Kentucky Gymnastics sweeps Quad Meet, beats Georgia in historic performance

Kentucky Gymnastics continues to roll through SEC competition with their defeat over Georgia on a historic night at Memorial Coliseum on Friday.

This victory marks the first in program history over a decorated Georgia program, which has 10 national titles to its name. The Quad Meet, hosted by Kentucky, featured Georgia, Illinois, and Central Michigan.

Cally Nixon had a historic night on bars for UK, setting her personal best at 9.975. Nixon also scored over a 9.8 on her second event, the vault, giving Kentucky a strong contribution. Kentucky achieved an overall 49.475, the season’s highest score on the bars.

Highlights from a historic night at Memorial Coliseum. 🎥 pic.twitter.com/dY4tdcOaEH

— Kentucky Gymnastics (@UKGymnastics) February 5, 2022

Kentucky scored over a 49 on all events Friday night, including bars, vault, beam, and floor. Raena Worley continued her streak of All-Around titles, scoring above a 9.9 in all four events. Worley now has scored over a 9.9 in 15 out of 26 events this season. She particularly shines on the floor event, where she scored her second 9.975 in a row.

Worley’s high score in the event is only second to eight-time national championship-winning Wildcat, Jenny Hansen.

.@RaenaWorley’s career-high-tying 9️⃣.9️⃣7️⃣5️⃣ floor routine is the best all-time score on the event by any Wildcat other than eight-time national champion Jenny Hansen. pic.twitter.com/hqD1gvqm1P

— Kentucky Gymnastics (@UKGymnastics) February 5, 2022

Kentucky swept the meet with a final score of 197.450, posting back-to-back scores of over 197.400 in the last two weeks of competition. Georgia ended the meet in second, scoring 196.125. Illinois followed with a 195.650 while Western Michigan rounded out with a 195.550.

“The validation of two 197.400-pluses in a row is what this team needed,” Kentucky head coach Tim Garrison said. “To be able to put it together twice in a row validates everything we’ve done in the preseason.”

After the meet, Coach Garrison received a special welcome in the locker room by his team: a Gatorade shower to celebrate the program-first victory over Georgia.

First time UK beat UGA in a regular season meet EVER. Calls for a gatorade shower😎 @UKCoachGarrison @chadwiest pic.twitter.com/HBzUwCCx8e

— josephine “z” (@josiegymcat) February 5, 2022

No. 12 Kentucky will be back in action in an away meet against Arkansas on Friday at 8 p.m. on the SEC Network+ or the ESPN app.