Kentucky gymnastics finishes historic season in sixth place at NCAA Nationals

The+Kentucky+gymnastics+team+poses+for+a+photo+during+the+Senior+Day+celebration+after+the+No.+12+Kentucky+vs.+No.+9+Auburn+gymnastics+meet+on+Saturday%2C+March+4%2C+2023%2C+at+Memorial+Coliseum+in+Lexington%2C+Kentucky.+Kentucky+won+197.675-196.450.+Photo+by+Samuel+Colmar+%7C+Staff

Samuel Colmar

The Kentucky gymnastics team poses for a photo during the Senior Day celebration after the No. 12 Kentucky vs. No. 9 Auburn gymnastics meet on Saturday, March 4, 2023, at Memorial Coliseum in Lexington, Kentucky. Kentucky won 197.675-196.450. Photo by Samuel Colmar | Staff

Parker Scott, Reporter

Kentucky gymnastics finished in sixth place out of eight teams in the NCAA National Semifinals in Fort Worth, Texas, on Thursday.

This year marked just the second national championship appearance for the Wildcats, who advanced from the regional in Norman, Oklahoma.

The team competed in the second session of the event along with Oklahoma, Utah, and UCLA.

The night started on the vault for Kentucky, where the team accumulated a total of 49.3125. Sophomore Makenzie Wilson was the highest individual scorer for the Wildcats with 9.9125, a score which also placed her fourth overall in the competition.

Fifth-year senior Arianna Patterson and junior Isabella Magnelli also put up impressive scores on the vault, with 9.8750 and 9.8625, respectively.

On the uneven bars, the Cats scored 49.1250, which was their lowest out of all four rotations, but senior Raena Worley scored an impressive 9.9250. Her score marked the highest individual score for Kentucky up to that point.

Other high scorers for the Wildcats on the bars were senior Shealyn Luksik with 9.8250 and junior Bailey Bunn and sophomore Jillian Procaski with 9.8000 each.

Kentucky celebrates after junior Hailey Davis’ floor routine during the No. 12 Kentucky vs. No. 9 Auburn gymnastics meet on Saturday, March 4, 2023, at Memorial Coliseum in Lexington, Kentucky. Kentucky won 197.675-196.450. Photo by Samuel Colmar | Staff (Samuel Colmar)

Midway through the meet, Kentucky stood at fourth place out of teams in session 2 with 98.4375, trailing Utah by 0.425.

Going into the balance beam, Cats bounced back and made the rotation their highest-scoring of the meet, with a total of 49.4125.

The most impressive performer on the beam was Magnelli, who earned the highest individual score for the team during the meet with a 9.9500, which tied for fourth place out of all teams competing.

Finishing out on the floor, the Wildcats totaled 49.2750, which was led by Worley’s performance that earned a 9.9375 from the judges.

Magnelli and junior Hailey Davis also did well on the floor, each scoring 9.8625.

The two all-around competitors for Kentucky were Worley and Procasky, who finished with total scores of 39.5875 and 39.1875, respectively.

Worley finished seventh overall out of all-around performers, scoring no lower than 9.8500 on the individual events.

Although the season did not end as fans had hoped, the Wildcats set program records for scoring multiple times throughout the season and were also one of three NCAA Division I programs to score at least a 49.000 on every event in every meet during the season.

The two teams to advance to the national championships from session 2 were Oklahoma and Utah, who will compete for the title along with Florida and LSU from session 1 on Saturday, April 15, in Fort Worth.