No. 10 Kentucky Closes Regular Season at No. 3 Florida
GAINESVILLE, Fla. – Fresh off a season high score of 197.925 on Senior Night, No. 10 Kentucky (6-5, 3-4 SEC) heads south to the Swamp for a top ten clash with No. 3 Florida (9-3, 4-3 SEC) in both team’s regular season finale. The meet is set for a first vault at 7 p.m. ET on Friday, March 14 from Exactech Arena at the Stephen C. O’Connell Center in Gainesville.
Last Friday, Kentucky snapped a two-meet losing skid in a 197.925-197.725 defeat of No. 16 Arkansas at Historic Memorial Coliseum. Highlighted by SEC Specialist of the Week Creslyn Brose’s first career perfect 10.0, the Cats posted a season high floor score of 49.725 to hold off the Hogs and secure the third highest team score in program history. The Cats also recorded season high scores on beam (49.525) and vault (49.425).
Ranked No. 10 heading into week nine, Kentucky currently holds an National Qualifying Score of 197.130. The Cats have improved their NQS in every week of the rankings and can continue that trend with a score of 196.825 or better, as Kentucky looks to drop a 196.800 score posted at Mizzou from its calculation.
Isabella Magnelli continues to shine for the Cats, as she ranks fourth in the country on beam with a 9.930 NQS and fifth on vault with a 9.925 NQS. Magnelli is the only event specialist in the country that ranks in the top five on multiple events and is only one of seven total gymnasts to hold this distinction.
Hailey Davis, fresh off a career high 9.975 on her senior night, sits at No. 11 in the floor rankings with a 9.925 NQS. Davis has scored 9.9+ on all but one floor routine this season and 18 of her last 21 dating to the start of 2024.
Creslyn Brose comes to Gainesville on fire, winning three consecutive floor titles with scores of 9.950 or higher, culminating with her perfect performance last week. She is now the fourth Wildcat all-time to score a perfect 10.0, joining Jenny Hansen, Raena Worley, and Makenzie Wilson. Brose’s mark was the 11th perfect score on floor in program history and 36th overall.
Florida enters Friday’s contest ranked No. 3 in the country with a gaudy NQS of 197.760. The Gators have topped the 198 mark three times this season, including in each of its last two meets. Kentucky has never beaten Florida in Gainesville and only holds two wins in the head-to-head series, but won the most recent matchup at the 2024 SEC Championships, 197.600-197.300.
With a score of 196.950 or higher—something the Cats have done in six straight meets and all but two overall—Kentucky can clinch its spot in the 2025 SEC Gymnastics Championships, held at Legacy Arena in Birmingham, Ala. on Saturday, March 22. Only the top eight teams in the conference qualify for the Championships, with Session I consisting of teams 5-8 at 3:30 p.m. ET and Session II featuring teams 1-4 at 8 p.m. ET.
For the latest on the Kentucky gymnastics team, follow @UKGymnastics on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook, as well as on the web at UKAthletics.com.
