Meet the Wildcats: Sydney Waltz

LEXINGTON, Ky. – In preparation for the Blue/White Scrimmage on Dec. 13, UKathletics.com presents “Meet the Wildcats,” an opportunity for you to get to know a little more about the 2016 Kentucky Gymnastics team. Today’s Meet the Wildcats features sophomore Sydney Waltz.

Waltz comes off a historic season with the Wildcats. Last season, she qualified for the NCAA Championships in the all-around, the 12th UK gymnast to earn a bid to nationals. Waltz was named to the All-SEC Team and became the first Wildcat in program history, along with teammate Cori Rechenmacher, to be named to the SEC All-Freshman Team. She competed in all 12 meets as a freshman on vault, competed 11 times on bars, nine times on beam and four times on floor and in the all-around. The freshman won six event titles, highlighted by a 9.900 on floor at the SEC Championships’ first session and competed at the NCAA Championships after a 39.125 in the all-around at the NCAA Regionals.

Here’s a bit more on Sydney Waltz:

Quick Facts

Birthplace: Bowling Green, Ohio

Parents: Marion and Brenda Waltz

Siblings: Ty (17) 

Twitter Handle: @smw1814

Instagram Handle: @sydneywaltzz

Major: Integrated Strategic Communication

Nickname(s): Squid, Syd

Get to Know Taylor in Competition

The best part of being a UK student-athlete is… Representing BBN doing what I love

What I like most about Coach Garrison and the staff is…. Their sense of humor

I chose Kentucky because … It’s the best school on this side of the Pacific 

I’m most looking forward to our meet with….. Georgia

I started competing in gymnastics when I was…. 5  

Taylor Outside of Competition

My favorite food is …. Chicken Alfredo

My favorite musical artist … Lana Del Rey  

Favorite athlete outside of gymnastics … Eric Decker

Growing up, my celebrity crush was … Jesse McCartney

Something not a lot of people know about me is … I enjoy reading  

My dream job is to be…. Wedding Planner

If I had a derby horse, I would name it… Racing Stripes

My pre-meet superstition… I spend 3 hours trying to braid my hair

My favorite TV show … Law and Order SVU

The Wildcats kick off the 2016 season with the Blue/White scrimmage on Sun., Dec. 13 at a time still to be determined. The scrimmage will serve as a preview to the 2016 season, with the season opener Excite Night set for Fri., Jan. 8 against Ball State at 7 p.m. All home meets will be held in Memorial Coliseum. 

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