No. 7 Kentucky Hosts No. 11 Auburn for Excite Night
LEXINGTON, Ky. – For the first time since 2017, Kentucky gymnastics will host its annual Excite Night—presented by White, Greer, and Maggard Orthodontics– inside Historic Memorial Coliseum as the No. 7 Cats (3-2, 1-1 SEC) welcome No. 11 Auburn (8-1, 1-0) to the Bluegrass. The meet is set to begin at 7 p.m. ET on Friday, January 31.
Live stats from the meet will be available online at UKathletics.com, while BBN Tonight’s Maggie Davis and former UK gymnastics coach Leah Little will have the call on SEC Network+.
Friday will mark Excite Night’s return to Historic Memorial Coliseum for the first time since 2017, after a successful six year run at Rupp Arena from 2018-2024 (there was no Excite Night in 2021 due to the COVID-19 pandemic). The last time that Kentucky gymnastics’ premier meet was in HMC, the Cats also squared off against Auburn, knocking off the Tigers 197.100-195.800. Kentucky has claimed victory at eight straight Excite Nights dating back to its last defeat in 2015.
The Wildcats enter Excite Night ranked No. 7 in the NCAA with an average team score of 196.867. The Wildcats rank in the top ten on three apparatus, slotting in at fifth on VT (49.300), 12th on UB (49.125), ninth on BB (49.158), and sixth on FX (49.283).
UK enters Friday’s contest with Auburn after its first conference loss of the season, falling at No. 11 Missouri 196.800-197.200. In the defeat, the Wildcats posted a season-high road score, a season-high floor score (49.350), and saw fifth-year Skylar Killough Wilhelm claim a pair of event titles—vault (9.900) and all-around (39.475)—to bring her season total to three.
In Kentucky’s last outing inside Historic Memorial Coliseum, the Cats made their long-awaited return to the beloved venue by posting a season-high score of 197.300 in an upset win over No. 3 Alabama.
Fifth-year Isabella Magnelli—a four time All-American—continues to lead the way for Kentucky, currently ranking in the top ten in the country on two events. The Suffern, N.Y. native sits at No. 4 on both vault (9.908) and balance beam (9.917) and also contributes in the Kentucky floor lineup.
No. 11 Auburn enters Excite Night with a 8-1 (1-0 SEC) record, coming into Lexington on the heels of a win over No. 9 Oregon State with a season-high score of 197.025. The Tigers won their SEC opener two weeks ago, taking down No. 17 Arkansas at home. Auburn shines on beam, ranking sixth in the NCAA on the apparatus with a average score of 49.256. The Tigers rank outside the top ten on the other three events, coming into Friday 11th on bars (49.138), 14th on floor (49.163), and 17th on vault (49.056).
Freshman Katelyn Jong ranks 15th in the NCAA in the all-around with a 39.412 average, earning SEC Freshman of the Week honors after a career-high 39.500 against Oregon State last Friday with scores of 9.9+ on three events. Marissa Neal, another freshman, also enters the meet with SEC laurels, earning the title of SEC Specialist of the Week after a 9.975 on beam against OSU.
Doors to Historic Memorial Coliseum will open at 6 p.m. ET. Fans are encouraged to plan ahead for parking and arrive early for introductions, set to begin at 6:48 p.m. ET. Alaina Kwan—UK Gymnastics alumna ’20 and current morning reporter for Arizona’s Family – 3TV and CBS 5—in Phoenix—will be the guest host for the night.
The first 2,000 fans inside HMC will receive custom UK gymnastics light-up cat ears. ‘10’ cards from UK Healthcare will also be available for fans, with shakers also available on every seat. Many giveaways will take place throughout the night, including $1,000 off treatment from White, Greer, and Maggard Orthodontics, four American Girl dolls with customized UK leotards, a $500 gift card from Hourglass Aesthetics, and a ‘Mommy and Me’ matching bracelet set from Maple and – the official jewelry of UK Athletics.
Limited single-meet tickets, including Verified Resale options, are still available for Friday’s Excite Night. Single-meet ticket prices begin at $15 for reserved tickets located in the 100 sections of the arena. General admission seats, located on the bleachers on the east side of the facility near Rose Street are on sale for $12. Single-meet tickets can be purchased through Ticketmaster.
Students and faculty/staff receive free admission to all gymnastics home meets based on availability. Rather than showing their UK ID, they will now be required to claim a ticket in advance with the UK Ticket Office. Students and faculty/staff can claim their tickets by showing their ID at the UK Ticket Office during business hours and will then access the tickets digitally through their UK Athletics Account.
Students can claim one ticket for themselves while faculty/staff can claim up to two tickets – one for themselves and one for a guest. Tickets will become available on a monthly basis for the upcoming 2025 meets below, with Excite Night tickets currently available. Tickets for Temple, LSU and Arkansas will be available to claim starting Tuesday, February 4 at 9 a.m. ET. Limited gameday walk-up claims will be available based on availability.
Most parking lots surrounding Historic Memorial Coliseum are available parking options for fans. The lots available include The Cornerstone Garage, High Street Lot, East Maxwell Lot, Joe Craft Center Lot, College View Lot, Alumni Center Lot, Career Center Lot and Linden Walk Lot. The Cornerstone Garage is open two-hours prior to the meet, while all other lots are available three-hours prior.
A shuttle will be available for all regular season meets and is free for all fans. The shuttle will run 90 minutes prior to the meet until the end of the second rotation. It will resume at the start of the fourth rotation up to 1-hour post-meet. The shuttle will pick up in two locations, The Cornerstone Garage and the High Street Lot and will drop off at the Lexington Avenue entrance of Historic Memorial Coliseum. Patrons can access the shuttle after walking across the sky bridge from The Cornerstone Garage. The skybridge is accessible from the third level of the parking structure. The pickup/drop off location is to the left of the skybridge at a crosswalk. Fans can find a complete run down of meet logistic information here.
For the latest on the Kentucky gymnastics team, follow @UKGymnastics on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook, as well as on the web at UKAthletics.com.
