No. 16 Kentucky gymnastics fell 196.175 in Session II of the NCAA Lexington Regional Second Round.
The Wildcats finished fourth in their first time hosting a regional at Historic Memorial Coliseum since 2010.
“Obviously not the way we wanted to finish our season,” Kentucky head coach Tim Garrison said. “We want to represent ourselves and our program better, especially on our home floor, anywhere, but especially on our home floor.”
No. 1 Oklahoma finished first in the session with a score of 197.875. Ohio State scored a 196.550 taking and Rutgers finished with a 196.300 to take third place.
The Cats began the night strong on bars but quickly lost their momentum on the balance beam following back-to-back falls.
Falls proved to be damaging to Kentucky’s regional run with a total of four falls occurring in the tournament.
Despite the finish to the season, Creslyn Brose secured a NCAA Regional Championship for the second year in a row, claiming the NCAA Lexington Regional floor title with a 9.925 score.
Brose has scored a 9.900 in all 10 floor routines this season and has scored at least a 9.900 in 33 of 36 career floor routines.
She was also named WCGA Regular Season Team All-American on floor for the third consecutive season and Delaynee Rodriguez earned her first Regular Season Team All-American on the all-around.
Kentucky began the night strong on the uneven bars with Cecily Rizo leading off the rotation scoring a 9.750.
Freshman Sabrina Nemcek followed with a clean stick to score a 9.900, nearly matching her career high and earning a top five regional finish in her postseason debut.
Triple 9.850’s followed Nemcek coming from Gabby Van Frayen, Chesney Bennett and Ryan Noonan, respectively.
Rodriguez finished the rotation with a 9.800, putting Kentucky at an overall score of 49.250.
The Wildcats began to feel the struggles on the balance beam rotation when back-to-back falls from Sharon Lee and Bennett led the Cats to finish with a score of 48.450.
Rizo and Brose led off with a 9.800 each, followed by Lee suffering the first fall and scoring 9.150.
Bennett scored a 9.000 after falling off the beam and had to get examined following the completion of her routine.
“She’s physically just so incredibly strong, and I think that’s why you know she can take a fall like that and an impact like that, and she can get back up and she can continue,” Garrison said.
Van Frayen and Rodriguez followed, scoring a 9.800 and a 9.900, respectively.
Kentucky’s third rotation was floor and it finished with a score of 49.325. Van Frayen led off this rotation with a 9.800, followed by Rizo scoring a 9.850. Bennett recovered from her fall on the beam to score a solid 9.850.
The Cats suffered their third fall of the night when a fall from Callie Gardner led to a score of 7.625. Rodriguez followed Gardner, scoring her second 9.900 of the night and Brose finished the rotation with a 9.925.
Kentucky finished the night on vault with a score of 49.150, with Addisyn Hofseth leading off the rotation, scoring a 9.800. Rizo, Gardner and Noonan followed, each scoring a 9.825.
Rodriguez suffered the fourth fall of the meet to score a 9.200. The fall is only the second miss Rodriguez has had this season and in her career. Anna Flynn Cashion closed out the night for the Cats by scoring a 9.875.
Despite the hard ending to the season for the Cats, there is great potential for next season with all of the competitors of the tournament returning and only losing one senior, Isabella Rivelli.
“What I felt was a season of growth for this group,” said Garrison. “Not necessarily for the program with the, but the way it ended up, but absolutely for this group, which is going to be the foundation that we’re going to start with next year.”
