The No. 2-ranked Gym Dogs took a major step toward winning three straight NCAA Championships and defeated top-ranked Florida for the first time this season.

At the NCAA Championship preliminary meet in Salt Lake City on Thursday, the Gym Dogs’ topped the Gators, along with No. 3 Alabama, No. 6 Nebraska, No. 8 Oregon State and No. 10 Oklahoma.

After battling to a tie with Florida at Stegeman Coliseum in January and falling to the Gators in the SEC Championship in March, the third time proved to be the charm for the Gym Dogs, who scored a 197.700, comfortably ahead of the second-place Gators’ 197.300.

Nebraska finished a distant third, but joined Georgia and Florida in the NCAA Team Final on Friday, where the three will meet the top three of the six teams competing in the second preliminary session on Thursday.

With the absence of seniors Ashley Kupets and Kelsey Ericksen due to late-season injuries, the Gym Dogs came in to Thursday’s competition with plenty of uncertainty.

Head coach Suzanne Yoculan emphasized the significance of having extra time to rest after competing in the afternoon.

“We had five new people that we competed with in the lineup,” she said. “So there were some question marks, so from a confidence standpoint this is a huge hurdle, and with that came a lot of emotion.”

Sophomore Courtney Kupets summed up the mood of the shorthanded team heading into Thursday’s competition.

“Rise up. We did have a theme. Rise up to the occasion. Rise up to everything that happened,” Kupets said.

The Gym Dogs did just that, beginning their day by posting a 49.350 on the beam, highlighted by matching scores of 9.90 from Courtney Kupets and Grace Taylor.

The ladies of the blue mats would improve their score in each of the next two rotations, notching a 49.425 on floor exercise and a season-high 49.525 on the vault.

The score on vault, which allowed Georgia to open up a .450-point lead through three rotations, featured four scores of 9.00 or above from Megan Dowlen, Marcia Newby, Tiffany Tolnay, Courtney Kupets and a career-high 9.875 from Paige Burns.

The defending NCAA All-Around champion Courtney Kupets ran away with the all-around in the preliminary session, scoring a 39.750, her highest total of the 2007 campaign. Kupets won the vault, bars and floor exercise.

“When I came in today, it was about the team,” Kupets said. “I had no cares or worries about individual placement.”