Kentucky STUNT Places Six on All-American Team

Six members of the Kentucky STUNT team were named All-Americans by the College STUNT Coaches Association on Friday.

Karley Kalchbrenner, Patricia Wangwe and Rachel Woods were all named first-team All-Americans. Kalchbrenner, a junior from Mokena, Illinois, was named to the first team after earning honorable mention All-American last season. Wangwe, a freshman from Lincoln, California, earned her first national honor. Woods, a senior from Louisville, also earned her first All-American status.

A pair of UK freshmen earned second-team honors. Peyton Anderson, a native of Frankfort, Illinois, and Kaylin Campbell, a native of Lexington, Kentucky, both were named to the second team.

Freshman Kennedy Knight, a native of Madisonville, Kentucky, was named honorable mention All-America by the CSCA.

Kentucky finished its second STUNT season as the Division I national runner-up.

STUNT was added as a varsity program at Kentucky back in September 2021 with the first season beginning in February 2022. One of the fastest-growing female sports in the United States, it is a head-to-head competition between two teams that focuses on the technical and athletic aspects of cheer. Kentucky is one of 55 total universities to compete in the sport nationally, including NCAA, NAIA and junior college schools, 10 more committed to begin in 2024 and one scheduled to join in 2025.

The Wildcats were previously a club team before taking over as a varsity sport, the 23rd sponsored by UK. That is the largest sports lineup among Southeastern Conference schools.

“We’re excited to add STUNT to our varsity program,” Barnhart said back in 2021. “It is enjoying rapid growth and we believe the University of Kentucky can be a leader in this emerging sport.

“There is very strong support for cheer at UK, in our community and across the Commonwealth. Our goal is to provide competitive opportunities for these young women while building a team that will contend for national championships.”

(UK Athletics)