Arkansas opens with a bye

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. – The 19th-ranked University of Arkansas gymnastics team learned it would open with the second bye at the 2006 Southeastern Conference Gymnastics Championship in Birmingham, Ala., Friday. Arkansas and the other six members of the SEC, compete at 6:00 p.m. Central in the Birmingham Jefferson Civic Center Saturday. The teams enjoyed a media luncheon and the draw Friday where Arkansas learned it would open on a bye. Fifth-ranked Alabama opens on the first bye and moves in Olympic order to the vault, second bye, bars, beam, third bye and finally the floor. No. 14 Auburn opens on vault, Arkansas on bye two, No. 1 Georgia on bars, No. 8 LSU on beam, No. 3 Florida on the third bye and No. 18 Kentucky on the floor. Arkansas’ rotation looks like this: bye 2, bars, beam, bye 3, floor, bye 1 and finally the vault. “The set up is amazing and I’d like to thank the conference office for again showcasing our sport,” said co-head coach Mark Cook. “I’m proud to be a member of the best gymnastics conference in the country”