Jan. 10, 2002

The 24th-ranked University of Kentucky gymnastics team travels to the Bahamas to face No. 25 North Carolina State at the Bahama Breeze Invitational on Friday, Jan. 11 at the Marriot Crystal Palace in Nassau. Action is slated for 7 p.m. ET.

“We are looking forward to building on our win this past week,” Coach Leah Little said. “We will mix up the lineups a little bit and try new people. Our depth really allows us to try new things. It is still early, so we will see if we can keep it up.”The GymKats (1-0) are coming off a season-opening win over No. 18 Ohio State last Saturday. UK got the season off to a good start with a 193.925 team score, while tying the fourth-highest total in school history on the floor exercise with a 49.200.

Leading Kentucky to the win was sophomore Aronda Primault and freshman Michelle Gales. Down by 0.100 points to OSU heading into the final rotation, UK got a 9.900 from Gales and a career-high 9.915 from Primault on floor. Primault’s performance, which also included winning the uneven bars title, earned her Southeastern Conference Gymnast of the Week honors.

This is the first meet of the season for N.C. State, which returns 11 letterwinners, including Kelli Brown and Amy Landendorf. Brown was a four-time All-East Atlantic Gymnastics League honoree last season, while Landendorf was named to the first team on two events.

UK holds a 9-5 advantage in the series but has lost three of the last four. In the teams’ last meeting on February 19, 2000, N.C. State put together outstanding performances on all four events to take the 196.775-193.125 victory in Raleigh, N.C. The last time UK and NCSU met in Lexington, Kentucky pulled out a 193.800-191.700 win on Jan. 29, 1999.