Dec. 5, 2009
MUNCIE, Ind. – Sophomore Whitney Rose (Frisco, Texas) won or shared three event titles and senior Emily Green (Penfield, N.Y.) claimed the title on the floor exercise as the University of Kentucky gymnastics team earned a 192.150-187.450 exhibition victory over host Ball State Saturday.
Rose won the all-around and vault titles while sharing the beam title with Green. Green also won the floor exercise title.
“Whitney did a great job,” eighth-year head coach Mo Mitchell said. “She stepped up in many places and, even when she did have a mistake, she did a good job of moving forward with the routine.”
Kentucky jumped in front after the first rotation with its effort on the uneven bars and never looked back. Andrea Mitchell (Knoxville, Tenn.), Jacque Behrendt (Franklin, Tenn.) and Rose each led the Wildcats. Sophomore Storey Morris (Tyler, Texas), along with Mitchell, Behrendt and Rose all finished with scores above their 2009 average. Ball State’s Julie Cotter took title honors.
UK’s advantage grew after the second rotation when Rose took title honors on the vault. Junior Jasmine Minion (Memphis, Tenn.) finished second to Rose among Wildcat competitors.
Minion was second behind Green on the floor exercise, while Phylicia Reshard (West Chester, Ohio) and Rose tied for third.
While Rose and Green shared title honors on the beam, Mitchell and Minion as notched solid scores to impress their coach.
“I was very interested to see how we would perform on the beam,” Mo Mitchell said. “We made a huge improvement. The athletes had a lot more confidence and maturity about themselves. We made some mistakes on the bars, but we will clean those up before our season opener.”
The Wildcats kick off regular-season competition with “Excite Night” against Texas Woman’s University, Saturday, Jan. 9 at 6:30 p.m. EST at Memorial Coliseum. Numerous UK prizes will be given away throughout the evening and the entire team will sign autographs following the meet.
Tickets can be purchased by calling the UK ticket office at 1-800-928-2287. Tickets are also sold at the Joe Craft Ticket Office on the night of the event. Group tickets (20 or more people) are available by calling the ticket office in advance of the event.
