With Kentucky gymnastics set to kick off its home schedule with “Excite Night” against Georgia, plenty of buzz surrounds “Team 50” for the 2024 season.
With six new freshman being surrounded by veteran presences, the Kernel broke down every athlete on the team to help fans get to know this year’s Cats.
MEET THE TEAM:
Bridget Bourque
Year: Sophomore
Hometown: St. Petersburg, Florida
Major: Marketing
Highschool: Pinellas Park High School
About: As a freshman Bourque only competed on floor once, but Wildcat fans saw the Florida native score the highest vault score of 9.900 versus Arkansas. She’ll be looking to play a larger role on the team as a returning sophomore.
Creslyn Brose
Year: Freshman
Hometown: Holly Springs, North Carolina
Highschool: Crossroads Flex High School
Major: Music
About: The first new freshman on the team, Brose will look to make a name for herself in front of Wildcat fans for the first time in the Cats’ home opener against Georgia after competing at LSU.
Bailey Bunn
Year: Senior
Hometown: Greenville, North Carolina
Major: Kinesiology
Highschool: Junius H. Rose High School
About: A veteran presence on the Cats, Bunn competed in every meet as a freshman and was named SEC Co-Freshman of the Week on February 16th and produced scores like 9.8875 on beam at the National Championship.
As a sophomore Bunn competed bars, beam and floor and, as a junior, Bunn competed in beam in every meet and bars in 14 consecutive meets.
Carissa Clay
Year: Senior
Hometown: San Diego, California
Highschool: Junipero Serra High School
Major: M.S. Sports Leadership
About: As a freshman Clay did not compete but, as a sophomore, she competed in beam three times and set a career-high against Florida, scoring a 9.725.
Junior year she did not compete but will look to get back to regular competition as a senior building toward a future dream of possibly becoming a coach.
Hailey Davis
Year: Senior
Hometown: New Bern, North Carolina
High School: Havelock High School
Major: Marketing and Management
About: As a freshman Davis competed in every meet and produced scores like 9.825 on bars and 9.875 on floor.
As a sophomore, Davis earned an individual qualification to the NCAA National Championship and scored 9.850 in floor, placing in the top 25.
As a Junior, Davis set a new National Championship performance best on floor, scoring 9.8625 and scored 9.900 or higher in 10 meets.
Samantha Forman
Year: Sophomore
Hometown: Parkland, Florida
High School: U.S. Performance Academy
Major: Marketing
About: In the 2021 Junior Olympic Nationals, Forman placed ninth on floor and eighth in all-around. As a freshman, Forman did not compete.
Cadence Gormley
Year: Freshman
Hometown: Richmond, Virginia
High School: Deep Run High School
Major: Marketing
About: Another newbie for the Wildcat faithful, Gormley will look to carve out her role on the team amidst veteran talent. She will have her first taste of home Kentucky fans on “Excite Night.”
Kaila Lawrence
Year: Freshman
Hometown: Greenville, North Carolina
High School: Junius H. Rose High School
Major: Health Sciences
About: Hailing from the same high school as veteran Bailey Bunn, Lawrence is also new to Lexington as a freshman. She will look to make her impact on the Cats during his first season in the Bluegrass.
Sharon Lee
Year: Freshman
Hometown: Round Rock, Texas
High School: Round Rock High School
Major: Health Sciences
About: Hailing from the Lone Star State, Lee will look to make her Kentucky debut as a freshman. She will also get her first taste of a home crowd in Rupp Arena for “Excite Night.”
Isabella Magnelli
Year: Senior
Hometown: Suffern, New York
Highschool: Suffern High School
Major: M.S. Sports Leadership
About: As a freshman, Magnelli competed in every meet of the season, producing scores like 9.900 on vault and 9.850 on beam.
As a sophomore, Magnelli competed in bars, beam and floor, and tied her career-high on vault twice with 9.900. She set a career-high at Alabama on floor with 9.925.
As a Junior, she was named to the WCGA National Championship All-America First Team Balance Beam (Tied-fourth overall-9.9500), WCGA Regular Season All-America Second Team Beam and to the All-SEC team.
