No. 8 Kentucky Wins New Hampshire Quad Meet
DURHAM, N.H. – The No. 8 Kentucky (10-4, 3-4 SEC) gymnastics team took first place at the New Hampshire quad meet with a score of 196.800, as UK beat New Hampshire (196.425), Yale (194.675) and Brown (193.525) in the penultimate nonconference meet of the season.
“Another big step in the right direction today,” head coach Tim Garrison said. “This was a very important meet to position us for the postseason. As always, we can and will work on the mistakes we made to decrease our vulnerability to well-prepared teams that have a great day against us. There are areas where we are still giving away too much. Those are becoming fewer as we move toward the postseason and I feel we will make the required changes.”
Sophomore Mollie Korth won the all-around with a 39.625, matching her best all-around score ever. Korth tied the seventh-highest score in program history and holds the highest score from any Wildcat other than NCAA Champion Jenny Hansen. Junior Alex Hyland finished second in the all-around with a 39.400.
“I had great and consistent practices all week so I came into this meet feeling really good,” Korth said. “Getting another all-around score is great and hopefully I can keep climbing from here.”
Hyland loved the opportunity to compete in front of her friends and family.
“It felt so good to be out there today,” Hyland said. “I had so many friends and family that came and support me and the team, it was amazing. I’m happy we we’re able to have a great meet in front of them.”
Kentucky started the meet on the bars. UK posted a quad meet best of a 49.275, and was led by event winner sophomore Mollie Korth with a score of 9.925, which tied her career best. Junior Katrina Coca matched her career best as well with a 9.9 and tied for second place. Senior Katie Carlisle and junior Alex Hyland each posted 9.825s, and freshman Ella Warren rounded out the scoring with a 9.8.
UK posted a 49.025 on the beam. They were led by sophomore Hailey Poland with a 9.875, which tied her career high and earned her a third place finish. Korth and Hyland followed closely behind with 9.85s, while Stuart came up with a 9.775. Dukes finished the scoring for the Wildcats with a 9.675. Casey Lauter won the event with a 10.0.
The Wildcats went to the floor and tied its fourth-best floor score in program history with a 49.425. Korth won the event after matching her career high with a 9.95. Dukes followed closely with a 9.925, earning an outright second place finish. Hyland put up a 9.875, while Warren had a 9.85. Senior Cori Rechenmacher rounded out the scoring with a 9.825.
Korth won the vault title, her third event win of the day with a 9.9, helping UK post a 49.075 as a team. Hyland posted a 9.850 for a second place finish, while junior Danaea Davis finished in third after a 9.85. Dukes had a 9.8, and Stuart finished the scoring with a 9.7.
Kentucky will wrap up the regular season on Wednesday at Illinois State. The meet is set to begin at 7 p.m.
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.
