The Georgia gymnastics team (7-3, 3-2) already ranks at No. 4 in the country, and is just now welcoming serious, veteran talent back into the lineup.

The Gym Dogs, who have lacked depth this season due to a plethora of injuries, had juniors Gina Nuccio and Kat Ding back into multiple events in Friday’s win over No. 21 LSU.

Junior Gina Nuccio (above) and her roommate Kat Ding’s return to full health has allowed both to once again compete in multiple events. Photo by Kathryn Ingall | The Red & Black

Ding, who missed the first meet of 2011 entirely and had been limited to competing only on uneven bars since then, tied her career high on beam and also competed on vault along with bars at LSU.

“It was like the hallelujah to all this hard work that I haven’t been able to actually do,” Ding said. “And now being able to go in the gym and just give it your all every day- it’s been rewarding. You never know what you have until you lose it.”

Nuccio, who is not only Ding’s teammate but also her roommate and best friend, competed in the first three meets of the season, but injured her ankle against West Virginia.

From then  until the Florida meet two weeks ago, Nuccio had been limited to the uneven bars along with her injured roommate Ding.

“You see each other go through the day-to-day stuff,” Nuccio said about recovering from injury alongside Ding. “You come home from practice and you’re both kind of hurting. You both do the same kind of rehab. You go through the motions together. It’s important that we’re both lifting each other up through that because if we’re both in the same mood, if we’re both down, it’s going to lead to a snowball effect.”

This is not the first time Ding and Nuccio have helped each other rise from injury or struggles during their tenure at Georgia, according to Ding.

“Gina and I have gone through a lot of adversity together,” Ding said. “It’s been an experience to be able to pick her up when she’s down and her pick me up when I’m down and it’s been really rewarding for us to both come back at the same time. I know we both want it so bad right now.”

Nuccio, like Ding, has been successful since her return from injury.

In her second floor competition since her injury, Nuccio matched her career high with a 9.9 against LSU.

“I love performing so I love getting out there and doing floor,” Nuccio said. “Especially because we have a lot of people who were kind of hurt. And we’re trying to save lot of people so it’s great that I can be out there and get people the rest they need so we have the energy and the healthiness for the postseason.”

Head coach Jay Clark

Head coach Jay Clark said he may be the happiest person watching Ding and Nuccio return together. He said their presence has sparked competition among his thin roster for spots in the lineup, something the Gym Dogs have been missing all season.

“The biggest thing is when you get them involved in events in the gym it raises everyone’s level because now we’ve got to compete to make a lineup,” Clark said. “Whereas, before, when you’ve got five or six on an event, that’s what you’ve got, and no one is going to get sharpened by any level of competition in the gym, so getting Kat going and Gina getting back in on floor is tremendous.”

With its No. 4 ranking in the country, and its continued recovery, Georgia posted its best away score of the season against LSU on Friday. And the Gym Dogs look like they’re getting even stronger right at the end of the season, which Clark said is making him optimistic.

“We keep talking about all [the injuries and struggles], but we’re fourth in the country,” Clark said. “We’re not out of this. ‘Why not us? Why can’t we win?’ That’s what I keep telling our team. Everything they’ve faced this year, and here we are ranked fourth in the country. The sky’s not falling on Georgia gymnastics right now. With everything this team has faced, from lack of depth, even when we were healthy, to illness and injury and everything else, we’re still hanging around.”

Clark also expressed how proud he is of his team’s ability to handle the adversity they have faced.

“When you look at the body of work as a whole, given the circumstances they’ve faced, I’m very proud of this team,” he said. “I’m proud of their grit, their guts, their fight, their determination to stay relevant and they’ve done a great job. They have embodied everything we’ve talked about Georgia being in the past without having the advantages of some of those teams. This team has shown true character.”