Arkansas Sets New Program Vault Record, Personal Bests in Loss to Kentucky
While a tough final rotation put a meet victory out of reach for the Gymbacks on Friday night, the team still had plenty of highlights in the SEC dual.
The No. 11 Wildcats came away with a 197.875-195.400 victory over the No. 14 Hogs in team competition. Along the way, Arkansas recorded a new program high of 49.525 on vault, which included a perfect score. Sophomore Leah Smith nailed her Yurchenko full and stuck the landing for a 9.950 from both judges, the best possible mark for a vault of its kind, and she claimed a share of first place.
The Gymbacks saw two perfect 10 scores thrown on the night. Sophomore Maddie Jones finished with a career high 9.950 on bars with a 9.900/10.000 split, good for a two-way tie for first. while redshirt freshman Frankie Price got a 9.950/10.000 split for a 9.975 on floor, which tied for first. The score is Arkansas’ best on floor since 2014, when it was recorded by 2014 NCAA floor champion Katherine Grable.
Both Jones and Smith shared the event titles with their teammates. Freshman Reese Drotar recorded a new personal best on bars for the second consecutive week with a 9.950, and sophomore Makie Sedlacek scored 9.950 on vault for the first time for her Yurchenko 1.5.
Bars
The Hogs began the day on bars and after a mistake in the first routine, junior Jensen Scalzo showed her veteran consistency with a solid 9.800 in the second spot. Drotar and Jones were up next, and both sailed through their routines with clean, stuck double layout dismounts for matching 9.950s to pace the Hogs midway through the lineup. Freshman Jaime Pratt earned a 9.750 in the fifth spot, and graduate transfer Norah Flatley earned a 9.850 to close things up for the Gymbacks on bars. Arkansas finished the rotation with a 49.325 score.
Vault
The Arkansas vault lineup began with a bang as Weaver put down a great Yurchenko full for a personal best 9.900. Flatley dialed up a 9.850 to keep the momentum going, which brought up Smith in the third spot. She delivered a textbook Yurchenko full for the monster 9.950 score, the highest she could earn. Sedlacek stuck her 1.5 with minor form issues for another 9.950, her best yet, and freshman Lauren Williams sealed the record-breaking rotation with a 9.875. The Gymbacks earned a 49.525 on vault, and despite Kentucky also recording a program high score, bested the Wildcats on the event, 49.525-49.500.
Floor
Kentucky was still in the lead midway through, but the floor squad gained big ground back for the Hogs. The Maddie duo of Jones and Hickey started the rotation with 9.850 and 9.800 scores, respectively. Fifth year Bailey Lovett then put together a huge routine with clean tumbling passes for a 9.900. Williams and Price brought the heat in the fifth and sixth spots, starting with the rookie Williams. Each pass was big, and the performance was lights out for a 9.950, which matches her career high. Price then came to anchor and brought the house down. The best routine she’s ever done, one judge awarded her with perfection and the other an impressive 9.950 for a 9.975 final score. The Hogs scored 49.475 on floor and led by a tenth heading to the final rotation.
Beam
Sophomore Kalyxta Gamiao led Arkansas off well with a 9.850 routine that included a stuck dismount, but the beam team had a tough time following that. The Gymbacks had three consecutive falls, which put the pressure on to Flatley in the anchor spot. She delivered under hard circumstances with a solid 9.900 routine to end the meet.
Up Next
Arkansas returns home to take on Missouri on Friday, Feb. 24 from Barnhill Arena at 7:45 p.m. The meet will be televised live on SEC Network.
More Information
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