[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 155 (2009), Part 11]
[Senate]
[Page 14565]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                   RECOGNIZING COACH SUZANNE YOCULAN

  Mr. CHAMBLISS. Mr. President, I rise tonight to recognize a very 
special Georgian. Suzanne Yoculan just retired as the coach of the 
women's gymnastic program at the University of Georgia.
  Coach Yoculan is a graduate of Penn State University, and she was 
named head coach of the University of Georgia gymnastics team in 1983. 
The team, under her leadership, has been nothing short of spectacular. 
During her 26 years at the helm, Georgia's gymnastics team, or the Gym 
Dogs, as they are affectionately referred to, have posted a meet record 
of 831 wins, 117 losses, and 7 ties, for a winning percentage of .870--
pretty spectacular.
  Let me list the accomplishments the Gym Dogs have achieved under the 
leadership of Coach Yoculan: Four undefeated seasons: 1993, 1998, 1999, 
and 2006. Her teams have finished in the top three in the Nation 19 out 
of the last 21 years. They have also been a part of the Super Six, the 
final six NCAA teams every year since the format was introduced in 
1993, and have never missed the NCAA women's gymnastics competition. 
She was Southeastern Conference Women's Gymnastics Coach of the Year in 
1986, 1987, 1999, 2001, 2002, 2004, 2008, and 2009. She was the NCAA 
Women's Gymnastics Coach of the Year in 1987, 1993, 1998, 2006, and 
2008. Under her leadership, the Gym Dogs won 21 regional NCAA titles, 
and they won 16 Southeastern Conference championships and 10 NCAA 
women's championships, including in the years 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008, 
and 2009. Yes, that is right--the last 5 years in a row, under Coach 
Yoculan's leadership, our Gym Dogs have won the national championship 
each and every year.
  This year, in April, the team competed in the NCAA match at the Bob 
Devaney Center in Lincoln, NE. After a slow start, Coach Yoculan 
gathered the team in the locker room, gave them a pep talk, and 
demanded, as she always does, an awful lot from her lady athletes. And 
did they ever respond in a very positive way. They came down the 
stretch with several different 10s on various platforms and won the 
national championship for the fifth consecutive time.
  Coach Yoculan made this statement after the meet:

       It is really a magical team that has so much fortitude and 
     just love for the sport and passion, and they never quit. I 
     feel blessed, and I actually lived it every day being around 
     them, and that is the thing I am going to miss the most.

  Well, those of us who are Bulldogs feel blessed to have had Suzanne 
Yoculan as our gymnastics coach for the last 26 years. We congratulate 
her on a very successful career, and certainly we wish her the best in 
wherever life may take her from here.

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