Arkansas Gymnastics Fact Sheet #11

Gym’Backs go to Nebraska

The University of Arkansas gymnastics team makes its first appearance in Lincoln, Neb., Saturday for a double-dual meet with the Huskers. Arkansas has faced Nebraska once in 2005, in a quad meet in Fayetteville with the Huskers out-scoring the Gym’Backs 196.625-195.625.

A DOUBLE-DUAL?That’s right. In addition to the first trip to Nebraska, Arkansas will also compete in the program’s first double-dual. Nebraska’s men’s gymnastics team hosts Air Force and the meets happen simultaneously.THE FIRST GYM’BACK SENIOR NIGHTArkansas hosted the program’s first ever senior night and went out with a bang against No. 36 Washington. The Gym’Backs won the meet tying their season best with a 196.350 as the team set or tied 13 season-bests.HARDMAN NAMED SEC GYMNAST OF THE WEEKSenior Katie Hardman earned Southeastern Conference Gymnast of the Week the league office announced Tuesday, The honor comes on the heels of three consecutive home meet wins and the program’s celebration of the first-ever senior class of which Hardman is a member. Hardman had identical season bests last week with 9.90s on the beam and floor exercise leading Arkansas to a 196.350 team score tying the season high. The Buda, Texas, native returned to Arkansas’ lineup against No. 11 LSU, the fourth meet of the season, after being sidelined early by knee surgery and a serious car accident. She slowly worked her way back, first competing just the beam, then two events and finally three events. Hardman has posted a season-best 9.825 on bars this year and has season-high 9.90s on both the beam and floor. The school-record holder on the beam with a 9.95 set at No. 11 Arizona in 2004, Hardman has recently wowed the Arkansas faithful with her floor exercise featuring several cuts from the fight song and other Razorback favorites. The conference gymnast of the week selection is the first for Hardman and the second for the program. Current senior Dana McQuillin has also earned SEC Gymnast of the Week honors after winning the program’s first-ever all-around title in early January 2004.PEACOCK STRUTS HER STUFFSophomore Emily Peacock has been solid all season and her scores are beginning to reflect that. Peacock notched a season-best wit ha 9.925 on the floor against No. 36 Washington last week. She added a 9.875 on bars as well. Her floor score was good enough for the individual title, her fifth of the year.HARDMAN SHINES AS WELLSenior Katie Hardman has also stepped up in recent meets. Hardman was again solid against No. 36 Washington scoring a 9.90 on floor and winning the individual beam title with a 9.90 as well.ALL-AROUND SUCCESSSenior Dana McQuillin and junior Cassie Drew have been the team’s all-arounders this year. McQuillin was second last week with a 38.975 against No. 36 Washington while Drew was third wit a 38.650 in the meet.WIN/LOSS DOESN’T MATTER, BUT…Although a gymnastics teams win/loss record is not important, most teams will tell you it is important to defend your home gym. Arkansas is 21-16 all-time in Barnhill Arena. The Gym’Backs are 4-9 at home against SEC opponents and 8-7 against non-conference foes. The Gym’Backs’ four SEC wins have come against Kentucky (twice) and Auburn (twice).Three In A RowArkansas’ string of three home wins in a row is the best in school history excluding a quad meet win (Arkansas had a pair of quad wins in 2004).THE BEST HOME RECORD?Not quite. Arkansas is 3-2 this year in Barnhill Arena with wins over Kentucky, Auburn and Washington. The Gym’Backs lost to Penn State and LSU in Barnhill. Arkansas’ record is the second home winning record in the four years but not the best in school history. Arkansas was 8-3 at home in 2004 – the year the Gym’Backs hosted a pair of quad meets. Arkansas could reach the eight-win home plateu again this year — if they win the 2006 NCAA South Central Regional Meet April 8.LOOKING AT THE REGIONAL RANKINGSArkansas remains in the number six spot in the South Central Regional race. The Gym’Backs face the number two team in the region, Nebraska, in the Huskers’ home gym — a gym they’ve only lost once in during the last 14 seasons in dual meet action. This week, Nebraska has an edge in all of the event categories. They rank third on vault while Arkansas is fifth. Nebraska is first in the South Central Region on bars, fifth on beam and second on the floor. Arkansas is sixth on both the bars and beam and seventh on the floor.LOOKING FOR THE SCOREArkansas would love to defeat Nebraska but the goal of Sunday’s meet is to score high as the Gym’Backs are in need of a couple higher road scores. High numbers near the 195+ ranged could move Arkansas from 20th in the country into the teens and closer to the coveted top 18 – a postion Arkansas would like to be in prior to regional selections March 27.INDIVIDUALS IN THE REGIONAL RANKINGSArkansas has several individuals ranked in the top 20 in the regional standings. Sophomore Samantha Cortez ranks 10th on vault with an RSA of 9.835 and a high of 9.9 this year. Sophomore Emily Peacock is eighth on bars wit ha 9.855 RQS and a season-best of 9.95. Senior Melissa Leigh is 14th with a 9.820 RQS and high of 9.9. Junior Cassie Drew is Arkansas’ top beam worker in the standings with an RQS of 9.775 and a season-high of 9.80. Junior Rachel Barnett is tied for 17th on the floor with a 9.795 RQS and season-best of 9.875 while Drew ranks 11th as an all-arounder with a 38.625 RQS and a 39.175 season high. McQuillin ranks 13th with 38.565 and 39.00, respectively.THE SEC’S TOUGHAnyone who knows the Southeastern Conference understands that it is arguably the toughest women’s gymnastics conference in the country. Arkansas’ record against the league reflects that talent as the Gym’Backs are 2-4 against the league. How does Arkansas stack up against the other conferences? Arkansas is 3-2 against the Pacific-10 with a pair of wins over Washington and a win against California. The Gym’Backs lost to UCLA and Oregon State in Hawai’i. Arkansas is 1-0 against the WAC (Sacramento State) and 1-1 versus the EAGL (North Carolina [W], West Virginia [L]) and 0-1 against the Big 12 (Missouri) and the Big 10 (Penn State).ABOUT NEBRASKA (from huskers.com) The No. 11 Nebraska women’s gymnastics team posted a 194.775 Saturday night to win a triangular with Seattle Pacific (190.225) and Alaska-Anchorage (188.475) Saturday night. The Huskers, who improved to 13-5-1 on the season, swept the individual event titles, as sophomore Emily Parsons captured her sixth all-around crown of the year with a 39.325. The four-time All-American also won the balance beam (9.90) and floor exercise (9.925) title, while adding a fifth-place finish on the uneven bars. Junior Stephanie Carter added her own top finish, scoring a 9.775 for the vault crown, while junior Michele Zabawa placed first on bars with a 9.90.ARKANSAS VERSUS NEBRASKAArkansas and Nebraska have met just one in school history and that came last year. The Huskers outscored Arkansas by a point, 196.625-195.625, in the meet. SEC STRONG IN THE POLLThe Southeastern Conference is well represented in the most recent national poll with all seven teams ranked in the top 20. The poll, however, sees a break up of the top teams for the first time in several weeks. Georgia maintains its strangle-hold on the top spot while Florida falls from second to third and Alabama moves from No. 3 to No. 5. LSU also fell one spot from No. 7 to No. 8, as did Auburn, falling from No. 13 to No. 14. Kentucky and Arkansas maintained their positions with the Wildcats at No. 18 and Arkansas at No. 20.MORE ABOUT THE SEC (from secsports.com)The 2006 Southeastern Conference Championship meet returns to Birmingham in 2006 and will be held March 25 in the BJCC Arena. This marks the 26th year that the SEC will crown a team champion in gymnastics. Georgia, the 2005 NCAA Champions, will look to defend their SEC title and take home their sixth SEC crown in the last seven years, while Alabama will be aiming at winning their sixth conference title. LSU, who placed second in 2005 and returns their entire lineup in 2006, is looking to claim the title for the first time since 1981. Florida, who finished fourth last season, will also vie for the SEC Championship, as will Auburn, Arkansas and Kentucky. ARKANSAS IN THE SECArkansas has held its own against the SEC – arguably the toughest conference for women’s gymnastics in the country. Here’s a look at the SEC’s team averages on each event this week.

