Georgia sees first gymnast land a Perfect 10 in the Courtney Kupets Carter era

The Stegeman Coliseum crowd gasped before letting out a loud roar.

Junior Sydney Snead was only a few moments removed from a spectacular floor exercise in Friday night's 196.950-196.125 loss to Florida, in what was as flawless of a routine she has put together all season. Everyone observing knew she was going to score high for her performance.

"Honestly, I knew my tumbling was good," Snead said. "The crowd was so into it. It definitely helped me out. Everyone had done well in front of me. I was hoping maybe it was a 9.9, or maybe it was a good score."

But when the crowd went wild, Snead looked up and saw the judges' score. It was a Perfect 10.

"I had no idea it was going to be a 10," Snead said. "It was definitely a shock."

Snead recorded Georgia's third Perfect 10 since 2010, which was the first season the GymDogs no longer had former head coach Suzanne Yoculan Leebern leading the way. Brittany Rogers recorded a 10 on vault in 2016 and Grace Taylor scored a 10 on beam in 2010. While the Perfect 10s haven't come with regularity this decade, the GymDogs have posted plenty of 10s throughout their history.

Head coach Courtney Kupets Carter scored seven Perfect 10s when she was a senior at Georgia in 2009. Having experienced that feeling before, Kupets Carter made sure to embrace the moment Snead achieved.

"I just hugged her. I was completely ecstatic," Kupets Carter said. "When an athlete gets a 10, and you know it was a 10, and you can understand they landed every landing, and you can see it in her face. Her expression showed it all that she was so excited about her routine."

Said Snead: "To be able to share that with her was amazing. I couldn't have pictured it any other way, honestly. It was just a really, really fun experience."

Snead posted Georgia's 158th ever Perfect 10, which is by far the most in NCAA gymnastics history. UCLA has the second most Perfect 10s with 118. Snead posted the 14th Perfect 10 nationally this season. Oklahoma and UCLA are both tied for the most this year with four apiece.

Before it was her turn on floor, Kupets Carter wanted Snead to know to assert more aggression. Snead listened and attacked her routine with the right kind of confidence to score big.

"I think they try to be too perfect sometimes," Kupets Carter said. "For her, it was telling her to be aggressive before she gets out there. Her chest was up after that first pass. And the whip double tuck was absolutely beautiful. She did that to a T, as she got a 10, so everything was. The middle pass has been consistent for her, that hasn't been an issue. Her leaps are something where she tends to sometimes to one lower leg. Again, she just really was able to work through her dance and wanted that performance."

Snead's floor routine breathed some life into the team after scoring 49.050 on vault and 48.475 on bars. Florida capitalized and built a cushion that, even with some late stumbles on beam, Georgia was unable to rally from. But Snead helped lead Georgia to a 49.500 on floor with a perfect routine that will certainly be remembered in GymDogs history.

"That's just exciting, especially to be able to do that at home in front of our fans and our crowd," Snead said. "It was an unbelievable experience."

This story was originally published February 16, 2018 at 11:47 PM with the headline "Georgia sees first gymnast land a Perfect 10 in the Courtney Kupets Carter era."