No. 13 Gymnastics Hosts Excite Night Friday at 7 p.m.

Jan. 15, 2015

LEXINGTON, Ky. — The No. 13 Kentucky gymnastics team returns home to host the Excite Night at the Kentucky Classic on Friday, Jan. 16 at 7 p.m. ET. The Wildcats welcome No. 2 LSU and No. 24 Arizona State to Memorial Coliseum for the annual event.

The meet will be broadcast on Watch ESPN and ESPN3, with Neil Price and former UK head coach Leah Little on the call. Live results will be available on UKathletics.com, while additional updates and notes throughout the meet can be found on Twitter at @UKGymnastics.

Fans who follow the Wildcats on social media – @UKgymnastics on Twitter and Instagram and on Facebook.com/UKgymnastics – can obtain a coupon for up to four (4) free general admission tickets to Excite Night. The offer is based on availability, so fans are encouraged to bring the flyer, either printed off or on their mobile devices, to the UK Athletics Ticket Office in advance of Friday’s meet.

Kentucky is ranked 13th in the national rankings after a 194.975-194.325 win at then-No. 24 Washington on Monday. The Wildcats rose nine spots in the rankings after their season-opening score. No. 2 LSU opened the year with a 197.125 in a win over Iowa, while No. 24 Arizona State, unranked to begin the year, beat Southern Utah with a 194.200.

IN THE RANKINGS

In addition to a No. 13 national team score ranking, UK’s season-opening scores are in the top 25 on every event. Kentucky’s floor score of 48.825 is 12th nationally, while the Wildcats are tied for 14th on balance beam with a 48.750. UK is tied for 16th on vault with a 48.900 and tied for 25th on uneven bars with a 48.500.

LSU is in the top seven on all four events, headlined by the No. 1 ranking on bars with a 49.600. The Tigers are second on beam with a 49.325. Arizona State is seventh on bars with a 49.050, 11th on floor with a 48.900 and within the top 50 on each event.

Click image for UK’s Meet Notes (PDF)

SCOUTING THE TIGERS AND SUN DEVILS

No. 2 LSU opened the season with a 197.125-193.300 win over Iowa on Friday in Baton Rouge, La. The 14th consecutive meet the Tigers scored a 197.000 or higher, LSU claimed individual titles on all four events and the all-around and recorded a 48.975 or higher on every apparatus. Senior Jessie Jordan won the all-around title along with victories on floor and beam to earn the season’s first SEC Gymnast of the Week honor. The Tigers are led by D-D Breaux, in her 37th season in Baton Rouge. The 2014 National Coach of the Year has guided LSU to back-to-back Super Six appearances.

Arizona State comes to Lexington ranked No. 24 after a season-opening win over Southern Utah on Friday. The Sun Devils earned a 194.2-193.925 comeback win. ASU earned individual event titles on balance beam and floor as Allie Salas posted a 38.750 to win the all-around. Stephanie Miceli scored a 9.800 to win beam and Natasha Sundby’s 9.900 was a meet-high on floor. Rene Lyst is in her first season as head coach of the Sun Devils after spending 13 years as co-head coach at Arkansas.

LAST TIME OUT: AT WASHINGTON

Kentucky opened the 2015 season with a 194.975-194.325 win at No. 24 Washington Monday night The Wildcats improved to 2-0 all-time against the Huskies in their first-ever visit to Seattle. The 194.975 team score moves UK up to 13th in the national rankings after the first week of the season.

UK used a strong team performance on all events and responded to adversity to record the season-opening win. Senior Kayla Hartley led Kentucky with team-high scores on two events.

The Wildcats counted a fall on their first event, uneven bars, and trailed 48.700-48.500 after the first rotation, but they quickly responded on vault, the second event. UK’s 48.900 on vault chipped away at Washington’s already-slim lead. Kentucky trailed by 0.050 points at the halfway point, but a 48.825 on floor gave the Wildcats a lead that wouldn’t go away.

On balance beam, the final event, UK sealed the victory with a 48.750. Kentucky had one fall on beam, but like the two falls and an early deficit to open the competition on bars, the Wildcats responded with two strong routines by sophomore Taylor Puryear and Hartley to close the meet.

Hartley led UK on bars and floor, both with a 9.825. Junior Khadijah Hudson and freshman Sydney Waltz posted team-best scores of 9.825 on vault, while freshman Cori Rechenmacher earned a 9.825 on balance beam to lead the Wildcats.

2014 EXCITE NIGHT IN REVIEW

In front of nearly 6,000 fans, Kentucky defeated three teams and won the annual Excite Night at the Kentucky Classic event to open the 2014 season in Memorial Coliseum on Jan. 10.

The Wildcats scored a 195.000, ahead of No. 15 Penn State’s 193.975. West Virginia placed third with a 193.700, while Ball State recorded a 190.875. Audrey Harrison won the all-around title with a 39.075 along with a win on beam with a 9.850. She joined Kayla Hartley with a meet-best 9.825 on floor. The Wildcats claimed the top scores on vault with a 48.600, beam with a 48.675 and floor with a 48.950. UK’s uneven bars score of 48.775 was second to West Virginia’s.

The win came in front of one of the largest crowds in UK gymnastics history. The 5,839 in attendance marked the largest since 6,875 in 2007 and the third-largest UK home crowd since at least 1997.

UP NEXT: UK AT GEORGIA

The Wildcats return to the road for a dual meet at Georgia on Jan. 24 at 4 p.m. ET. The contest between the two SEC foes will air live on the SEC Network + in addition to airing on ESPN2 the following day at 7 p.m. Bart Conner, Kathy Johnson-Clarke & Amanda Plufgard will be on the call from Athens, Ga.

UK WILL #COMPETEFORKYLIE IN 2015

This season, the UK gymnastics team will dedicate each meet to Kylie, who has stage 4 high risk neuroblastoma. Kylie is almost 3 and was diagnosed a year ago. Her mom was a gymnast for Tim Garrison when Garrison coached in California. This season, the Wildcats will #CompeteForKylie in each meet, and encourage their opponents to join the fight as well. More information can be found on Facebook at Facebook.com/PrayersForKylie1.

For complete news and updates on the Kentucky Gymnastics program, go to UKathletics.com. Breaking news, behind-the-scenes updates, photos and more can be found on Twitter at @UKGymnastics and Facebook at Facebook.com/UKGymnastics.

Do you have your #ExciteNight tickets yet? Present this coupon at the @UKTix Office to receive four FREE GA tickets! pic.twitter.com/XopbubOsr2

— Kentucky Gymnastics (@UKGymnastics) January 14, 2015