LEXINGTON, Ky.? The 10th-ranked Kentucky Gymnastics squad posted an impressive showing on floor to close the meet, but No. 13 Arkansas was too much for the Wildcats, taking the Southeastern Conference opener 194.925-193.575 Friday evening in Memorial Coliseum.
?We absolutely did not perform like we should have,? UK Head Coach Mo Muhammad said. ?We had one of our lowest bar scores in a long time. Even though the judges are scoring tight, we still want to be successful and win. We gave it away tonight.?
The Wildcats (1-1, 0-1 SEC), trailing 146.200-144.475 heading into the final event, registered a 49.100 on the floor, the eighth-highest floor score in school history. Five Kentucky gymnasts notched 9.70 scores or higher on the event.
?We did a great job on the floor tonight,? said Muhammad. ?It was just a little too late to salvage the team score.?
Senior Michelle Gales led UK with an event-high 9.9, while sophomore Rachel Riley tied a career-high with a 9.875 on floor. Gales has scored 9.9 on floor 11 times in her career. Junior Lucy Burgin earned a career-high 9.775 in her first showing on the floor, while freshman Crissy Cannon registered a career-high 9.800. Fellow freshman Kristen O?Shields? 9.750 on the floor tied her career-high from last week?s meet vs. Bowling Green State.
?Having a freshman step up like Crissy did tonight speaks volumes for our program,? said Muhammad. ?Kudos goes out to Rachel Riley and Kristen O?Shields, they pulled it together and hung in there.?
Riley took first place in the all-around competition for the second-consecutive meet with a 39.075 score. Gales followed in second with a 38.725 in the four events.
The Lady ?Backs (2-0, 1-0 SEC) used a balanced effort from their entire squad to notch scores of 48.450 or higher in each of the events, including a 49.000 on floor and a 48.750 on bars. Junior co-captain Dana McQuillin led the squad with a 37.850 all-around score enough for a third-place finish.
Kentucky began the meet with vault. Each of the Wildcats tallied scores of 9.7 or higher as Lindsay Cameron, Gales and O?Shields each registered 9.725 marks on the event for a team score of 48.400.
UK trailed at the intermission 97.200-96.125 after two rotations. The Cats tallied a 47.625 on the bars. Burgin and Riley each earned 9.725 scores on the event to lead the Wildcats.
Kentucky had a strong showing on the beam as four competitors scored 9.7 or higher. O?Shields won beam with a 9.825 while Riley finished second in the event after registering a 9.8. The Wildcats still trailed 146.200-144.475 after three rotations heading into their signature floor exercise routine.
Kentucky returns to action next Friday as it hosts Georgia. Meet time is set for 7:30 p.m. in Memorial Coliseum. Season tickets are still available for $10. For ticket information, log on to ukathletics.com or call the UK ticket office at 859-257-1818 or 1-800-928-CATS (2287).
?Georgia scored 195.800 tonight and hit their sets,? said Muhammad. ?With Georgia coming in with a score of 195 we can compete with them. All we have to do is hit our sets and be mentally prepared for a huge match-up.?
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