No. 19 Kentucky Wraps Up SEC Championships
TULSA, Okla. – No. 19 Kentucky put together one of its most complete performances of the season on a championship stage, scoring a 196.925 to finish fourth in Session I. Kentucky scored at least a 49.175 on all four events, improved its National Qualifying Score to a 196.550, and finished higher than its conference seed.
No. 6 Georgia posted the top score in the session with a 197.450. The Cats were in tight competition with No. 8 Arkansas and No. 9 Missouri, with the Tigers finishing in second place with a 197.075 and the Razorbacks scoring a 197.975 for third place. No. 16 Auburn rounded out the meet in fifth place with a 195.300. The scores from Session I will be combined with the scores from Session II—featuring No. 1 Oklahoma, No. 2 LSU, No. 3 Florida, and No. 4 Alabama—to determine the final standings.
Four Wildcats finished inside the top four on their respective events during the session, good enough for an All-SEC position.
Delaynee Rodrgiuez scored a 39.400 in the all-around, tying for second in the session. She also scored a 9.900 on the balance beam finish in a tie for fourth. Cecily Rizo scored a 9.900 on vault to finish in a tie for third and also added a 39.275 in the all-around to finish the session in fourth place. Creslyn Brose scored a 9.900 on the floor exercise to finish in a tie for second and Ryan Noonan added a 9.875 on the uneven bars for a tie for fourth.
Kentucky began the meet on the floor exercise, scoring a 49.175 for its lowest mark of the day. Gabby Van Frayen and Rizo each scored a 9.825 to begin the meet, followed by a 9.750 from Chesney Bennett. Callie Gardner added the Cats’ third 9.825 of the rotation, followed by Rodriguez with a 9.800. Brose rounded out the opening rotation with a 9.900, her ninth score of at least that mark in as many tries this season. The two-time All-American has now scored at least a 9.900 in 32 of 35 career floor routines.
The Wildcats moved over to vault, putting together its highest-scoring rotation of the afternoon with a 49.275. Addisyn Hofseth led off the rotation with a 9.675 before Rizo delivered a fantastic, stuck Yurchenko Full to match her career-high score of 9.900. Gardner added a 9.800, with Ryan Noonan and Rodriguez following with identical scores of 9.850. Anna Flynn Cashion delivered a second stuck vault of the rotation, scoring a 9.875 for her front handspring pike half.
After taking its bye rotation at the halfway point, the Cats returned to competition on the uneven bars with a 49.225 output. Rizo led off the rotation with a 9.750, with Sabrina Nemcek following with a 9.800. From this point on, the Cats would see three consecutive stuck dismount, as Van Frayen and Bennett added 9.850s and Noonan delivered a rotation-high 9.875. Rodriguez closed the penultimate rotation with a 9.850 in the anchor position.
Moving over the balance beam, Kentucky continued its recent success on the apparatus with a 49.250. After not scoring over 49.000 in the first four meets of the season, Kentucky has been at least 49.200 on the beam in each of its last seven meets. Rizo led off with a 9.800 and was followed by three consecutive marks of 9.850 from Brose, Sharon Lee, and Bennett. Van Frayen added a 9.800 in the No. 5 position, with Rodrgiuez closing out the meet with a fantastic routine that earned the Cats’ first 9.900 of the rotation.
With the result from the SEC Championships, as well as other conference championships from around the country, the Cats are guaranteed to enter the NCAA Championship ranked No. 16. Kentucky has climbed 23 ranking positions since sitting at No. 39 after the second week of the season.
Following this weekend’s SEC Championships, Kentucky will receive its NCAA Championships draw during the Selection Show at Noon ET on ESPNU. The Cats are hosting NCAA Regional Competition for the first time since 2010 and will compete in Lexington should their name be called on Monday. Competition at the NCAA Lexington Regional will begin with First Round action on Thursday, April 2, followed by two regional semifinals on Friday, April 3 and the regional final on Sunday, April 5.
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