Kentucky Gymnasts Hope Experience Pays Off as Postseason Begins

Last season, the Kentucky gymnastics team made it all the way to the national meet, eventually finishing a school-record sixth in the country.

This season, Kentucky returned the core of last year’s team, including super seniors Arianna Patterson and Raena Worley along with seniors Bailey Bunn, Hailey Davis and Isabella Magnelli. That experience has allowed the 2024 Cats to build on their success from last season. UK set a school record score earlier in the season with a 198.100 against Florida.

Now, the Cats hope that their experience from last season can be a benefit as they begin the 2024 postseason on Thursday in the Arkansas Regional.

“I think that we really understand what kind of environment it’s going to be,” Bunn said. “It’s going to be high-energy, high-pressure but we have to realize that it’s the same routine that we’ve done all year and we’ve all been so consistent. I think just taking the experience from last year, it was so fun to be able to perform under pressure. I think going into it with confidence this year, we’re an even better team this year than we were last year. I think that we should have that level of confidence that we can hit no matter what and we can do this.”

Davis agrees with her teammate.

“I definitely say that the experience helps us a lot,” Davis said. “Knowing that we have been there before and done it before takes a little bit of weight off our shoulders.”

Patterson believes that, in addition to the experience, the Cats should carry their momentum from the season into the regional.

“We’ve had a record-breaking season, so let’s just keep doing what we’ve been doing and don’t freak yourself out about it,” Patterson said. “Think about the positives, think about how good the season has been and let it all show on the floor.”

Worley knows that this year’s team is even better than last year’s national qualifier.

“I think that we’re definitely going to continue building on that this year,” Worley said. “We have an even stronger team this year than we did last year. We have so many freshmen who have been contributing all year and we have upperclassmen who are continuously putting routines out. So, I think that we’re going to continue to build, like we did last year, but our results are going to be even more successful than we were.”

In addition to the veterans, Kentucky has a talented pair of freshmen in Creslyn Brose and Delaynee Rodriguez who are key contributors to the team. How can the veterans help the freshmen prepare for this event?

“They’ve gotten plenty of numbers this year and they’ve had a lot of experience in the regular season,” Davis said. “Just trusting in themselves and knowing that what we’ve accomplished so far is just setting us up for greatness in this upcoming meet. We just have to go out there and continue what we’ve been doing.”

Magnelli wants to make sure the freshmen know what’s ahead of them.

“Second day of regionals is the hardest meet that you will ever experience here,” Magnelli said. “I never want to tell them something different so when they go into that arena, they’re prepared for the best. They have that grit and that confidence to just go out there and kill it.”

Bunn believes that the freshmen must have the right mindset before this meet.

“When they came in here, they were bought into this program, so it wasn’t as much teaching them as it was being for them when they have bad days,” Bunn said. “Just making sure they are thinking the right way. When they go out there on the competition floor, I don’t second guess them at all, I know they’re going to hit.”

Kentucky has been to Arkansas once already this season. The Cats lost to the Razorbacks, scoring 197.100, the lowest score of the season for the Cats. Now, UK will go back to Fayetteville with redemption on its mind.

“We didn’t have a good meet at Arkansas, so they were able to beat us,” Magnelli said. “I think that redemption is just firing us up to go out there and kill it even more. We just want to prove that we’re even better than people think we are.”

Worley believes that the Cats are doing everything they can to make sure this trip to Fayetteville goes much smoother and that they get that redemption.

“Absolutely we are. It was not our best meet of the season,” Worley said. “(This time) we have more fire going into it. We don’t want a repeat of what happened last time to happen again. We’ve been focusing on precision, honing in on the landing and really making sure that we’re focusing on every little thing so that we do get that redemption going back to Arkansas.”

Patterson has redemption on her mind as well.

“Definitely. I wouldn’t say it was a bad meet, it just wasn’t our best,” she said. “We probably could have had a little more energy. I think this time around, we’ve got that chip on our shoulder, so it’s different. We’re going to keep our energy up and think we’ve got this.”

Magnelli likes where Kentucky was placed and believes that the Cats have a good shot to advance to nationals for a second consecutive season.

“Going into this Arkansas Regional, we’ve been placed in a regional where we have a very good chance of making it to nationals. I think everyone is just real confident going into that. We’ve broken a bunch of school records this season and the confidence we have going into practice this week is going to trail on to Arkansas.”

With the combination of experience and young talent, this Kentucky team hopes to continue to set new standards heading into the 2024 postseason.