LEXINGTON ? In it?s opening meet of the season, the 22nd-ranked Kentucky gymnastics team put forth a solid effort, but fell short to No. 1 Georgia, 195.975-193.575 on Friday night at Memorial Coliseum.
The 23rd Annual Excite Night produced a school-record crowd of 6,875 to watch the two Southeastern Conference foes battle. The two-time defending national champion Bulldogs were competing in their second meet of the season after downing No. 8 Stanford a week ago.
Kentucky used a youthful line up that featured freshmen in 12 of the 24 lineup spots, led by Emilie Rymer who competed in the all-around as well as Emily Green and Hillary Ferguson, who each competed in three events.
?For an opening meet, I thought we did well,? Kentucky head coach Mo Mitchell said. ?I?m not sure what some of our season-opening scores were the past few years, but I was pleased. We made some uncharacteristic mistakes, but our freshmen performed well. They were troopers. We?ll take a look at tonight, find our mistakes and make some adjustments.?
Georgia came out blazing from the beginning, posting a 49.250 on the uneven bars led by Kelsey Erickson?s meet-high 9.925. It was the highest event score for the Bulldogs on the evening. Erickson also notched a 9.8 on the floor before going down to an ankle injury midway through the meet. She was originally scheduled to compete in the all-around that teammate Katie Heenan ended up winning with a 38.950.
Overall, Georgia?s score was down nearly a point and a half from its performance last weekend.
Meanwhile, Kentucky was consistent on all four events, scoring between 48.225 and 48.575 on each. Krystle Cook was the Wildcats top performer, finishing third on vault (9.825) and winning the floor exercise title (9.85). Natalie Rubinstein competed in the all-around for UK, finishing second to Heenan. She was also third on bars with a 9.85 and tied a career high on beam with a 9.725.
?Georgia scored 197 last week and didn?t quite hit 196 tonight, so the scoring was a little tight today,? Mitchell said. ?That said, we saw some mistakes that we feel we can clean up before another SEC meet against Auburn next weekend.?
Kentucky?s top freshman performance went to redshirt Ashley Armour, who suffered a fall on beam before nailing her floor routine to the delight of the Wildcat faithful. She stuck two huge passes en route to a 9.825 on the event, tying for third at the meet.
?Before she went on the floor, I told Ashley that this is what she?s been waiting for after battling injuries all last year,? Mitchell said. ?We know she?s a high flyer and we just wanted her to show it off. That?s what she did. It?s her event.?
Kentucky topped last year?s season-opening score by eight tenths of a point and scored the second best in an opener in the Mitchell era. The Wildcats return to action on Jan. 19 when they travel to The Plains to face SEC foe Auburn. Last year, UK knocked off a ninth-ranked Tigers squad in Lexington.
