McKenna Kelley

McKenna Lane Kelley (born April 15, 1997 in Houston, Texas) is a retired American artistic gymnast.

McKenna Kelley
Full nameMcKenna Lane Kelley
Country represented United States
Born (1997-04-15) April 15, 1997
Houston, Texas, United States
DisciplineWomen's artistic gymnastics
LevelCollegiate gymnast
ClubStars Gymnastics Training Center
College teamLSU Tigers (Class of 2019)
Head coach(es)Dan Baker, Ashly Baker
RetiredApril 25, 2019
Medal record
Representing Stars TX
Nastia Liukin Cup
2014 Greensboro All Around
Representing LSU Tigers
NCAA Championships
2019 Fort Worth Team
2017 St. Louis Team
2016 Fort Worth Team

Early life

McKenna Kelley was born on April 15, 1997 in Houston, Texas. She is the second of four children of Olympic gold medal gymnast Mary Lou Retton and former Texas Longhorns quarterback Shannon Kelley. Her older sister Shayla competed for the Baylor University Acrobatics and Tumbling team, her younger sister Skyla is a competitive cheerleader,[1] and her younger sister Emma is set to join the University of Arkansas gymnastics team in 2020.

Career

Level 10

Kelley placed 5th in the all-around at the 2013 J.O. Nationals in the Junior D age division.[2] In 2014, she was the Nastia Liukin Cup co-champion with Mackenzie Brannan.

Kelley briefly trained as an elite gymnast and was invited to a few U.S. National team camps in 2015.[3] She attended the USA Gymnastics training camp for the selection of the 2015 Pan American Games but did not make the team.[4]

College

2016

Kelley joined the LSU Tigers gymnastics team in the 2016 season. She specialized in the floor exercise, competing in 13 of 14 meets. At the SEC Championship, she posted a season-high score of 9.925 to help the Tigers win the team title; she also earned SEC All-Freshman honors.[5]

At the Super Six team finals of the 2016 NCAA Gymnastics Championship, she contributed a score of 9.9 to the Tigers' second-place finish.[6]

2017

Kelley competed on floor exercise in all but two meets of the 2017 season, and also competed once on vault for a score of 9.825. She earned a career-high floor exercise score of 9.975 against George Washington and Iowa. She posted a score of 9.95 on floor exercise at the SEC Championships, earning the event title and contributing to the Tigers' team title.

At the Super Six team finals of the 2017 NCAA Gymnastics Championship, she contributed a score of 9.9 on the floor exercise to help the Tigers earn another second-place finish.[7] She earned first team All-America honors on the floor exercise.

2018

Kelley did not compete in the 2018 season due to an Achilles tendon injury she suffered during a preseason training session.

2019

In addition to floor exercise, Kelley competed regularly on vault and three times on balance beam during the 2019 season. She posted season-high scores of 9.925 on the vault against Missouri and 9.85 on the balance beam at Kentucky. On March 8, she earned her first career perfect 10 on the floor exercise against Oregon State, earning SEC Specialist of the Week honors. At the SEC Championships, she posted scores of 9.9 on the vault and the floor exercise to help the Tigers to another team title.

In the team finals of the 2019 NCAA Gymnastics Championship, Kelley contributed scores of 9.8875 on the vault and 9.95 on the floor exercise to help earn another second-place team finish for the Tigers.[8] She earned second team All-America honors on the floor exercise.

Having missed an entire season due to injury, Kelley was eligible to take a redshirt year but instead opted to retire and end her career after her senior season.[9]

Personal life

McKenna lives in Cedar Park, Texas, United States.[10]

gollark: Probably. I think the strategy now is to just accept the decline into badness.
gollark: It is, but who cares.
gollark: Who would *pay* to run that?
gollark: You've clearly got SOME sort of computer, unless you're just running the internet protocol stack in your head and flipping a switch wired to an Ethernet cable really fast.
gollark: Phones are, in fact, computers.

References
  1. Jenkins, Jeff (2014-06-03). "Kelley steps out of the shadows of famous mother". Houston Chronicle. Retrieved 2020-06-18.
  2. "GymDivas.Us | Online Resource for Gymnasts in the United States". gymdivas.us. Archived from the original on April 28, 2014. Retrieved April 27, 2014.
  3. "April U.S. National Team Training Camp: Recap". Chatty Gymnast. Archived from the original on 27 May 2015. Retrieved 10 August 2015.
  4. "USA Gymnastics - USA Gymnastics announces women Pan Am Games training squad". USA Gymnastics. Retrieved 10 August 2015.
  5. "McKenna Kelley - 2019 - Gymnastics". LSU Tigers. Retrieved 2020-06-18.
  6. "Teams". roadtonationals.com. Retrieved 2020-06-18.
  7. "Teams". roadtonationals.com. Retrieved 2020-06-18.
  8. "Teams". roadtonationals.com. Retrieved 2020-06-18.
  9. Times-Picayune, Amie Just, NOLA com | The. "LSU's McKenna Kelley announces retirement on 'Today Show'". NOLA.com. Retrieved 2020-06-18.
  10. "USA Gymnastics | McKenna Kelley". usagym.org. Retrieved April 27, 2014.
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