UA pair shine at NCAAs

University of Arkansas gymnasts Kennedy Hambrick and Maggie O’Hara delivered big performances on Friday at the NCAA Championships at Dickie Arena in Fort Worth.

Hambrick scored 9.9 or better on three events and posted a 39.6125 to finish fifth in the allaround competition in the evening session. The junior, from Pearland, Texas, had the second-highest all-around score at the championships in school history behind former All-American Jaime Pisani’s 39.625 in 2012.

O’Hara scored 9.925 on the uneven parallel bars, a Razorback record at the NCAAs, to tie for second place in the afternoon session. The senior, from Lexington, S.C., finished behind only Cal’s Maya Bordas (9.95) in her session.

Hambrick, who scored a 39.75 in the all-around to break the school record of 39.725 formerly held by Pisani and Katherine Grable, finished in the top nine in all four events.

Rotating with Oklahoma, which won session two with a 198.0875, Hambrick started her meet with a 9.9 on the bars to tie for fifth. That tied for the second-highest score for a UA gymnast at the NCAAs with Casey Jo Magee, who did it twice, and Pisani (2012), behind O’Hara’s new school record. Hambrick posted a 9.9125 on the balance beam in rotation two to tie for sixth place.

Hambrick’s 9.9125 on the floor exercise tied for ninth place, then her 9.8875 tied for sixth on the vault.