Isabella Magnelli was a seven-time All-American at UK. (Vicky Graff Photo)
Isabella Magnelli still remembers going to the CATSPY Awards and hoping that eventually she might be named Miss Wildcat based on her all-around excellence in athletics, academics, character and service during her Kentucky career.
“Leading up to the CATSPY Awards this year I had that on my mind,” said the seven-time All-American gymnast. “I always thought it would be such an honor to reach that achievement. When my name got called, my heart was filled with so much pride and spirit for this school.
“It is such an honor and so prestigious to receive that. So much goes into that. The person who gets this award exemplifies who a true Wildcat is. For a girl from New York who loves Kentucky and calls it her home now and loves competing for UK and loves relationships with everyone who works at UK, it is truly such an honor to receive that award. I don’t know what else to say.”
Former Kentucky gymnastics coach Leah Little, a student-athlete mentor at UK, believes Magnelli is a perfect Miss Wildcat.
“Isabella exemplifies all of the attributes to be selected as Miss Wildcat. As a coach, my marker for excellence was the triangle. Excellence in your sport, excellence in academics, and excellence in your character,” Little said. “Isabella excels in all three and more. Her All-American and All SEC awards coupled with her All-American academic awards speak for themselves.”
Magnelli said some people had “hinted” to her that she might be in line to win the award but she didn’t pay a lot of attention to them. That’s why when she was named Miss Wildcat along with volleyball All-Americans Emma Grome and Brooklyn DeLeye, she had to “kind of wing” her acceptance speech.
“I asked the Lord to fill me with peace,” she said. “After the speech I thought of things I wish I had said but a lot of people complimented me for what I said so that was pretty rewarding to hear.”
Magnelli definitely had a “rewarding” career at UK. She was a first-team All-American on both beam and vault during the regular season along with second-team All-American honors at the national championships. She scored a 9.950 on beam at the NCAA Championships and scored 9.9 or higher on 13 of 14 beam routines during the season.
She had 25 scores of 9.925 or higher — two 9.975s, 12 9.950s, and 11 9.925s — in her UK career. Magnelli scored 9.900 or higher in every single meet this season, helping her earn the No. 2 beam average in the nation at 9.927 and more than justify her being known as the “Beam Queen” in Kentucky.
Yet it is not the individual scores and honors that Magnelli says she will remember the most about her time at Kentucky.
“It is the friendships and relationships I have made that I will always remember,” she said. “People here are so sweet and caring. They want you to feel like UK is home. Every athletic staff member that I have met here is that way. Everyone makes you feel so loved here and cared for. It is home and family and always will be for me.”
Kentucky coach Tim Garrison said Magnelli always set high expectations for herself but that helped not only make her “great” but also made the program better.
Magnelli tried to add energy to the team as a freshman and never slowed down. She has the personality and talent to be a team leader and is proud of the “firm foundation” UK gymnastics has and was always one of the most popular team members after matches when young fans lined up for autographs and photos.
“I’m super excited to see what is in store for this team next year when some of the younger girls step into bigger leadership roles for this team,” Magnelli said.
“Coming from New York to Kentucky was such a culture shock at first but was also so good for me. I loved Kentucky and my career was better than I ever imagined it could be,” she said. “I never thought I would be an All-American. A lot of gymnasts are amazing for their club team but stay the same in college or get worse. At Kentucky, you just get better each year and my career here was far more than I could have ever dreamed of.”
