This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2007, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.
Nikki Childs did the unthinkable, the last thing that the first person in a floor routine should do.
She fell.
But Childs is on a Georgia team that has already been through adversity this season. So a little fall didn't bother the Gym Dogs.
It actually fired them up.
"After that one mistake on the floor, we were rockin' and rollin' the rest of the way," coach Suzanne Yoculan said.
And no one was going to stop their momentum at the Super Six Finals of the NCAA Championships at the Huntsman Center on Friday, as the Gym Dogs went on to win big. Their score of 197.850 secured their third consecutive title. Georgia now has eight national championships - second only to Utah's 10.
Prior to women's gymnastic biggest event, the prospect of winning another title was iffy. The Gym Dogs were without two key seniors, injured Kelsey Ericksen and Ashley Kupets.
But they didn't let that bother them. Yoculan used the motivational phrase, "Wounded dogs are dangerous dogs" before the meet, in addition to having the team watch "The Last Samurai," with footage from the Gym Dogs edited into the movie.
And they overcame more than just the injuries, too. They overcame Florida and its well-documented consistency throughout the year; the Gators finished third, with a 197.225. They overcame Utah and its rowdy home environment; the Utes came in second, with a 197.250.
UCLA (196.925), Stanford (196.825) and Nebraska (195.975) finished fourth, fifth and sixth, respectively.
For Georgia, the win didn't look possible at one critical point. That was, of course, after Childs fell on floor, going on to score a lowly 9.125. The mistake was what motivated the following five gymnasts - Grace Taylor, Katie Heenan, Courtney McCool, Tiffany Tolnay and Courtney Kupets - to score at least a 9.9.
The performances earned them a 49.575.
The floor, essentially, secured the win for the Gym Dogs after they tied the Utes with a 98.75 following two events.
"They were all there to pick up my slack. That's what a team is all about, being there for each other. I'm so proud of the girls doing that for me," Childs said.