UGA Gymnast, Freshman Of The Week, 1st In Decades To Score Perfect 10

ATHENS, GA — University of Georgia gymnast Lily Smith is having a big week.

First, Smith scored a perfect 10 on bars during Georgia's gymnastics competition against the University of Missouri Tigers on Saturday. Then, she was named the Southeastern Conference Freshman of the Week on Tuesday.

Though the Tigers outpaced the Bulldogs on Saturday in Stegeman Coliseum, Smith became the first freshman to score a perfect 10 since Marline Stephens' floor routine in 2001 and Lori Strong's bar routine in 1993.

"It feels amazing," Smith said after receiving her score, per a news release. "I can't even put it into words. I've been dreaming about getting a 10 on a college team because it is just so different than getting it in a club. The energy in Stegeman is amazing and it's great to see all of my teammates and my coaches so happy."

Smith, a Pennsylvania native, scored 9.95o on beam and 9.925 on floor, the release said. She took home the title on floor.

Georgia Athletics shared a 32-second clip of Smith's bar performance on X, formerly Twitter.

"Was there ever a doubt that a perfect 10 from Saturday's @UGAGymanstics meet was going to be the Hottest Play of the Week?! #GoDawgs," UGA captioned the post.

Smith's floor routine can be seen in a video via Georgia Gymnastics on X. The clip, which spans 1 minute and 36 seconds, shows Smith twirling and flipping her way to a near-perfect score on floor.

Acknowledging Smith's perfect run on bars, head coach Courtney Kupets said in the release that it will not be the last for the gymnastics team.

"For her to have that moment with her teammates was really special. She does that in the gym probably once a day, one of those bar routines where we would give it a 10.0, so that's something really special about her that she has that technique and ability to recreate the same bar routine over and over again. I hope she just embraces that and enjoys it and just soaks it in," Kupets said in the release.

"This was a great meet overall. We keep improving and that's what we're looking for. We are a young team, but I'm proud of everything I'm seeing from this team. We still have things to work on. Whenever we're at home, it's so exciting because of the crowd, and the crowd showed up today - that was absolutely amazing. We're so thankful for that, because it does make a big difference when they go out and compete at home. Hopefully our team felt it and had a good time with it because I sure noticed it."