Gymnastics

National Semifinal On Deck for Arkansas Gymnastics

April 16, 2024
ESPN2 Stream Vault/Beam Stream Bars/Floor Stream Meet Notes

A fitting bookend to an already historic season, the Razorbacks will return to the NCAA gymnastics national championships this week for the first time in six years and first time under fifth-year head coach Jordyn Wieber.

Arkansas will compete as one of the eight teams left standing in Fort Worth, a tougher field to break into than the Gymbacks’ last appearance in 2018, when 12 squads qualified to nationals. This year’s trip is the program’s ninth overall and first in the updated format.

Arkansas qualified to nationals after a stellar performance in the Fayetteville Regional Final, in which the Gymbacks scored 197.825, a new regional record and the second-highest team score in program history. The team has had an average score of 197.400 through three postseason meets so far and has put up 11 scores of 197+ on the season, a new program record by six.

Nationals competition will follow the same structure as regionals, with two semifinals of four teams, and the top two out of each session will advance to the national championship. 10-seed Arkansas is set to face off against No. 2 LSU, No. 3 Cal and Stanford in Thursday’s afternoon session at 3:30 p.m. No. 1 Oklahoma, No. 4 Florida, No. 5 Utah and No. 8 Alabama will then vie for a berth to finals at 8 p.m., and the national championship is set for Saturday, April 20 at 3 p.m.

Individual awards and All-Americans will be named at the conclusion of both Thursday semifinals. Gymnasts that place 1-4 on an event in their respective session will earn First Team honors, and 5-8 placements will be named Second Team. Individual titles and podium finishes will be based on combined results from both semifinals, and ties will not be broken.

Arkansas has seen a gymnast earn All-American status in each of Wieber’s three full seasons so far (2020 championships canceled due to COVID-19) and has had at least one All-American honor in 12 of its 22 seasons dating back to 2003, 53 overall.

Each Thursday session will be broadcast live on ESPN2, and the national championship will air live on ABC. Wieber and assistant coach Kyla Ross’ London 2012 teammate, three-time Olympic gold medalist, and two-time world gold medalist Aly Raisman will be on the call for the weekend, along with three-time Olympian John Roethlisberger.

ESPN+ apparatus stream commentary will be provided by Olympic silver medalists Samantha Peszek and Bridget Sloan on vault and beam and Kennedy Baker (2015 NCAA champion – Florida) and Anastasia Webb (2x NCAA champion, 2021 all-around, vault, floor champion – Oklahoma) on bars and floor.

The Gymbacks start the day on beam and will then rotate through floor, vault, and bars. Four individual qualifiers will also join the Hogs for the day: Amani Herring of Penn State on beam, Chae Campbell of UCLA on floor, Anaya Smith of Arizona State on vault, and Jada Mangahas, also of ASU, on bars.

Numbers to Know:

# 2 LSU (NQS and ranking | Top ind. NQS)

  • Vault: 49.510, 2nd | Haleigh Bryant, 9.965
  • Bars: 49.570, 3rd | Haleigh Bryant, 9.960
  • Beam: 49.530, T-3rd | Konnor McClain, 9.975
  • Floor: 49.725, 1st | Kiya Johnson, 9.970
  • All-Around: 198.215, 2nd | Haleigh Bryant, 39.810

#3 Cal

  • VT: 49.435, 6th | Mya Lauzon, 9.935
  • UB: 49.640, 2nd | eMjae Frazier/Madelyn Williams, 9.960
  • BB: 49.630, 2nd | Mya Lauzon, 9.965
  • FX: 49.635, 3rd | eMjae Frazier, 9.960
  • AA: 198.180, 3rd | eMjae Frazier, 39.755

Stanford

  • VT: 49.170 (27th) | Taralyn Nguyen, 9.880
  • UB: 49.330, 17th | Chloe Widner, 9.905
  • BB: 49.385, T-14th | Chloe Widner, 9.950
  • FX: 49.390, 24th | Chloe Widner, 9.925
  • AA: 197.045, 19th | Brenna Neault, 39.355

#10 Arkansas

  • VT: 49.355, 11th | Lauren Williams, 9.910
  • UB: 49.355, 15th | Maddie Jones, 9.895
  • BB: 49.380, 16th | Kalyxta Gamiao, 9.895
  • FX: 49.565, T-9th | Frankie Price, 9.950
  • AA: 197.445, 12th | N/A

More Information

Visit ArkansasRazorbacks.com for the latest information on all things Arkansas Gymnastics. You can also find the Razorbacks on social media by liking us on Facebook (Arkansas Razorback Gymnastics) and following us on Twitter and Instagram (@RazorbackGym).

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