NCAA gymnastics completed its season two months ago, but that doesn’t mean nothing is going on in that world. June 15th marked the opening of recruiting contact for the class of 2027. There was other good news for the Arizona GymCats, both on the coaching and recruiting trails.
On Kylie Kratchwell’s promotion
A season of firsts warrants another first. Arizona gymnastics now has two associate head coaches after the promotion of assistant coach Kylie Kratchwell. GymCats head coach John Court announced that the third-year assistant would join Taylor Spears with the title on Tuesday.
“She is a person of high character, has increased our program’s national competitiveness, and has a positive approach in developing our student-athletes,” Court stated about Kratchwell in the program’s press release.
The trio of Kratchwell, Spears, and first-year assistant Shelby Martinez earned WCGA Regional Staff of the Year honors after a huge showing for the GymCats in their first year in the Big 12.
The GymCats finished second in the Big 12 during the regular season and at the conference championship meet, helping Court earn Big 12 Coach of the Year honors. They defeated every other team twice except Utah, which won both the regular season and conference championship titles. They then went on to defeat Arizona State a third time in the NCAA postseason.
Once they got to regionals, the team had another first. They advanced to regional finals for the first time since the NCAA postseason format changed in 2019. They finished second in their session, defeating Georgia and ASU, to earn the honor as one of the final 16 teams standing.
Kratchwell is primarily responsible for training the uneven bars. She also helps choreograph floor exercise. In her three years with the program, Arizona has finished in the top 25 on bars every season. It finished 23rd in 2025. The GymCats have also tied their top score (49.475 in 2024) and their third-best score (49.425 in 2025) in program history under Kratchwell’s watch.
Kratchwell and Spears combined forces to help fifth-year gymnast Elena Deets earn Big 12 co-Specialist of the Year honors. Deets performed bars and beam for the GymCats.
Kratchwell arrived at the University of New Hampshire in the fall of 2017 rehabbing from tears to her ACL, MCL, and meniscus that kept her from competing in her final year of Level 10. She went on to become a bars specialist, performing during the 2020, 2021, and 2022 college seasons. She was a two-time WCGA Scholastic All-American with a career high of 9.925 on bars. She joined the coaching ranks at Arizona immediately after completing her college career.
On Abygail Mackinney’s improvements
Kratchwell isn’t the only GymCat to get good news this week. College Gym News did its periodic re-evaluation of college recruits on Wednesday. Class of 2026 commit Abygail Mackinney was one of eleven athletes who saw their scores and ratings dramatically improve after their latest Level 10 season.
Mackinney was a three-star recruit with a score of 48 when she committed to Arizona last August. The outlet now has her as a four-star recruit with a score of 66.
“After missing the 2023 season due to injury, Mackinney returned to competition in 2024 but didn’t compete floor until midseason,” Tara Graeve of CGN writes. “Her biggest improvements came on vault and floor, as she consistently competed a Yurchenko full for the entire season for the first time and returned to her pre-injury self on floor.”
Graeve noted that beam is Mackinney’s weakest event and she could still add difficulty in floor and vault. For Arizona, the addition of difficulty on vault and floor are probably the more important matters; beam workers have been a strong suit for the program in recent years under Spears.
Mackinney’s new evaluation gives Arizona its first four-star recruit in the class that will sign in November. She joins Avery Tarico and Avery McKay, two three-star athletes with scores of 55, in the class of 2026.
Lead photo by Rebecca Sasnett / Arizona Athletics