UK Gymnastics Seniors Will Leave Lasting Impact
When asked to describe the impact that the 2019 senior class has had on the Kentucky gymnastics program, head coach Tim Garrison came up with one word – transformational.
Those seniors – Katrina Coca, Danaea Davis, Sidney Dukes, Alex Hyland, Aubree Rosa and Katie Stuart – participated in their final home meet on Friday, and they went out with a bang. The Wildcats set a school record with a 197.525 team score, a fitting end to the home career of the most decorated group of seniors in UK gymnastics history.
But it didn’t start that way for this group, who would ultimately become the first group to lead UK to the national meet. Garrison remembers where the program was when this group arrived.
“We would go to SECs and we would be an also-ran,” Garrison said. “We would go against one of the top SEC teams and they would look forward to those weekends.”
Behind this group of talented gymnasts, the program has risen from also-ran into national contender.
“When they got here, it was a program at a certain level and now, they have taken us to Top 12 in the country,” Garrison said. “It’s just amazing what they’ve been able to do. They’ve transformed this program since arriving on campus.”
Dukes, who set a new career high on the bars and tied her career-high in the all-around on Friday, thinks that this group of seniors will always be remembered for their impact on the program.
“I think that we will always be that senior class,” Dukes said. “We’ll be that class. It’s crazy to think that just six of us can make such an impact.”
Hyland, who set a new career high on the floor on Friday, agrees with Dukes, that this group will be one that will always be a huge part of UK gymnastics history.
“It was an amazing transformation,” Hyland said. “We came in as a freshman class not really knowing what to expect. We wanted to do exactly what we did do, which is help transform the program. We brought the team to nationals. Senior night was really just a way to put a cap on the whole season.”
Stuart, who set career highs on the beam and the all-around on Friday, knows how far this team has come in four years.
“To hear that we are the most decorated class to come to Kentucky is incredible, I can’t even describe the feeling,” Stuart said. “We started from the bottom and we’ve accomplished so much. It’s hard to put into words. I’m just proud of everybody.”
The senior class knew how appropriate it was that the team set a program record in the final home meet for this special group of seniors.
“It was amazing,” Hyland said. “We were having a good time anyway, regardless of the scores. The fact that we could put up a program record was, honestly, amazing.”
Dukes agreed.
“That’s just this class,” Dukes said. “You ask for something, and you get more. That’s our class written in the gymnastics history books.”
Stuart knew that this was the perfect ending for this special group.
“So fitting, it was the perfect way to go out,” Stuart said. “We really went out with a bang. We’ve set so many records and to go out with another school record is exactly how we should have.”
The impact of this senior class on the UK gymnastics program is hard to measure. And Friday showed that the best may still be yet to come for this talented group.
