March 6, 2009
IOWA CITY, Iowa – The No. 24 Kentucky gymnastics team (6-8 overall, 0-6 conference) competed against the No. 23 Hawkeyes (10-4, 2-1 Big Ten) for only the third time. After holding a 2-0 all-time advantage over Iowa since 2001, the third time was the charm for the Black and Gold as they defeated the Wildcats with a season-high 196.525 to UK’s 194.825.
The floor exercise was the Wildcats’ best event of the evening, combining two career and two season highs for a 49.150. With the third highest score overall, junior Emily Green earned a season-high 9.850 which was added to career high marks by sophomore Phylicia Reshard and freshman Whitney Rose who each scored 9.775’s. Sophomore Jasmine Minion and junior Hillary Ferguson tied for second with scores of 9.875.
Minion earned scores which led the Cats on two of four events during the meet with her season-high on floor and a career high-tying mark on vault. The Memphis, Tenn., native recorded a 9.900 vault for the event’s title, the first of her career at Kentucky.
Ranking 14th in the nation on the vault, UK filed a 49.050. The event was also marked by multiple season and career highs. Rose grabbed a 9.850 for the meet’s second highest score of the night. Reshard nabbed a season high-tying 9.750 which was followed by sophomore Colleen Williams’ career high-tying 9.775.
Kentucky hit six-for-six on the balance beam, with senior Heather Hite leading the squad for the eighth consecutive time. Hite walked away with a 9.850 and second place overall as Green took second on the team with a season high-tying 9.775. The Blue and White totaled a 48.625 on the event, the second highest this season.
Although season and career highs marked each event for the Wildcats, difficulties in the first rotation blemished the scores. Uncharacteristic falls were counted on the uneven bars although the Cats still grabbed a 48.000. Junior Jamie Reimann, a native of Johnston, Iowa, secured team top honors and third place overall on the event with a career high 9.850. Teammate Williams scored a season-high 9.800 on the event, just shy of her career best mark of 9.825.
Ferguson and Rose were the Wildcats’ all-around performers hitting a 39.025 and 38.575, respectively.
UK will return to action when they travel to the Last Frontier to face the Alaska Seawolves Friday March 13 and March 15. Kentucky will compete twice in Anchorage, Alaska, finishing the regular season schedule just before the SEC Championship meet in Nashville, Tenn.
