Aug. 15, 2003
Kentucky gymnastics, under the direction of first-year head coach Hajile “Mo” Muhammad, announced its 2004 schedule Friday. The GymKats will compete in 11 meets, facing some of the toughest competition in the nation, particularly in the Southeastern Conference. Last season, six of the top eight teams in the SEC finished in the top 12 nationally.
“We will have our work cut out for us,” Muhammad said. “However, our staff and team is excited and motivated to climb the ladder and work our way to the top of the SEC.”
Muhammad will begin his first season as the GymKats head coach with a meet at Ohio State, Jan. 4, 2004. The former assistant is only the second gymnastics coach in UK history. He took over the program in June after legendary coach Leah Little resigned following her 28th year at UK.
The Cats kickoff their home schedule with a match against BYU in the 21st annual Excite Nite on Friday Jan. 9 in Memorial Coliseum. Last season, UK defeated George Washington at Excite Nite with over 6,000 fans in attendance.
Kentucky will play host to four more meets, including a tri-meet with Auburn and George Washington (Jan. 30), 2003 SEC Champion Alabama (Feb. 13), SEC runner-up Florida (Feb. 27) and Ball State (Mar. 5). The Cats are also scheduled to make trips to Arkansas (Jan. 16), Georgia (Jan. 23), Missouri (Feb. 6), LSU (Feb. 20) and Texas Women’s University (Mar. 12).
“We are looking forward to going head-to-head with all of our opponents,” Muhammad said. “But we are especially looking forward to the challenges that the other SEC schools will bring.”
