Gymnastic holds preseason scrimmage

By Kyle Collins

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Fans were given a glimpse of the upcoming season as UK gymnastics held an intra-squad scrimmage Thursday.

A young Cats squad faced competition-like atmosphere for the first time.

Apparatus involved int the scrimmage included uneven bars, balance beam, vault and floor. With a score of 116.725, white squad overcame blue, who had a score of 116.0.

First year head coach  Tim Garrison was pleased with the pre-season event.

“I think it went great, actually,” he said. “[It was the] first time getting in our competitive arena, getting onto a real competition floor and I thought it went great.”

With a month remaining before UK’s first regular season meet, Garrison has time to eradicate some of the errors that cropped up in Thursday’s scrimmage.

“Consistency is one [area for improvement]. We still had some mistakes,” he said. “We had mistakes on the beam. We had mistakes on bar, landings on the floor and executions, so there are a lot of things we can work on.”

The UK roster boasts only five upper classmen, one of which is senior Caitlin Ciokajlo.

One upper classman to watch out for in the upcoming season is junior Audrey Harrison, who won a team-best seven event titles last season. The Cats may rely on youth to help stay competitive throughout the season.

There are also six sophomores and four freshmen on the squad.

After finishing last season ranked No. 25, the Cats head into this season right where they left off with a No. 25 preseason ranking from the GymInfo Preseason Coaches Poll.

UK’s first regular season competition will be a four-team meet in Berkeley, Ca., on Friday Jan. 6th featuring squads from California, Auburn, and Arizona.