Kentucky gymnastics opened SEC play by traveling to Baton Rouge for Friday Night Heights action against No. 4 LSU. Despite scoring their best score of the 2026 season, the Wildcats fell short to the Tigers.
It proved to be an impressive night for sophomore Ryan Noonan despite the loss. Noonan had not one but two personal records set in both uneven bars and vault.
Along with Noonan’s phenomenal performance, Chesney Bennett, Delaynee Rodriguez and Gabby Van Frayen each set or matched their career highs on an event.
The Cats began the meet on the uneven bars, scoring a 48.975 to miss their season-best mark by just a quarter-tenth. Cecily Rizo led off for the cats with a 9.725. Following Rizo was Noonan, who highlighted the night for the Cats by scoring her lifetime best score of 9.875.
Also contributing to the Wildcats uneven bars were Van Frayen with a 9.725, Bennett with a 9.775, Isabella Rivelli with a 9.275 and Rodriguez finishing the rotation with a 9.875.
On vault, the Cats continued to be successful by scoring a 49.175, leading Kentucky for a third straight week. Leading off the rotation was Addisyn Hofseth with a 9.650, followed by Rizo and Callie Gardner with identical marks of 9.825, with the mark being a season high for Gardner.
Noonan had her second record of the night when she tied for the team-best on the rotation with her career best 9.875. Adding to her efforts was Rodriguez with a 9.775 and Anna Flynn Cashion with another 9.875.
Kentucky proved to be just as consistent on the floor exercise, scoring a 49.075 for the second consecutive week. The Wildcats had another high point with the return of junior Creslyn Brose. The All-American competed in her first routine of the season for a score of 9.900. Brose has now scored at least a 9.900 in 23 of her 26 career floor routines.
In addition to Brose’s return, Van Frayen scored a 9.775, followed by Bennett’s career high 9.825. Gardner and Rizo each scored 9.725s, followed by Rodriguez, who finished with a 9.875.
The Cats finished the meet on the balance beam. Sharon Lee led off but following a foot slip during the apparatus of her flight series, she finished with a 9.075. Rizo has similar struggles with also coming off the beam during her flight, scoring a 9.125.
Despite having to count a fall for the second straight week, Bennett set the Cats back on track with a season-high 9.825, and Brose followed with the same score in her first beam routine of the year. Van Frayen and Rodriguez closed the meet by matching their career bests, tallying 9.850 and 9.925, respectively.
