UK Advances to Saturday’s NCAA Athens Regional Final

ATHENS, Ga. – No. 9 Kentucky’s historical 2019 season isn’t over yet. On Friday, the Wildcats punched a ticket to Saturday’s NCAA Athens Regional Final by way of a 196.850 performance, the second-best NCAA Regional score in program history.
 
Finishing behind host No. 8 Georgia (197.300), Kentucky defeated No. 19 Missouri (196.625) and No. 22 Iowa State (196.250).
 
“Not a flawless day, but clean and consistent enough to advance,” said head coach Tim Garrison. “We had many gritty performances that saved us valuable tenths and helped us move on. This is a tough group of young ladies. We’ll get some rest and be ready for tomorrow.”
 
The Cats began the afternoon on beam, producing a 49.175 total. Junior Mollie Korth was forced to perform her routine twice after an equipment malfunction impeded her original dismount, which ultimately led to one of three individual beam routines of 9.850 or better.
 
In the next rotation, Kentucky’s sum of 49.350 proved to be the best floor performance of the day. Korth and Sidney Dukes led the way with a 9.900 apiece, while Katie Stuart tied a season-high 9.850 and Alex Hyland earned a 9.875.
 
The Cats’ day ended on bars, highlighted by freshman Cally Nixon tying a season-high 9.900. Nixon tied with Georgia’s Alex Al-Hameed and Missouri’s Morgan Porter for the individual victory on the apparatus. Hyland claimed an outright win with a 39.500 all-around showing.
 
Kentucky advances to the region’s final session alongside Georgia on Saturday at 7 p.m. ET, taking on the top two performers from Friday’s evening session between No. 1 Oklahoma, No. 15 California, No. 28 Maryland, and No. 31 NC State.
 
For the latest on the Kentucky gymnastics team, follow @UKGymnastics on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram, as well as on the web at UKAthletics.com.