NCAA Southeast Region Meet Notes in PDF Format
On a cold night in mid-January, Leah Little saw a performance by her team that was not quite up to par with what she was expecting, even early in the year. The University of Kentucky gymnastics team, which was ranked 13th at the time, held a half-point lead over the 11th-ranked Gators of Florida after two rotations, but a fall on beam and a few deductions on the floor exercise by UK along with a strong finish by Florida handed the Gators a win.
Little knew her team was better than that, she knew her gymnasts could perform at a much higher level. In a post-meet meeting that night, she told them so. She told them that there was a lot of season left, but it was up to them to decide to get better and perform that way. And they did.
Now, the 20th-ranked GymKats have the opportunity to do what no other UK gymnastics team has done – go to the NCAA Championships. On Saturday, April 6 they will face five other top-25 teams when they hit the mats at 6 p.m. in Morgantown, W.Va., at the NCAA Southeast Regional Championships. However, with No. 2 Alabama, No. 11 Minnesota, No. 19 West Virginia, No. 21 Michigan State and No. 22 North Carolina in attendance it will be no easy task.
“This is definitely a tough field,” Little said. “I am proud of our gymnasts and what they have accomplished. This is our first step to nationals and it is what we have worked for all season long. They are healthy and are performing well. This is the best team in UK history and we feel we have a great shot of moving on.”
This is the 16th time in the last 18 years that UK has advanced to regional competition, and it has been a newfound confidence and strengthened desire to go further that has spurred on this team.
In the season’s first five meets, UK scored no greater than a 194.775 and averaged a 193.685. However, in the last five meets of the regular season, the GymKats scored below a 195.100 just once to average 195.665. In three of those last five meets, UK broke the school record twice while scoring a 196.100, a 196.000 and a 196.375, the only scores of 196.000 or better in school history.
Achieving those scores, Kentucky moved up to a ranking of third in the Central Region from the No. 7 spot with five weeks to go in the season and never looked back. UK’s position guaranteed it a spot at the regional championships, allowing the GymKats to relax and just concentrate on getting better without the worry of qualifying.
Sophomore Aronda Primault is ranked 24th nationally in the all-around. She claimed a tie for fifth place in the all-around at the Southeastern Conference Championships to earn her first career first-team All-SEC honor. Not far behind is sophomore Julie Joy, who is ranked 36th in the country in the all-around.
“Aronda and Julie have led the way in the all-around this season,” Little said. “They have both had great seasons. But it is with the contribution of all the gymnasts that this team has flourished. It has taken a whole team effort to get this far.”
While freshmen Lindsay Cameron, Michelle Gales and Kara and Krista Prestigiacomo have continued to contribute to the team effort and improve meet by meet, five returning GymKats have improved as well.
Junior Julia Gore and Primault each have established career highs on all four apparatus. Joy has tallied personal bests on the vault, uneven bars and beam, as well as in the all-around. Senior Jessie Lemp has improved her top score on the bars, while junior Melanie Zaharias has topped her previous best on the vault and the floor exercise.
In a sport unlike most where a slip or a wobble can cost a team a win, the GymKats are confident they have a legitimate shot at advancing. To do that, they must finish in the top two as a team. A tough task, no doubt, but one that is well within their grasp and one they almost achieved a year ago.
At the 2001 Central Region Championships, UK scored a 195.100 to finish fourth, just eight-tenths of a point out of second place, while Primault finished a tenth of a point away from qualifying as an individual.
However, this is a different year and a different team. Yet, the goal remains the same – to make the NCAA Championships.
These GymKats expect no less.
