Arkansas gymnastics
Amanda Wellick (above) and the Arkansas Razorbacks host the Arizona Wildcats today in their annual Pink Meet, which honors breast cancer survivors. Wellick, a twotime All-American with 32 career event titles, competed on the floor against Florida last week for the first time since suffering a torn Achilles tendon in January 2017.
FAYETTEVILLE — The No. 10 Arkansas Razorbacks gymnastics team starts its stretch run toward the postseason tonight in its first meet of the year that does not feature a top 25 opponent.
The Razorbacks (2-8) host No. 36 Arizona (1-7) at 7 p.m. at Barnhill Arena in their annual Pink Meet, which will honor breast cancer survivors.
The University of Arkansas, Fayetteville, accustomed to facing difficult schedules, broke the school record by competing in eight consecutive meets against opponents ranked in the top 25 to open the season.
The Razorbacks capped the run last week with their second-highest road score in program history — 196.875 — in a loss at No. 5 Florida.
“We had a really nice away meet at Florida,” Coach Mark Cook said. “Now we have two home meets left, so it’s really important with the RQS [regional qualifying scores] that we maximize our potential back here again.”
Cook put up four gymnasts in the all-around at Florida, with senior Amanda Wellick and freshman Sophia Carter joining steady all-arounders Jessica Yamzon and Sarah Shaffer. Wellick, a two-time All-American with 32 career event titles, competed on the floor for the first time since suffering a torn Achilles tendon last January.
“She loves floor,” Cook said. “She feels more complete when she’s doing all four events.”
Wellick has scored 9.8 or better on 80 percent of her 25 routines this season. Fellow senior Braie Speed has scored 9.75 or better on all 16 of her vault and bars routines and 9.8 or better on 14 of them.
Arkansas has a 6-2 record against the Wildcats and has won its last six competitions against them, all since 2008, with the last meet resulting in a 196.45 to 195.15 season-opening victory for the Razorbacks in Cancun, Mexico, on Jan. 6, 2012.