LEXINGTON, Ky. ? The No. 24 University of Kentucky gymnastics team kicked off its 2008 campaign with a 193.450-191.950, win over Southeastern Conference foe No. 19 Auburn on Excite Night in front of 5,448 fans at Memorial Coliseum. It was the first win over an SEC opponent since Kentucky defeated Auburn in the 2006 SEC season-opener.
Kentucky (1-0, 1-0) was led by sophomore Emily Green who notched a career-best All-Around score of 39.100, good for second place in the meet. Green tallied a title on the vault and a second-place showing on the uneven parallel bars with scores of 9.900 (a personal best) and 9.675, respectively. Green?s title on vault was just the second of her career, after notching a win on the beam as a freshman. Additionally, her vault score tied the school record books for fifth place all-time.
?Tonight was a huge win for us,? said Head Coach Mo Mitchell. ?This is our first SEC win in two years. It?s big for our players? confidence and they know we did the best job we possibly could. To come away with a win is a start for us. We want to go to nationals and this is the first step.?
Also coming away with titles were junior Heather Hite, sophomore Hilary Ferguson and senior Kristen O?Shields who all tied for the top floor exercise score with a mark of 9.850. It was a thrilling end to a dramatic evening, as the Wildcats secured a phenomenal win concluding with the three-win performance in the meet?s final event. Hite?s title was her sixth career on the floor. Ferguson claimed her third career floor exercise title, while O?Shields notched her first career title in the event to highlight the personal accolades. The team score of 49.150 was the eighth best score in school history.
UK began the meet by taking an early 48.725-47.375 score after the vault event; it was a lead they would never relinquish. Green?s incredible vault score propelled the home team. Ferguson placed second in the event for the Blue and White recording a 9.775 mark.
?We didn?t meet our expectations tonight,? Mitchell said. ?Our goal was to score 195 points but we also wanted to win. So getting one out of two isn?t too bad. I think (uneven) bars is where we had our hiccup which affected the score we wanted to achieve.?
On the bars, Kentucky placed three athletes in the top four in the overall standings. Green, freshman Phyilicia Reshard, and senior Crissy Cannon finished in spots 2-4. UK secured a nice cushion heading into the final events, after placing three gymnasts in the top-five on the balance beam. Hite, Green, and Ferguson led the UK scoring.
?Emily Green did a fantastic job tonight,? Mitchell said. ?Emilie Rymer hadn?t trained in a week and she came in and did a wonderful job. Hillary Ferguson did great on floor. We can always count on Heather Hite to come through for us. So there are a number of positive performances we can take away from tonight.?
Kentucky will next travel to Southeast Missouri on Friday for the second meet of the season. Meet time is slated to begin at 7 p.m. Complete results and coverage of the UK gymnastics team can be found at www.ukathletics.com.
