Gymbacks Host No. 1 Sooners, Push to Pack the Palace on Senior Night
The No. 8 Gymbacks are looking to send off their seniors in historic fashion as the No. 1 Oklahoma Sooners come to town on Friday.
Not only should the meet provide the fiercest competition of the season at Bud Walton Arena, but the team is pushing Razorback Nation to help break the NCAA gymnastics attendance record. BWA is a unique gymnastics venue with a capacity of over 19,000, larger than most NCAA facilities that host the sport across the country. The current attendance high was set at the University of Utah with 16,019 at Salt Lake City’s Huntsman Center on March 6, 2015. The Gymbacks are challenging their fans to best that and end its 11-year reign.
Oklahoma will prove to be a tough opponent for Arkansas, and the two teams have already met once this season at February’s Metroplex Challenge, at which the Sooners defeated the Razorbacks 198.175-197.700. Oklahoma outmatches Arkansas on every event, but the gap between the two teams is the smallest on floor, where the Sooners hold just a 0.111 advantage.
Arkansas’ all-time series with Oklahoma is the shortest among SEC foes, but is also the most lopsided. The Gymbacks are 1-25 all-time against the Sooners and the lone victory came in 2009, in Norman. While the Gymbacks haven’t had much success head-to-head against the Sooners, Arkansas has toppled a No. 1 three times before: once in the 2009 season and twice in the 2011 season. Of those three upsets over No. 1, two came at home.
In addition to the attendance record push, the meet has been dubbed a White Out, and all fans are encouraged to wear white. The first 250 students in attendance will get a Gymbacks hat and the first 2,000 in attendance will get white poms to cheer on the team.
It will also be Senior Night at Bud Walton Arena, with post-meet ceremony and honors for Reese Drotar, Frankie Price, Morgan Price, Leah Smith, Cally Swaney and Cami Weaver.
Doors open at 6:15 p.m. with team intros at 7:15 and first vault at 7:30. Tickets are available online or in-person via Razorback Ticket Center. The meet will also be streamed live via SEC Network+ with live scoring provided by Virtius.
Numbers to Know:
Oklahoma (NQS and ranking | Top ind. NQS)
- Vault: 49.536, 1st | Addison Fatta, 9.950
- Bars: 49.425, 4th | Addison Fatta, 9.915
- Beam: 49.529, 1st | Faith Torrez, 9.955
- Floor: 49.454, 4th | Mackenzie Estep, 9.915
- All-Around: 197.943, 1st | Addison Fatta, 39.620
Arkansas (Average and ranking | Top ind. average)
- VT: 49.314, T-4th | Lauren Williams, 9.910
- UB: 49.207, 13th | Morgan Price, 9.920
- BB: 49.314, 6th | Joscelyn Roberson, 9.940
- FX: 49.343, 11th | Lauren Williams, 9.915
- AA: 197.161, 8th | Hailey Klein, 39.380
More Information
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