Zaziski Earns Historic Third SEC Freshman of the Week Honor
FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. – On Tuesday, the Southeastern Conference announced that Paige Zaziski has been named the SEC Freshman of the Week for an historic third time this season. Zaziski was honored for her efforts in the season finale against No. 7 UCLA last Friday, where she tied a program-best on the uneven bars, set three personal-best scores and won two event titles.
This is Zaziski’s third SEC Freshman of the Week honor this season, and marks the first time in program history that a gymnast has won three weekly rookie honors. This week’s accolade places Zaziski ahead of former All-American, and current assistant coach, Jaime Pisani, who prior to this year was the only gymnast to win multiple SEC Freshman of the Week honors in program history. Pisani earned a pair of SEC Freshman of the Week distinctions back in 2009.
The freshman was able to earn her third weekly award this season thanks in large part to tying a program-best 9.950 on the uneven bars against No. 7 UCLA last Friday. The near perfect routine tied her with former Arkansas gymnasts Emily Peacock and Pisani for the program’s best mark in the event. Her score also set the freshman class record at Arkansas on the bars.
The record-tying performance enabled Zaziski to capture her fourth uneven bars title in the last six weeks. It was one of two event titles for the Chesterfield Township, Michigan, native last Friday, as she won her second-career all-around title with a career-best 39.450. It was the second all-around title in the last three meets for Zaziski, as she now has accumulated seven event titles in her first year at Arkansas.
Zaziski’s 9.950 on the uneven bars and 39.450 in the all-around were two of the three personal-best she set against the Bruins, as she also posted her career-best mark on the floor exercise, earning a 9.825 in the event.
The No. 18-ranked Arkansas women’s gymnastics team begins postseason competition this Saturday, March 21, as they will compete at the 2015 SEC Gymnastics Championship in Duluth, Georgia. The Razorbacks, who are seeded sixth in the eight-team field, will compete in the Championship’s afternoon session, which begins at 1 p.m. CT at the Gwinnett Center. Both sessions will be webcast live on the SEC Network+ via the WatchESPN App and ESPN3.com.
Fans who are wanting to purchase tickets can do so by clicking the link here. For more information on the 2015 SEC Gymnastics Championship click here.
For more information on the Arkansas women’s gymnastics team, follow @RazorbackGym on Twitter.
