This season is the 10-year anniversary of Arkansas' program, and from the beginning René Lyst has been building the Razorbacks into one of the most successful and entertaining teams in the nation.

The 2011 squad won the NCAA North Central Regional and tied for ninth in the nation at the NCAA Championship for Arkansas' third top 10 finish in four years. In these first nine years, Lyst has led Arkansas to eight consecutive NCAA Regional appearances, four straight appearances in the NCAA Championship with a total of five during the last six years. In addition, under Lyst's guidance the program qualified to the Super Six, won two NCAA Regional championships, won an SEC regular-season co-championship, and earned seven straight final top 15 national rankings and nine straight national top 15 average attendance rankings. Individually, Arkansas has had seven student-athletes combine for 28 All-America honors and seven combine for 13 appearances in the NCAA individual event finals.

Arkansas' primary beam coach while assisting on all four events, Lyst has guided Arkansas to top 25 final national rankings for seven straight years. Arkansas was No. 13 on beam in 2011, No. 9 in 2010; No. 16 in 2009; and No. 16 in 2008.

Lyst has guided three individuals to four All-America honors on beam along with three to four selections in the all-around. Lyst has also coached five Razorbacks to seven appearances in the NCAA individual event finals with three top five finishes.

An SEC and NCAA South Central Regional Coach of the Year honoree, Lyst coached Casey Jo Magee to the 2009 SEC beam title, to two NCAA Regional titles and to a No. 1 national ranking. In 2010, Magee became the first No. 1-ranked Razorback in program history, reaching the top spot on beam on March 1 and March 8, and tying for the top position on March 22.

In 2011, Arkansas recorded its second-best finish ever. The Razorbacks won the NCAA North Central Regional, beating No. 1 Florida for the title. Arkansas tied for fourth in the NCAA Session I Semifinal to tie for ninth in the country and missed advancing to the Super Six for the second time in program history by one spot. Lyst's team also beat top-ranked Florida during the regular season, recorded its first-ever win over Georgia, which was ranked No. 4 at the time, had 11 wins over teams ranked in the top 25, beat LSU in Baton Rouge for the first time, set school records with seven dual meet wins and four wins on the road, set school records with five SEC wins and three SEC road wins, and ranked No. 11 in the nation in attendance average for its ninth straight top 15 ranking.

Individually, Pisani, sophomore Amy Borsellino, sophomore Kelci Lewis and freshman Katherine Grable combined for seven All-America honors. Pisani was first-team on floor, and second-team on beam and in the all-around. Borsellino earned her first All-America honor as a first-teamer on vault. Lewis was a second-teamer on floor. Grable was a first-teamer on floor and a second-teamer on vault, becoming the first freshman in program history to be a first-team All-American.

Pisani won 28 individual event titles, and in the NCAA event finals tied for fifth on floor. Grable ended the year ranked No. 16 in the all-around, and tied for ninth on floor in the event finals. Borsellino placed 15th in the finals on vault.

In addition, Pisani became the first Razorback to earn South Central Regional Gymnast of the Year honors and departed senior Michelle Stout was named the SEC's co-Scholar-Athlete of the Year. Pisani and Grable also both earned second-team All-SEC honors, on vault and in the all-around, respectively.

Arkansas was No. 11 overall in the nation in 2010, finished second in the NCAA West Regional, advanced to the NCAA Championship for the third consecutive season, placed No. 11 in the nation in average attendance, led the SEC in team grade point average and ranked No. 16 in the country, set school records for overall team score and on bars, recorded five of the top eight overall team scores in program history and had wins over eight top 25 ranked opponents.

Individually in the 2010 season, Magee and Pisani combined for seven All-America honors with Magee a first-teamer in the all-around, on bars, beam and floor; and Pisani a first-teamer on vault and floor, and a second-teamer in the all-around. The pair also combined for six appearances in the NCAA individual event finals. Magee was second in the nation in the all-around, the highest finish ever for a Razorback, and fourth on beam, tied for fifth on bars and 12th on floor. Pisani was 10th on floor and 12th on vault.

In 2009, Arkansas advanced to the NCAA Super Six for the first time in school history, finished fifth in the NCAA Championship and had a No. 5 final ranking, and recorded wins over No. 1 Florida, No. 2 Utah, No. 4 Stanford, No. 6 LSU, No. 6 Oregon State, No. 7 UCLA, No. 7 Oklahoma and No. 9 Alabama. Alexandra LaChance and Sarah Nagashima earned first-team All-America honors while Magee was a first-team All-SEC selection.

In 2008, Arkansas had wins over No. 6 Alabama, No. 8 Oregon State, No. 9 UCLA, No. 12 Penn State and No. 14 Auburn. Arkansas finished second in the NCAA North Central Regional and advanced to the NCAA Championship. Arkansas finished the year ranked No. 10 in the nation.

The 2007 squad finished third in the NCAA Northeast Regional and had regular-season wins over No. 14 Auburn and No. 14 Penn State. The Razorbacks were ranked No. 15 at the end of the season with a No. 10 ranking on beam and No. 13 on floor.

