UA gymnasts eye Mardi Gras meet
FAYETTEVILLE — The No. 8 Arkansas Razorbacks gymnastics team finally gets a break from a grueling run of dual meets against SEC competition today.
But the intensity might be even higher, as the Razorbacks (2-4 overall, 2-4 SEC) take on No. 4 LSU, No. 20 Missouri and No. 21 George Washington at the Mardi Gras Invitational quad meet in St. Louis.
The University of Arkansas, Fayetteville opened the season with six SEC dual meets for the first time, the only team in the conference to do it this season, and face two more at the Mardi Gras meet, which is being held on a raised podium to simulate postseason competition.
“We’re just trying to get better every weekend,” 16th year Arkansas Coach Mark Cook said. “It’s just a matter of staying consistent and staying healthy. It’s going to be a different competition being on the podium.”
The Razorbacks have posted five consecutive scores of 196 or better, the third-longest stretch in program history. They are coming off their second-best score, a 196.75 in a home victory over Auburn, that included four individuals — Braie Speed, Amanda Wellick, Hailey Garner and Sarah Shaffer — tying for the bars title with 9.9s en route to a 49.45, the second-highest score for the program.
“This team is really good on that event,” Cook said. “I was happy to see them dialed in. But we’re strong on all four events and we just have to stay balanced.”
The Razorbacks fell on the road at LSU (7-1 overall, 5-0 SEC) in their season opener and lost to Missouri (1-4, 1-4) on Jan. 19 in Columbia, Mo. They have never competed against George Washington (11-3).
Arkansas sophomore Jessica Yamzon is the nation’s No. 33 all-around performer with an average score of 39.179. Shaffer, the only SEC freshman to post multiple 9.9s the last two weeks, ranks 76th in the all-around with an average of 38.908.
Speed is the Razorbacks top competitor on the vault, where she ranks No. 20 (9.863) and on the bars, where she’s No. 45 (9.837). The Arkansas beam team is tied for No. 4 nationally with LSU, carrying an average of 49.2. Only one Razorback has come off the beam all season.