24 ranking.

Joy is Kentucky’s top athlete early on. She won the all-around in the season-opener with a solid score of 38.750 and then topped that with a career-high 39.125 last weekend. Joy is ranked 20th in the country in the all-around.

Florida opened the season with a home tri-meet against SE Missouri State and Central Michigan. The Gators took first-place honors with a 194.175, while CMU finished second (189.375) and SEMO finished third (187.150). Last weekend, Florida hosted the Super Six Challenge, taking fourth place with a 194.600.

Hilary Thompson leads the Gator charge with a 39.125 all-around average, good for 15th in the nation. Two Gators to watch for are sophomore Kara Waterhouse and freshman Orley Szmuch. Szmuch is second on the team with a 38.975 average after a career-high 39.175 in the Super Six and is ranked 18th nationally. Waterhouse, a 2001 All-American in the all-around, is fourth on the squad with a 38.388 average and 38.575 season-high.

Little says the team’s goals this season are to win an SEC Championship and to earn its first trip as a team to the NCAA Championships. A win over Florida could put them in position to do just that.