Team Region V UB BB FX Team
1 Georgia SE 49.356 49.160 48.985 49.277 196.779
2 Florida SE 49.146 48.867 48.842 49.020 195.877
3 Alabama C 49.206 48.975 48.717 49.111 196.008
4 L.S.U. C 49.043 48.816 48.607 49.500 195.495
5 Auburn C 48.907 48.561 48.639 48.873 194.980
6 Kentucky C 48.761 48.623 48.477 48.652 194.514
7 Arkansas SC 48.767 48.517 48.210 48.545 194.040

UPCOMING SEC SCHEDULEThe Southeastern Conference schedule is beginning to wind down. Here’s the composite schedule for the remainder of the year:

March 12 March 17 March 25
Wash. at Arkansas Auburn at Alabama SEC Championship
Kentucky at CMU Arkansas at Nebraska Birmingham, Ala.
Utah at Florida
Kentucky at Oregon State
UCLA at LSU
Apr. 8 April 20-22
NCAA Regionals NCAA Championships
(Host Schools: TBA) Corvallis, Oregon

LOOKING AHEADArkansas has just two regular season meets remaining this year. The Gym’Backs travel to Nebraska and to the SEC Championship in Birmingham, Ala. Selections for the 2006 NCAA Regional meets will be announced Monday, March 27. ABOUT THE NCAA REGIONAL MEETArkansas hosts the South Central Regional meet April 8 at 6:00 p.m., in Barnhill Arena. Tickets are $10 for adults and $5 for youth and students. Please call the Lady Razorback Ticket Office at 57-LBACK for more information. Here’s a look at all of the regional sites this year.

Central Regional April 7, 2006 South Central Regional April 8, 2006
Pete Maravich Assembly Center Barnhill Arena
Baton Rouge, La. Fayetteville, Arkansas
Host: Louisiana State University Host: University of Arkansas
Web site: lsusports.com Web site: LADYBACKS.COM
North Central Regional April 8, 2006 Southeast Regional April 8, 2006
James H. Hilton Coliseum Stegeman Coliseum
Ames, Iowa Athens, Ga.
Host: Iowa State University Host: University of Georgia
Web site: cyclones.com Web site: georgiadogs.com
Northeast Regional April 8, 2006 West Regional April 8, 2006
Crisler Arena Maples Pavilion
Ann Arbor, Mich. Stanford, Calif.
Host: University of Michigan Host: Stanford University
Web site: mgoblue.com Web site: gostanford.com
Championships April 20-22, 2006
Gill Coliseum
Corvallis, Ore.
Host: Oregon State University
Web site: Oregon State Tickets