Kentucky Gymnastics Welcomes Florida for Top-Five Showdown
LEXINGTON, Ky. – After posting the highest road score in school history at Arkansas, the No. 5 Kentucky gymnastics team (4-0, 1-0 SEC) returns to Memorial Coliseum to face No. 5 Florida (1-1, 0-1 SEC).
The meet will kick off Friday Night Heights on the SEC Network at 7 p.m. Introductions will begin at 6:45 p.m. and will be streamed live on SEC Network+ with John Rothlisberger, Alicia Sacramone Quinn and Lauren Sisler on the call.
Scouting the Gators
Florida shares a No. 5 ranking with Kentucky. Last week, the Gators took on top-ranked LSU and lost, 197.250 – 197.125. Florida heads into the meet as the No. 1 beam team in the nation with an average score of 49.325. Rachel Gowey is the nation’s leader on beam with an average score of 9.925. As a team, Florida is seventh in the nation on vault, sixth on bars and 19th in the nation on the floor.
Kentucky in the Team Rankings
After week two, Kentucky moved up one spot to No. 5 in the nation with an average score 196.950. The Wildcats are the second highest ranked SEC team, behind No. 1 LSU, and share the No. 5 ranking with Florida.
Kentucky in the Event Rankings
Kentucky is ranked in the top-10 in every event, with its best event coming on the beam. Kentucky is No. 5 in the country on beam with an average score of 49.150. UK is No. 6 on the vault with an average score of 49.100. The Wildcats are No. 9 on floor and bars, with average scores of 49.188 and 49.075.
Tying the Third-best Score in Program History
Kentucky posted a 196.950 at in its win at Arkansas, the third best in program history and third best in SEC competition. UK also matched its best road score in program history. Last season at Florida, UK also posted a 196.950 on the road. At the time, that score at Florida was the highest in Wildcat history.
First Win at Arkansas
Before Friday night, Kentucky was 0-7 inside Barnhill Arena. Behind the 196.950, UK improved to 1-7 and 6-25 against the Razorbacks.
Event Winners
The Wildcats had an event winner on every event at Arkansas on Friday. Mollie Korth won the all-around with a 39.525, and took home the vault and floor titles. On vault, she tied her career high with a 9.95 and won on the floor with a 9.9. Katrina Coca won a share of the bars title after tying her career high with a 9.9, and Sidney Dukes took home a share of the beam crown with a 9.9.
Eight-For-Eight
As a team, Kentucky has won every single event title over the first two weeks of the season. Kentucky won seven of the events outright, and shared the beam event title with Ball State in week one at Excite Night.
For complete news and updates on the Kentucky Gymnastics program, go to UKathletics.com. Season tickets can be found on UKathletics.com/Tickets. News and updates on the team can also be found on Twitter at @UKGymnastics and at @UKCoachGarrison and Facebook at Facebook.com/UKGymnastics.
