After being involved with Kentucky gymnastics for the most successful eight-year span in program history, Rachel Garrison was named associate head coach on Monday.
Garrison’s promotion follows a four-year stint as assistant coach after four prior years of volunteering.
“I am excited to announce that Rachel Garrison has been promoted to associate head coach,” said head coach Tim Garrison. “She has consistently exceeded expectations in her role as beam coach and recruiting coordinator. In addition to these duties, she will now take the lead on outreach and team activities. I am very much looking forward to the added benefits for our student-athletes and community.”
As beam coach, Garrison led the Wildcats to their best national ranking of any event with a No. 8 finish in 2019. Kentucky tied the second-best single-meet team beam score in school history with a 49.425 in an upset of No. 5 LSU on Feb. 18, then surpassed the mark with a 49.450 versus Central Michigan on March 8. UK had an individual match or surpass the 9.900 benchmark on beam 15 times on the season.
Under Garrison’s guidance in 2019, senior Alex Hyland was named a second-team Women’s Collegiate Gymnastics Association All-American and All-Southeastern Conference on beam (as well as a WCGA All-American and second-team WCGA Regular Season All-American as an all-around competitor), while Josie Angeny was named SEC All-Freshman on beam.
Along with veteran colleague Chuck Dickerson, Garrison was part of a UK gymnastics staff named 2018 National Association of Collegiate Gymnastics Coaches/Women (now WCGA) National Assistant Coaches of the Year.
Garrison is a graduate of San Diego State University, where she earned a Bachelor of Science in Kinesiology with a specialization in pre-physical therapy in 1999. Rachel is married to Kentucky head coach Tim Garrison.
For the latest on the Kentucky gymnastics team, follow @UKGymnastics on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram, as well as on the web at UKAthletics.com.
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