Sophomore Creslyn Brose earned All-American honors on floor exercise but also earned SEC academic honors. (Vicky Graff Photo)
All-Americans Isabella Magnelli and Creslyn Brose were two of 11 University of Kentucky gymnasts recently named to the Winter SEC Academic Honor Roll based on grades from the 2024 spring, summer, and fall terms. A student-athlete must have a 3.0 grade-point average for the preceding academic year or a cumulative 3.0 GPA to be named to the list.
Kentucky gymnastics coach Tim Garrison was not surprised by the honor Magnelli, a senior, and Brose, a sophomore, received, one week after competing in the NCAA Gymnastics Championship.
“It means a lot to help the way they approach life and all they do. They do athletics at a high level, work in the community at a high level, and they do academics at a high level,” Garrison said. “Everything they do is just fantastic.”
Other gymnasts who earned SEC academic honors were Hailey Davis, Cadence Gormley, Kaila Lawrence, Sharon Lee, Jillian Procasky, Anna Riegert, Isabella Rivelli, Delaynee Rodriguez and Makenzie Wilson.
Garrison said the team’s overall grade-point average is usually between 3.6 and 3.8.
“A high GPA is not out of the norm for our team. I’m not surprised at all at what they do,” he said. “We want them to be bright and that tends to be the type of athlete we target. It’s the type of people we target and they come here determined, dedicated and committed to the academic side as well as the athletics side.”
He was proud of the way Magnelli and Brose competed as individuals in the national championship after UK’s team was eliminated in the regional final.
“It’s a different environment. They had to join a different team and just rotate and were at the back end of the lineup,” Garrison said. “You get thrown a huge curveball on the biggest stage of our sport but they were calm and joyful. They performed exceptionally well and everything I was expecting they did.”
Brose was the last gymnast to compete and had to ride a stationary bike at times to stay ready when her time to compete came.
“But it is not easy. Standing around the whole meet can have an impact on you,” Garrison said. “With Creslyn, being the last person up elevated her performance. She wants nothing else going on and all the focus on her when she competes. I wish the TV broadcast had shown her performance but I get all the drama going on with the national team championship. But she did great.”
