Streak stops at five

COLUMBIA, Mo. - The tears began to stream down the Gym Dogs' faces as soon as they realized what was lost.

After tying Oregon State for second place with a 196.275, and losing out on a tiebreaker by a 0.4, reality quickly set in that the five-time defending national champions were not advancing to the NCAA Championship in Gainesville, Fla., for the first time in 27 years.

Missouri (196.500) and Oregon State (196.275), the top two teams Saturday from the NCAA Regional at the Hearnes Center, advanced to the national championship, while Georgia came up short by .025.

Since Oregon State and Georgia had the same team score, all 24 routines were compiled to declare which team would advance. Oregon State bested Georgia 235.2-234.8.

"What drives you crazy is to go back and look at all the places where a quarter-tenth was or the fact that if we didn't have a fall, we would have won a tiebreaker," said first-year Georgia head coach Jay Clark.

"Even though I shouldn't do it, I will go through this meet a 100 ways to Sunday, I know. All I can say is, I really hurt for this team, particularly for the seniors."

Georgia needed a 49.200 on its last rotation - balance beam - to nudge Oregon State out of second place, but came up with a 49.175. It was the third event - uneven bars - where Georgia unraveled.

Both Cassidy McComb and Grace Taylor had 9.725s after minor breaks in their routines, while Marcia Newby and Gina Nuccio each scored 9.8

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