Hogs Make Big Strides, But Fall to Tigers
Arkansas hit the road for the team’s first SEC road dual on Friday, and while the Gymbacks stayed within a tenth of the home team for three rotations, they ultimately finished the day with a 196.675-197.500 loss.
The Hogs made significant improvements in the outing and set new season highs on bars (49.225), vault (49.325), floor (49.300), and also earned a new season high mark as a team with 196.675.
Redshirt freshman Cami Weaver earned her first beam title at Arkansas with a career high of 9.950, which is also the Hogs’ highest score of the season so far. The Gymbacks had seven other podium finishes on the night and placed someone in the top three on every event.
Graduate transfer Norah Flatley had another strong showing for the Hogs. She placed second all-around with a 39.550, came in second on bars (9.900) and beam (9.900), and tied for third on floor with another 9.900 mark.
Bars
Looking to redeem themselves after three falls last week, Arkansas bounced back in a big way on bars to get the night going. Freshman Cally Swaney and junior Jensen Scalzo got matching 9.825s to start, followed by a 9.800 from rookie Reese Drotar in the third spot. Sophomore Maddie Jones made her first bars appearance of the season in the fourth spot and scored a 9.850 with a solid routine and a stuck double layout dismount. Freshman Jaime Pratt kept the momentum up with a 9.825, which brought up Flatley as the anchor. She sailed through another routine beautifully and got her third 9.900 on the event in as many weeks. Arkansas finished the rotation with a 49.225.
Vault
Weaver and Flatley led off with a pair of Yurchenko fulls on vault that went 9.850 to set the tone. Price threw a powerful full next with just a small hop on the landing for a career high score of 9.900 halfway through the lineup. The underclassmen continued to deliver with a 9.850 for sophomore Leah Smith and a 9.875 for freshman Lauren Williams’ Yurchenko 1.5, which brought the Hogs’ team vault score to 49.325.
Floor
The Maddies in the floor lineup laid a solid foundation with a 9.800 for Jones and and a 9.825 for Hickey in the first and second spots. Williams yet again on floor and nailed all three tumbling passes with strong choreography and stage presence for a 9.900 score with two left in the rotation. Flatley followed up with a 9.900 of her own, an Arkansas high for her, and Price closed it out with a 9.875 for a 49.300 floor title.
Beam
Sophomore Kalyxta Gamiao cruised through all her acro and stuck her round-off 1.5 dismount, which was enough to match her career high of 9.875. The lineup hit a bit of a lull after that, but Weaver stepped up in the fifth spot to help the Razorbacks recover. She nailed her triple acro series, which paced the remainder of her routine, and took the smallest of steps in her landing for a huge 9.950. Flatley capped things off with a solid routine for a 9.900, her third 9.900 of the night.
Up Next
The Hogs come home for a dual meet against LSU on Friday, Jan. 27 at 7:45 p.m. at Barnhill Arena. The meet will be the team’s first-ever Stripe the Barn event, and will be broadcast live on SEC Network.
More Information
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