Lyst also spearheads Arkansas' commitment in the classroom, and she leads by example. Last spring, she earned her doctor of education degree (Ed.D.) from Arkansas. In 2010, the Razorbacks led the SEC and placed 16th in the country with a team grade point average of 3.4369. Arkansas was also No. 16 in 2009 with a 3.4309 GPA, No. 14 in 2003, No. 10 in 2004, No. 7 in 2005 and No. 21 in 2007.

Lyst's teams have posted a 3.30 GPA or better each year. She has coached seven All-SEC selections, eight All-Americans to 28 selections, 69 SEC Academic Honor Roll members, 62 National Association for Collegiate Gymnastics Coaches for Women Academic Scholar Athletes and numerous Arkansas Women's Athletics Department Honor Roll selections.

Lyst also oversees production of floor music, floor choreography, team building, and assists on vault and floor exercise coaching.

In addition to her full complement of coaching duties in the gym, she spends numerous hours recruiting and coordinating the staff's recruiting efforts.

STARTING A PROGRAM
When Lyst moved to Fayetteville in 2001, her assignment was to turn Arkansas gymnastics into a nationally competitive, academically superior crowd-pleasing program - from scratch.

When she arrived, there was no gym, no equipment, no leotards and no team, but on May 7, 2001, she accepted that challenge and quickly built Arkansas into a program any coach would be proud of. Lyst's initial duties included consulting on the construction of one of the nation's best practice facilities and assembling a team good enough to compete in the country's toughest gymnastics conference, the SEC.

Lyst, along with co-head coach Mark Cook, inked a recruiting class of 11 freshmen, convincing the team to take a chance on building a program from the ground up.

The first team finished the year with a No. 41 national ranking, including a No. 38 rating on beam. The second season, 2004, Arkansas made its first NCAA appearance and was ranked No. 20 overall and tied for No. 16 on beam. The 2005 team also advanced to a regional, and finished with an overall ranking of No. 26 and a beam ranking of No. 13.

In 2006, the first recruiting class in school history helped Arkansas upset No. 9 UCLA in the NCAA South Central Regional, took the Razorbacks to their first NCAA Championship and ended the year ranked No. 12 with a No. 18 beam ranking.

PRIOR TO ARKANSAS
Lyst helped lead Stanford to its first Pac-10 championship in women's gymnastics in 1998 and repeated the feat in 2001. The Cardinal had its first national champion gymnast, Larissa Fontaine, on vault in 1997. Lyst also coached numerous All-Americans while at Stanford, including three on beam. Among those, Lindsey Wing finished second in the NCAA individual event finals and Katy Herbert finished third.

In addition to coaching Magee to SEC and regional beam titles, she coached two Pac-10 champions and two NCAA Regional title winners at Stanford.

Lyst helped produce Stanford's first NCAA Regional champions as well, picking up four in their four seasons with the Cardinal. Stanford enjoyed success in the classroom as well with 14 Scholastic All-America selections and 17 selections to the Pac-10 All-Academic Team during her time in Palo Alto.

Before moving to Stanford as the assistant coach, Lyst was the assistant coach at Penn State for the 1997 season. She helped the Lady Lions to the NCAA Northeast Region title and an 11th-place finish at the NCAA Championship.

Lyst worked for three seasons as the assistant coach at Massachusetts prior to Penn State. At UMass, she was responsible for balance beam and assisted with recruiting.

She also coached an NCAA Regional beam champion at both Penn State and UMass.

PENN STATE, 1993 (B.A.)
UMASS, 1997 (M.S.)
ARKANSAS, 2011 (ED.D.)
10TH SEASON AT ARKANSAS
EIGHT NCAA REGIONALS
FIVE NCAA CHAMPIONSHIP
 TEAM APPEARANCES
ONE NCAA SUPER SIX
THREE TOP 10 FINISHES
TWO NCAA REGIONAL TITLES
ONE SEC REGULAR-SEASON CO-CHAMPIONSHIP

AT ARKANSAS (Co-Head Coach, 2002-)
117-141-4 (9 years)
8 NCAA Regional Appearances
5 NCAA Championship Appearances
1 NCAA Super Six Appearance
2 NCAA Regional titles
1 SEC regular-season co-championship
7 NCAA individual qualifiers
28 All-America selections
5 NCAA Regional champions
7 All-SEC selections
SEC Co-Coach of the Year, 2008
NCAA South Central Regional Co-Coach of the Year, 2009

PRIOR TO ARKANSAS
Stanford, 1997-2001 (Assistant Coach)
3 NCAA Championship team
 appearances
12 All-Americans
NCAA vault champion
NCAA runner up balance beam
NCAA third place balance beam
2 NCAA Regional beam champions
2 Pac 10 team titles
Co-Pac 10 beam champions

Penn State, 1996 (Assistant Coach)
NCAA Championship Appearance
NCAA Regional team champion
NCAA Regional beam champion

UMass, 1993-95 (Assistant Coach)
NCAA Individual Finalist
3 NCAA Regional appearances
NCAA Regional beam champion
NCAA Regional all-around champion
Atlantic 10 team champions