Northwest Arkansas Democrat-Gazette
Seniors have final go-round at home
FAYETTEVILLE — Fans of the No. 11 Arkansas Razorbacks gymnastics team will celebrate the careers of the team’s three active seniors, led by Amanda Wellick and Braie Speed, tonight in the regular season tri-meet finale at Barnhill Arena.
However, Coach Mark Cook knows the first focus has to be on a clean meet after the Razorbacks stumbled last week at No. 1 Oklahoma’s quad meet with a chance to nail down a top 10 spot and push into the prestigious evening session of the SEC championships.
“As a coach, this is another meet,” Cook said. “I don’t want to downplay it, but I don’t want us to be focusing so much on our last meet in Barnhill that we don’t concentrate on our gymnastics. So it’s important that we perform normal.
“But at the same time I want to celebrate it with them because it is a milestone and celebrate it after the competition.”
The Razorbacks will host No. 15 Denver and No. 26 Iowa State in the 7 p.m. meet. Arkansas lost to No. 1 Oklahoma and Denver last Friday while tying Arizona State in Norman, Okla.
Wellick, a two- time All-American on the vault, has 33 career event titles and has been solid this season after returning from surgery on her Achilles tendon early last season. Speed has been a mainstay on the vault and uneven bars with a 9.95 on the bars this year tying the school record.
Mia Bargiacchi, a walkon who has contributed on the floor exercise, and Leah MacMoyle, a former vault specialist who has been a student assistant in 2018 after retiring due to injury, will also be honored on senior night.
The Razorbacks have been strong at home this season with two scores over 197, including a school-record 197.275 in a victory over Arizona on March 2.
Cook would like a quality score today to carry into the SEC championships, which will be held March 24 at Chaifetz Arena in St. Louis. The Razorbacks’ goal down the home stretch is securing a spot in the final top 12 to assure a No. 2 seed for an NCAA regional.
“The big one is going to be at the SEC championships because we have an away score we’re counting that is pretty low right now,” Cook said. “We need to replace it. That’s why it was critical to score well at OU, which we didn’t do.”
Wellick, sophomore Jessica Yamzon and freshman Sarah Shaffer are expected to compete in the all-around tonight, where they will be up against Maddie Karr of Denver, who is ranked No. 6 in the nation.
The Razorbacks will likely get 17 of 24 routines tonight from freshmen and sophomores, with Michaela Burton, Sophia Carter, Hailey Garner and Sydney Laird contributing along with Shaffer and Yamzon.