Women's Gymnastics
January 28, 2011 - 02:00 AM

Kentucky Posts Season-High Score in Close Loss to No. 3 Georgia

LEXINGTON, Ky. – The University of Kentucky gymnastics team scored its highest team score of the year behind an incredible individual performance from senior Phylicia Reshard, who took the all-around crown, but the Wildcats fell just short to No. 3 Georgia 195.550-195.000 in Memorial Coliseum on Friday.

Reshard was excellent for Kentucky (2-3 0-3 Southeastern Conference) on all four events, posting two career highs en route to earning Kentucky’s first all-around title in a SEC dual-meet since 2007. The native of West Chester, Ohio, scored a career high on uneven bars with a 9.775 and beam with a score of 9.825. The senior also tied a career high on floor with a mark of 9.875. Reshard, who was participating as an all-around for only the second time in her career, scored a career high in the all-around competition with a 39.250 to take home event honors.

“I almost cried,” Reshard said when asked what she did when she saw she had won the all-around competition. “My main focus tonight was to have confidence in not only what I could do, but what my teammates could do and that really helped me have a good meet.”

Kentucky posted its best meet of the season to date with impressive performances on all four events. The Wildcats scored a season-high team score of 195.00, while also scoring season-high marks on beam and floor.

“It was a very good meet for us,” assistant coach Heather Hite said. “We are happy to be in the 195 score. We told the girls that they have to look at the score they posted and use this as some momentum going forward. Tonight they went out there with confidence in their gymnastics and that is what we have been working on. There is still work to do, but for tonight we are pleased.”

The Wildcats defeated the Bulldogs on vault, posting a strong score of 48.875. Junior Whitney Rose led UK with a 9.9 score to grab her third event title of the year and the 12th vault title of her career. Reshard and fellow senior Jasmine Minion finished third on vault with a 9.775, while senior Colleen Williams scored a season-high mark of 9.7. Senior Andrea Mitchell was also solid on vault for UK, gathering a 9.725.

UK continued its high scores on bars this season with a team score of 48.8, just a tenth of a point off its season-high mark. Reshard and sophomore Caitlyn Ciokajlo paced the Wildcats on the event as both scored 9.775. Three Wildcats scored a 9.75 on bars, including Williams, who with the score of 9.75 posted a season high. Junior Storey Morris and Mitchell were the other two UK gymnasts that posted 9.75s.

Kentucky showed major improvement on beam Friday night, scoring a season-high score of 48.175. Once again, the Wildcats were led by Reshard on the event, who posted a career high. The senior scored a UK season-high mark of 9.875 in just her second official beam routine this season. Mitchell was close behind Reshard with a 9.825, while freshman Paige Krall was tenths off her season-high mark with a 9.625.

The Wildcats ended the meet on floor, defeating Georgia with a score of 49.150. Kentucky had the top four scores on the event, led by Reshard and Minion, who each posted a 9.875. Rose notched a 9.85 on floor to tie a career high, while Mitchell gathered a 9.8. Freshman Audrey Harrison was impressive on floor, gathering a career-high mark of 9.75, while fellow freshman Kayla Sienkowski tied a career high with a 9.5

Georgia (6-1, 2-0 SEC) defeated Kentucky on bars and beam, while UGA sophomore Cassidy McComb finished second on the all-around to Reshard with a score of 39.075. UK’s Mitchell was third in the all-around with a 39.05, finishing just above UGA’s Noel Couch, who scored a 38.975.

Kentucky will return to action next week when it travels to No. 22 Auburn on Friday. The meet with the Tigers will mark the second road SEC contest of the year for the Wildcats and the first time that UK has been away from Memorial Coliseum since the second week of January.

For more information on the Kentucky gymnastics team, follow “UKGymnastics” on Twitter or Facebook or visit UKathletics.com.

Team Results

1) UGA 195.550; 2) UK 195.000

VAULT Results

1) Whitney Rose (UK) 9.900; 2) Hilary Mauro (UGA) 9.850; 3) Phylicia Reshard (UK) 9.775, Jasmine Minion (UK) 9.775; 5) Cassidy McComb (UGA) 9.750; 6) Andrea Mitchell (UK) 9.725; 7) Colleen Williams (UK) 9.700, Cat Hires (UGA) 9.700, Lindsey Cheek (UGA) 9.700; 10) Noel Couch (UGA) 9.675

BARS Results

1) Kat Ding (UGA) 9.875; 2) Christa Tanella (UGA) 9.825, Gina Nuccio (UGA) 9.825; 4) Cassidy McComb (UGA) 9.800, Shayla Worley (UGA) 9.800; 6) Phylicia Reshard (UK) 9.775, Caitlyn Ciokajlo (UK) 9.775; 8) Colleen Williams (UK) 9.750, Storey Morris (UK) 9.750, Andrea Mitchell (UK) 9.750; 11) Noel Couch (UGA) 9.725; 12) Whitney Rose (UK) 9.675

BEAM Results

1) Christa Tanella (UGA) 9.875, Shayla Worley (UGA) 9.875, Cassidy McComb (UGA) 9.875; 4) Phylicia Reshard (UK) 9.825; 5) Andrea Mitchell (UK) 9.775, Noel Couch (UGA) 9.775, Lindsey Cheek (UGA) 9.775; 8) Hilary Mauro (UGA) 9.675; 9) Paige Krall (UK) 9.625; 10) Jasmine Minion (UK) 9.550; 11) Storey Morris (UK) 9.400; 12) Audrey Harrison (UK) 9.150

FLOOR Results

1) Phylicia Reshard (UK) 9.875, Jasmine Minion (UK) 9.875; 3) Whitney Rose (UK) 9.850; 4) Andrea Mitchell (UK) 9.800, Noel Couch (UGA) 9.800; 6) Audrey Harrison (UK) 9.750; 7) Christa Tanella (UGA) 9.725, Shayla Worley (UGA) 9.725; 9) Lindsey Cheek (UGA) 9.675; 10) Cassidy McComb (UGA) 9.650; 11) Kayla Sienkowski (UK) 9.500; 12) Laura Moffatt (UGA) 9.025

All-Around Results

1) Phylicia Reshard (UK) 39.250; 2) Cassidy McComb (UGA) 39.075; 3) Andrea Mitchell (UK) 39.050; 4) Noel Couch (UGA) 38.975

UK: VAULT: 48.875, BARS: 48.800, BEAM: 48.175, FLOOR: 49.150
VAULT: Whitney Rose 9.900, Phylicia Reshard 9.775, Jasmine Minion 9.775, Andrea Mitchell 9.725, Colleen Williams 9.700
BARS: Phylicia Reshard 9.775, Caitlyn Ciokajlo 9.775, Colleen Williams 9.750, Storey Morris 9.750, Andrea Mitchell 9.750, Whitney Rose 9.675
BEAM: Phylicia Reshard 9.825, Andrea Mitchell 9.775, Paige Krall 9.625, Jasmine Minion 9.550, Storey Morris 9.400, Audrey Harrison 9.150
FLOOR: Phylicia Reshard 9.875, Jasmine Minion 9.875, Whitney Rose 9.850, Andrea Mitchell 9.800, Audrey Harrison 9.750, Kayla Sienkowski 9.500
All-Around: Phylicia Reshard 39.250, Andrea Mitchell 39.050