Arkansas Advances to Second Straight Regional Final
For the second consecutive season, the Gymbacks are among 16 teams left standing in the NCAA Gymnastics Championships field as No. 16 Arkansas came in second at the University Park Regional evening semifinal with a score of 197.550.
The Razorbacks finished behind the defending national champions and No. 1 seed LSU Tigers, who earned a mark of 198.100 in the meet. Michigan came in third with a 197.050 and Maryland rounded out the field with a 196.825.
Arkansas showed absolutely no rust on the evening despite not competing for over two weeks and racked up two new program regional event records with a 49.425 on vault and 49.525 on bars.
Freshman Joscelyn Roberson broke her freshman all-around record yet again with a new career high of 39.600, which was good for fourth place across both semifinal contests on the day. She didn’t score less than a 9.875 on any event and had a pair of 9.925s on beam and floor.
Senior Maddie Jones had an excellent day as well with a huge bars score of 9.950, which earned her a share of the crown on bars, Arkansas’ first regional title on the event ever. She also posted a 9.925 on floor, tied for first in the session.
Vault
Cami Weaver got the vault rotation off to a hot start with a stuck Yurchenko full that went 9.900. Freshman Ja’Leigh Lang also stuck her full next and earned a matching score. Sophomore Dakota Essenpries was up third and earned Arkansas’ next 9.900 for a great Yurchenko 1.5 with just a small step on the landing. Sophomore Hailey Klein went fourth and got a 9.800, and Roberson followed with a 9.875. Frankie Price closed the rotation with a 9.850, bringing the team’s event total to 49.425.
Bars
The Gymbacks kept their foot on the gas in the second rotation, opening up bars with scores of 9.875 for Roberson, 9.900 for junior Cally Swaney and 9.900 for grad student Kaity Ewald. Following a 9.750 in the fourth spot, Jones put up a stunning routine, complete with stuck dismount, and earned a mark of 9.950. Mati Waligora came to anchor next and tallied a 9.900. Arkansas concluded bars with a 49.525.
Beam
While Kalyxta Gamiao began beam calm, cool, and collected as usual with a 9.900, it was a bit shaky for the Gymbacks from there. Following a fall in the second position, Park bounced the group back with a 9.800. Swaney had a few struggles in her routine up fourth and went 9.675. Needing a couple of solid scores, Weaver and Roberson helped to right the ship with marks of 9.825 and 9.925, respectively. Arkansas managed to escape the rotation with a 49.125 on beam.
Floor
On the team’s best event, Arkansas was business as usual as the floor lineup started with two great routines from Gamiao and Klein, which both scored 9.850. Jones came up third and delivered a stellar routine, complete with clean tumbling, and earned a 9.925. Waligora was next and also go a 9.925, pacing the Gymbacks well. Price anchored as usual, but suffered an injury on her first tumbling pass and did not finish her routine. Despite it, Arkansas managed to post a 49.475 on the event and easily secured its spot in the regional final.
Up Next
Arkansas and LSU will join No. 8 Michigan State and No. 9 Kentucky in the University Park regional final on Saturday, April 5 at 4 p.m. CT. The top two teams out of this session will advance to the NCAA Gymnastics Championships April 17-19 in Fort Worth, Texas. The meet will be streamed live on ESPN+ and live stats will be provided via StatBroadcast.
More Information
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