LEXINGTON, Ky. ? Fresh off a dominating season opening victory, the University of Kentucky gymnastics team elevated its spot in the national polls, Monday. Kentucky moved to No. 18 in the collegiate rankings after knocking off Auburn for just its first Southeastern Conference victory in two seasons.
Kentucky positioned themselves in numerous team rankings, which for the first rankings of the season are based on an average team score. The Lady Wildcats earned an impressive No. 5 ranking on the floor exercise after securing the eighth best score in school history Saturday, earning a 49.150 team score. UK also ranks 15th on the vault and17th on the balance beam.
?I am happy to see the team move up in the rankings, and our team goal is to continue to make strides toward being a top-10 school,? said Head Coach Mo Mitchell. ?While we are pleased with our spot, we are far from satisfied with our overall performance. We have room to get much better, and we will.?
Individually, sophomore Emily Green broke into the rankings at No. 17 overall. Green claimed a career-best All-Around score of 39.100, good for second place against Auburn. She 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 earning a win on the beam as a freshman. Additionally, her vault score tied the school record books for fifth place all-time and is good for a current fourth place national ranking.
Sophomore Hillary Ferguson, junior Heather Hite and senior Kristen O?Shields rank tied for 20th in the polls on the floor exercise, as they all shared the individual title in Saturday?s win with a 9.850 score. 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.
Kentucky (1-0, 1-0) 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.
