No. 9 Kentucky gymnastics (6-5, 3-4 SEC) put on a show versus No. 16 Arkansas (7-8, 3-4 SEC), featuring a tied for third highest score in program history and a score six tenths over its previous season high, in a 197.925-197.725 senior night win.
Alongside the historic score, the team also showed season-high scores on three apparatus, outright wins on all five events and a perfect 10 on the floor from sophomore Creslyn Brose.
Senior night for the Wildcats started on the vault with Jillian Procasky’s season-high of 9.875, followed by a 9.800 for Cecily Rizo’s Yurchenko Full.
Following Procasky, seniors Makenzie Wilson and Isabella Magnelli also stuck their vaults with scores of 9.925 and 9.950 respectively. Magnelli’s score was the top score of the night on the apparatus.
Magnelli also took the title on beam with her score of 9.975, allowing the fifth-year senior to close out her time at home with two titles on the night.
The bars started off rocky for the Cats with an initial fall from Isabella Rivelli earning her a 9.250. However, a quick response steadied the Cats with a 9.750 and a 9.850 from Annie Riegert and Procasky, respectively.
Bars allowed fifth-year senior Hailey Davis to begin her senior night with a 9.800, followed by two season-high tying scores from Delaynee Rodriguez and Skylar Killough-Wilhelm.
Rodriguez led off the beam rotation with a 9.875, followed by Brose with a 9.825 and back-to-back 9.900s from Sharon Lee and Chesney Bennett.
Lee’s score tied her career high, and Bennett’s earned the freshman a new career high, surpassing her previous record by over a tenth.
The high-scoring beam performance from Lee was made even more impressive when noting the fact that the sophomore’s music cut out near the beginning of her routine, followed by the resumption of incorrect music for the remainder of her routine.
The apparatus was rounded out by a 9.875 from Killough-Wilhelm and “Beam Queen” Magnelli’s final routine in Historic Memorial Coliseum.
The final rotation for the Cats, floor, was rounded out as one of the best rotations in school history. Not only did the event host Brose’s perfect 10 — which made the sophomore the fourth Kentucky gymnast of all time to score perfect 10 -– but also two season-high scores and two career-high scores.
The perfect mark was additionally the 11th perfect floor score in school history and the 36th perfect 10 across all routines in school history.
The two season-highs came from Procasky’s 9.850 and Magnelli’s 9.900. The career highs were at the hands of Rodriguez with her 9.925 – her second consecutive week with a career high – and Davis’ final routine at home with her near-perfect 9.975.
Kentucky will close out the regular season on Friday, March 14, at 6:45 p.m. ET versus Florida at Exactech Arena in Gainesville.
