LINCOLN, Neb. – Suzanne Yoculan and Courtney Kupets both said goodbye in typical fashion Friday – with a championship, and with perfection.

In Yoculan’s final meet as their coach, Georgia’s Gym Dogs claimed their fifth-straight NCAA championship with a 197.825, while Kupets, a senior, posted a pair of perfect 10s.

The win at Lincoln’s Devaney Center gives Yoculan, the 26-year architect of the Georgia gymnastics program, her record 10th national title, and sends her into retirement fittingly.

“This is a magical team,” a teary-eyed Yoculan said. “Just like all Gym Dog teams, they never quit.”

Things started ominously on bars when junior Marcia Newby fell. But her score was erased by a number of solid routines, capped by Kupets’ first 10 of the evening.

The 10, the senior’s sixth of the season and second in two days, left Georgia with a 49.425 on the event, and a tie for the lead after each team had completed its first rotation.

After a wobble-ridden beam set gave them a 49.200, the Gym Dogs fell into a tie for second place with Utah, 0.15 behind Alabama.

But then the heroics started. Every Georgia gymnast got at least a 9.9 on floor, giving them a 0.05 edge over Utah for first place going into its final event. The Gym Dogs went on to post a season-high 49.625 on vault, again highlighted by a Kupets 10.

“This was our team all year,” Kupets said. “We went through so many struggles, so many ups and downs, so many meets just that were not Georgia gymnastics. And then we pulled it back, we did it again. This year has been hard. We have fought our way here.”

“And I think that’s what makes it the sweetest.”

During the final rotation Georgia sat with a bye, and neither Alabama nor Utah could breach its mark, finishing second and third with scores of 197.575 and 197.425, respectively.

“This team does their best gymnastics when they’re having a good time and just doing what they love,” said senior Tiffany Tolnay. “And that’s what we did.”

Friday’s field was a familiar one for Yoculan. Including her Gym Dogs, five members (Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia and LSU) of the Super Six were SEC schools, and the sixth was long-time rival Utah. Whether it was comfort, confidence, excellence, or all three, the Gym Dogs were not going to let Yoculan end her career a loser.

They came to warmups in shirts reading “We Will Defend What Is Ours.” And that they did.

“We’re all really really excited because it was something really special that we all wanted to send Suzanne back to remember with,” said junior Grace Taylor.

“And it wasn’t just a championship. It couldn’t get better than this . God blessed Suzanne. It was beautiful and we’re all just so honored that we all got to be a part of this last year with her.”

Kupets, who Yoculan called “probably the best collegiate gymnast ever,” has now had seven brushes with perfection this season.

Championship-wise, Yoculan leaves Athens as the winningest coach ever, as Friday’s 10th title pushed her out of a tie with Utah’s Greg Mardsen. She departs with a career record of 831-117-1, and is the honorary fifth member of Georgia’s second straight senior class to leave Athens knowing nothing but national championships.

Yoculan said she usually begins planning for next season the day after NCAAs. That won’t be the case this year.

“I’m going to enjoy it a lot more this time,” she said.

1 Georgia 197.825
2 Alabama 197.575
3 Utah 197.425
4 Florida 196.725
5 Arkansas 196.475
6 LSU 196.375