Riner’s Raena Worley has received one of collegiate gymnastics highest honors, that of All-American.
University of Kentucky sophomore Raena Worley, from Riner, the SEC’s all-around champion, was named a 2021 Women’s Collegiate Gymnastics Association Regular Season All-American on Thursday.
She earned all-around second-team status for her National Qualifying Score (NQS) of 39.538, which placed 14th in the country. Nineteen gymnasts from the SEC earned All-American status.
Athletes whose NQS ranked nationally among the top eight (including ties) at the end of the regular season earned first-team All-America honors, while NQS numbers. 9-16 (including ties) landed on the second team.
Worley is the seventh different All-American in the history of Kentucky gymnastics, bringing home the program’s 32nd all-time honor.
She was also named to the 2021 All-Southeastern Conference team and the 2021 Southeastern Conference Community Service Team.
Worley is the lone underclassman bestowed the honor across all eight competing institutions.
Despite limited opportunities for community engagement this season due to health and safety protocols, Worley has dedicated more than twice as many community service hours as have her closest teammates.
The bulk of her time was spent at Flip Fest Summer Gymnastics Camp where she taught children the sport of gymnastics. She also spent time at Garden Springs Elementary School where she assisted students with reading and math.
In addition to being an SEC All-Freshman athlete and two-time SEC Freshman of the Week honoree in 2020, Worley was named a Women’s Collegiate Gymnastics Association Scholastic All-American and SEC First-Year Academic Honor Roll student.
Meanwhile, No. 14 Kentucky concluded its 2021 season with a 197.600 performance at the NCAA Salt Lake City Regional final, matching the best team score in program history. Worley earned a share of four event titles—including the competition’s outright all-around crown—while All-SEC junior Josie Angeny notched a first-place-tying finish on balance beam.
“It would be impossible to compress my thoughts about the season or this team into a few words, so I won’t try,” said head coach Tim Garrison. “I will say that this group is very special to me and my staff. They have a beautiful combination of talent, attitude, discipline and competitiveness, among other things.”
At the regionals, Worley tied a career high of 9.9000 on the vault. She also matched a career high of 9.950 on the uneven parallel bars, which tied her with gymnasts from Utah and Arizona State for first place on the apparatus. She also matched her best-on-beam performance with a 9.950, which tied gymnasts from Utah and LSU for the event win.
Worley’s career-high all-around total of 39.750 was the best all-time mark by any Kentucky gymnast other than eight-time NCAA champion Jenny Hansen.
