LEXINGTON, Ky. ? Kentucky senior co-captain Aronda Primault had a career all-around performance and took home the individual beam title, but the Wildcats were unable to overcome the No. 16 Auburn Tigers and Washington Colonials in a tri-meet at Memorial Coliseum, Friday night. Auburn finished first with a season-high 196.550 performance, the fifth-best score in school history and George Washington edged Kentucky 194.175 ? 194.00 for second place.
Primault was Kentucky?s top performer on beam and floor exercise and took the individual beam title with a 9.875. The senior?s score is a season-high individual score in the event. Her 39.350 all-around score ties a career-high that she set in 2002 against Ball State.
?Aronda had a great all-around performance and she is becoming more consistent in all events,? Kentucky Coach ?Mo? Muhammad said. ?We depend a lot on her senior leadership and she responded well tonight.?
Primault was happy with her performance as well.
?It always feels good to score personal bests and do well, but I would be more pleased if we got the team result that we were looking for,? she said. ?This team is like a family and I?m more concerned with our overall performance than me personally.?
The Wildcats jumped out to an early lead after the first rotation that featured Kentucky on vault, Auburn on bars and George Washington on beam. Kara Prestigiacomo led off for UK with a 9.750 followed by freshman Alison Sarucci who scored the same. Junior co-captain Michelle Gales, freshman Krystle Cook, Primault and Lindsay Cameron each registered 9.825 scores or better to give Kentucky a season-high 49.150 vault score.
UK maintained momentum when it moved to bars for the second rotation and Gales tied her career-high in the event with a 9.850 and led the Wildcats to a team 49.000. She finished second overall behind Auburn?s Courtney Puckett who scored a 9.875 on bars. Kentucky held a 98.150 ? 97.925 advantage over the Tigers after the first two rotations and the Colonials checked in with a 97.050.
?We were really strong in our first two rotations,? Muhammad said. ?Auburn and George Washington are good teams and I knew we had to put together strong beam and floor performances to keep our lead.?
Auburn then moved to the floor exercise where all of its competitors scored a 9.825 or better while Kentucky struggled on beam. Primault managed to win the individual beam title, but UK and George Washington headed into the fourth rotation tied at 145.775 behind Auburn?s 147.200.
Primault once again led Kentucky in the floor exercise with a 9.850 that earned her second place in the event, but UK?s 48.225 wasn?t enough to overcome the Tigers? stellar 49.350 vault score and GWU?s 48.400 bars performance.
?We are disappointed in the result, but we can definitely take some positives from this meet and build on them,? Muhammad said. ?We have to put this out of our minds and refocus on a big meet next weekend in Missouri.?
Kentucky?s next competition is February 6 and 7 at the ?Missouri Cat Classic? in Columbia, Mo. The meet features No. 12 Missouri, No. 18 Penn State, No. 25 Brigham Young and the Wildcats.
