LEXINGTON, Ky. ? Junior Michelle Gales, who turned in one of the best performances of her career last weekend in Baton Rouge, La., will lead the Wildcats against the No. 5 Florida Gators, Friday at 7:30 p.m. in Memorial Coliseum.
Gales tied her career-highs in the floor exercise (9.950) and bars (9.875) and was .05 off her career-best All-Around performance as she posted a 39.350 against the No. 10 Tigers. The Atlanta native has scored a 9.900 on floor exercise six times this season and she has claimed first or second place in the event five times.
?Michelle?s floor routine is awesome,? Coach ?Mo? Muhammad said. ?It gives her a chance to show off her athleticism and put on a great show for the fans at the same time.?
The Wildcats are looking to improve on its 194.495 Regional Qualifying Score. Kentucky is currently ranked seventh in the Central Region and sits 0.145 behind Ohio State for the final regional spot with four meets remaining.
?Our aspirations to compete in the post-season are very much alive,? Muhammad said. ?We have to stay focused heading into this last stretch of competition and pull together as a team and anything is possible.?
Kentucky will compete against the Gators without its top All-Around performer, Aronda Primault, who injured her knee last weekend at LSU. Primault has Kentucky?s highest bars, beam and all-around averages this season.
Florida comes to Lexington one week after it reset is second-highest team score of school history, 197.375, in a dual meet against No. 17 Arkansas. The Gators are led by junior All-American Erinn Dooley, who scored a team season-best 39.575 All-Around against the Razorbacks.
Club Gym Night
Friday is Kentucky?s ?Club Gym Night? and all local gymnastics clubs are encouraged to bring gymnasts and coaches to the meet. All gymnasts and coaches who mention their club gym will be admitted for only $1. There will be a handstand contest for young gymnasts and the Wildcats will sign autographs after the meet.
Prizes and T-shirts will be given away throughout the meet and the first 300 fans will receive gymnastics trading cards.
Better on the Beam
The Wildcats struggled in the early part of the season on the beam, but have been much improved in recent weeks. Kentucky scored a season-high 48.500 on beam in Baton Rouge, despite competing without Aronda Primault, the season average leader on the apparatus, and sophomore Staci O?Keefe, a regular in the beam lineup.
Understanding the RQS
Regional Qualifying Score is a system used to determine which teams advance to post-season competition. Once a team has registered six scores, three of which must be road competitions, the highest score is dropped and the average of the remaining five is the team?s RQS. The top-18 teams in the country (according to RQS) are seeded at one of six regional sites and the three highest remaining teams from each region are invited to participate.
