Raena Worley Starts Season with Big Performance Friday

Through two years at Kentucky, Raena Worley has proven to be a very accomplished gymnast. She has been a second-team All-American, an All-SEC performer and a member of the SEC all-freshman team.

Worley figured to be one of the key cogs in the Wildcats’ machine this season. And if Friday night’s Excite Night is indication, that will  indeed be the case.

Led by Worley, Kentucky topped Ball State at UK’s annual gymnastics showcase inside Rupp Arena. UK head coach Tim Garrison won’t say he’s expecting this type of effort from Worley but he thinks she is.

“We see it a lot. She’s expecting it,” Garrison said. “Which for me means she’s calm, she’s comfortable. She can step outside of just doing gymnastics. She’s competing. She’s having a blast. And, she’s putting on a show. She involves everybody in the room. That’s what makes her truly great.”

The night started off with a bang for Worley, who scored a 9.900 on the vault, tying her career high. In the process, she earned her first-ever vault event win.

“Vault has always been a bit of a struggle for me because my technique is different,” Worley said. “Being able to have (assistant coach) Chad (Wiest) come in and help me become confident in my technique on vault and learn how to find the landing and stick. It was so fun.”

From there, Worley took her talents to the bars, where she tied her career high again, notching a 9.950. She claimed the bars title for the fourth time in her career.

Next came beam, where Worley actually did not match her career high. Still, she scored a 9.875, good enough for her third event win of the evening.

And finally on floor, Worley finished off her night in style with a 9.900. That gave her an all-around score of 39.650, just off her career high but good enough for the win on this night.

For Worley, it was exciting just to be back, with fans, inside Rupp Arena.

“It was such an amazing feeling to be able to be back in Rupp,” Worley said. “Being able to be in such a big arena with the fans is so different.”

From the time Garrison started recruiting Worley, he knew she was that special kind of gymnast he and his staff are looking to bring to Kentucky.

“The biggest thing that we noticed about her, when we were recruiting her, was her absolute love for the sport,” Garrison said. “We look for that 12 year old that runs in the gym with the bag on their shoulder and they can’t get enough of it. That’s Raena Worley, at her age.”

Worley hopes that Friday’s performance is just the beginning of a big season. She says she is goal-driven and she has her eyes on some big goals for this season.

“Nationals all-around,” she says without hesitation. “The whole team to get to nationals because that would be such an amazing experience for all of us.”

The way Worley performed on Friday night, those goals are definitely in the mix for her this season.