LEXINGTON, Ky.? The University of Kentucky gymnastics squad won each of its four events Friday night in Memorial Coliseum, marking the first time in school history that the Wildcats have scored 49.000 or better on three different events in the same meet. The Cats finished first in the quad meet with a season-high 195.525 score in front of 2,358 fans. Ohio State followed with a 193.000, George Washington tallied a 191.150 and Ball State finished last with a 191.025 mark. Kentucky?s score was the eighth highest team finish in school history.
?I am proud of the girls and how hard they worked tonight,? UK head coach Mo Muhammad said. ?We are finally starting to put it together, and we never let our energy down. We had a great crowd and that really helped us. It was just a good night for UK gymnastics.?
Kentucky (4-3) was led by senior Michelle Gales? first-place 39.250 performance in the all-around. Junior Lucy Burgin, competing in only her second collegiate all-around, notched a 38.475 on the four events to finish third. Ball State?s Kelli Davis finished second in the all-around with a 38.575 score.
?It was a total team effort tonight,? Muhammad said. ?Michelle Gales and Crissy Cannon really performed well. Rachel Riley was a little under the weather and she was able to pull through for us.?
The Wildcats opened the meet with a strong season-high 49.100 showing on vault, tying the ninth highest vault finish in school history. Five of UK?s gymnasts scored a 9.8 or better on the event and the Cats were led by sophomore Krystle Cook who finished first in the event with a 9.875 mark. Senior Lindsay Cameron scored a season-high 9.825 while, Burgin and freshman Kristen O?Shields each registered career-high 9.8 marks on the event. Junior Staci O? Keefe tied a career-high also with a 9.8 score.
Kentucky then moved to bars, where it posted an equally impressive 49.075 mark, the ninth-highest bar score in school history and the highest this season. Cook led the way with a season-high 9.875 score, while sophomore Rachel Riley registered a career-high 9.850 on the event. Burgin and freshman Crissy Cannon notched career-highs, both with 9.775 marks on bars. Junior Sarai Sevier turned in a career-high 9.7 performance on the event.
The Wildcats struggled on beam, but were able to put together a solid 48.100 score. O?Shields led the way with a career-high 9.825 finish to tie for first place in the event. Gales followed to finish third on beam with a 9.775 mark, while Riley registered a 9.750.
UK finished on its patented floor exercise and tallied an event-high 49.250 score on floor, tying the fourth-best floor performance in school history. Gales finished first on floor with a 9.925 score for the sixth time in her collegiate career, while Burgin and Riley each tallied 9.850 scores on the event. Burgin?s floor finish was a personal best.
?We?ve just got to bring the same energy we had tonight into every meet as we try to go down and knock off Alabama,? Muhammad said. ?We always compete well at Alabama and hopefully we can come home with an SEC victory.?
Kentucky returns to action Friday, Feb. 11 when it travels to Tuscaloosa, Ala., to face the Alabama Crimson Tide. Meet time is set for 8 p.m. EST and live stats will be available on ukathletics.com.