Arianna Patterson
Year: Redshirt Fifth Year
Hometown: Plano, Texas
Highschool: Plano Senior High School
Major: Digital Media Design
About: Freshman year she did not compete due to injury.
Sophomore year, Patterson competed in every single meet, earning two-first place finishes on vault. She scored a second career-high of 9.900 on vault at Auburn on Feb. 7.
Junior Year, she tied her career-high 9.900 on vault at SEC Championships Patterson and scored 9.825 on beam at NCAA Salt Lake City Regional Final.
Senior year, Patterson was named to the All-SEC team and recorded a beam career-high at LSU with 9.925. She set a career-high on floor with 9.850 against Michigan State.
As a fifth-year senior, Patterson was SEC Co-Specialist of the Week and tied her highest career vault score (9.950) three times.
Jillian Procasky
Year: Junior
Hometown: Austin, Texas
Highschool: Texas Connections Academy at Houston
Major: Marketing
About: Procasky made an immediate impact at UK, being named to the All-SEC Freshman Team and recorded the highest all-around score of 38.875.
She also set the highest bar score against Michigan State with 9.900.
As a sophomore, Procasky was named to the WCGA National Championship All-American Second Team All-Around (eighth overall, 39.1875). She set a career-best all-around score and competed all-around seven times in 2023.
Annie Riegert
Year: Junior
Hometown: Mason, Ohio
Highschool: William Mason High School
Major: Marketing
About: Freshman year Riegert competed twice on bars, recording her highest score against Ball State with a 9.700.
Sophomore year she competed on bars in eight meets and beam once. She set a new career best on bars at Missouri (9.850).
Cecily Rizo
Year: Freshman
Hometown: Coppell, Texas
Highschool: Marcus High School
Major: Health Sciences
About: A freshman, Rizo has already made her Kentucky debut at LSU. She will look to make her home debut on “Excite Night” against Georgia in the Cats’ home opener.
Delaynee Rodriguez
Year: Freshman
Hometown: Las Vegas, Nevada
Highschool: Foothill High School
Major: Business
About: Another freshman for the Cats, Rodriguez will continue to try to carve out her niche on the Wildcats’ gymnastics team during her first season. The Cats’ home opener will be her home debut.
Claire Stippich
Year: Sophomore
Hometown: Hartland, Wisconsin
Highschool: Lake Country Lutheran High School
Major: Accounting and Mathematical Economics
About: As a freshman Stippich did not compete and she will look to play a larger role with the Wildcats as a returning sophomore.
Makenzie Wilson
Year: Junior
Hometown: Clinton, Tennessee
Highschool: Anderson County High School
Major: Healthcare Communications
About: Freshman year Wilson competed on vault in 10 meets and recorded the highest mark of 9.875 versus Florida.
Sophomore year, Wilson was named to the WCGA National Championship All-America First Team Vault (fourth overall, 9.9125) and competed vault in every meet and floor in 10.
She set a career-best vault versus Auburn (9.975) and saw two event wins on vault.
Raena Worley
Year: Fifth-Year Senior
Hometown: Christiansburg, VA.
Major: Kinesiology/Communication
About: Freshman year Worley was named to the SEC All-Freshman Team and named SEC Freshman of the Week twice.
She competed in every meet of the season and earned three first place finishes on floor. Sophomore year she was named to the Second-Team WCGA Regular Season All-American All-Around Team and All-SEC team, scoring 9.7875 on vault at the NCAA Championships.
She scored 9.900 or better on bars six times and scored 9.900 or better on floor nine times.
Junior year, Worley was named to the First-Team WCGA Regular All-American All-Around team and second-team WCGA Regular Season All-American bars. She was also named to the All-SEC team.
She was SEC Gymnast of the Week three times and represented UK as an individual for all-around at the NCAA National Championships, placing 12th overall.
Senior year, she was an AAI Award Finalist, Honda Sports Award Finalist and the First Honda Award finalist for UK since Jenny Hansen (1993-1995) and named to the WCGA National Championship All-America First Team All-Around, WCGA National Championship All-America Second Team Uneven Bars, WCGA National Championship All-America Second and First Team Floor Exercise.
Overall she has tallied 17 career individual victories on floor.
