No. 10 Kentucky gymnastics polished off its regular season on March 14, falling to No. 3 Florida 198.625-197.725 in Gainesville.
Florida, which had hit the 198 mark or better in its previous two meets, hit that mark once again in a night stuffed chock full of high scores, including an unreal three perfect 10s from the Gators, leading to the highest total score in the nation this season.
Kentucky started the night out on bars, sticking five of six landings for a total score of 49.300, its second highest score on the season. Cecily Rizo opened up for the Cats, tallying a 9.825 followed by Hailey Davis, who tied her career-high of 9.925.
Simultaneously, the Gators were opening up their senior night on vault where Selena Harris-Miranda and Danie Ferris went for 9.975 and 10 respectively, helping Florida to a 49.700-49.300 lead over Kentucky after the first rotation.
Jillian Procasky and Rizo started the Wildcats off on the vault with a pair of Yurchenko Fulls scoring 9.850, tying a season best for Rizo.
Makenzie Wilson then stuck the landing on a front handspring pike half, adding 9.900 before Isabella Magnelli, who ranks fifth in the country on vault with a 9.925 National Qualifying Score (NQS), followed with 9.850.
Magnelli, who also ranks fourth on beam with a 9.930 NQS, is the only event specialist in the country that ranks in the top five in multiple events and is one of seven gymnasts to hold that honor.
To close out the apparatus, Skylar Killough-Wilhelm vaulted a huge Yurchenko 1.5 to match her career-high of 9.925, lifting Kentucky’s score on the round to 49.375, but a 49.550 from Florida kept it in the lead halfway through.
Kentucky shined on the floor and four scores of 9.900 or better helped boost the round to a total of 49.475, its fourth straight meet with a 49.4 or higher.
Delaynee Rodriguez was first to display her routine, scoring a 9.900 for the Wildcats, getting her third straight week of 9.9 or greater. Killough-Wilhelm, matching her season high, Davis and Creslyn Brose all tallied a 9.925.
The true star of the third rotation, though, was Florida’s Harris-Miranda, the seventh ranked all-around gymnast in the country, nailing down the second perfect 10 of the meet for the Gators on beam.
To end the season, Kentucky saved the best for last, matching the program record on beam with a total score of 49.575, all while posting no score lower than 9.9, tying the mark set by the Wildcats in the 2023 NCAA Norman Regional Final.
Rodriguez opened the final rotation by matching her career-high of 9.900. Brose then followed with the highest score of the rotation, pulling off a jaw-dropping punch front, front toss connected to a back handspring, sticking her roundoff 1.5 dismount to record a career-high 9.950.
Brose tallied a perfect 10 on floor at Historic Memorial Coliseum on the Wildcats’ senior night triumph of Arkansas, joining Wilson on the coveted list of perfect Cats.
Sharon Lee, who only had one routine in the meet, matched her career-high with her third score of 9.900 on the season before Killough-Wilhelm also hit a career-best, tallying a 9.925.
Magnelli, who extended her streak of a 9.9 or higher to 11 meets, capped off the regular season for Kentucky with a 9.900.
Florida finished off its season on the floor, also failing to fall under the 9.9 mark. A pair of 9.950 scores from Taylor Clark and Harris-Miranda already had the Gators rolling, but Leanne Wong marked the third and final perfect 10 of the night, truly finishing off Kentucky’s hopes of victory.
Although facing defeat, an impressive performance improved Kentucky’s qualifying score to 197.315 and the Cats clinched a spot in the SEC championships, held in Legacy Arena in Birmingham on March 22. Seedings, pairings and rotation orders are to be announced later this weekend.
