Coaches association recognizes gymnastics

FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. — The University of Arkansas gymnastics team ranks 16th in the nation in the National Association of Collegiate Gymnastics Coaches/Women Academic Team final rankings it was announced this week. The Razorbacks had five student-athletes earn NACGC/W All-Scholar honors paced by redshirt freshman Genny Salvatore who posted a perfect 4.00 grade point average in art in 2008-09. She was joined by junior Sarah Nagashima who maintains a 3.61 GPA in apparel studies. Freshman Jamie Pisani finished the year with a 3.60 in kinesiology joining junior Amy DeFilippo with a 3.56 in the same field. Junior Stacy Bartlett added a 3.54 in nutrition to lead the Razorbacks this year. “We are so proud of the team academically as well as athletically,” said co-head coach René Cook. “We set out each year with a team goal of a 3.5 GPA and to finish with a 3.4 is certainly a great accomplishment. As for our five scholar-athletes, their hard work in the classroom has earned them this honor and they are excellent representatives of our program. We are also proud of the accomplishments given the diversity of the majors we have in our program. As a team, the Razorbacks finished 16th in the nation with a 3.4309 GPA. They are the second-highest Southeastern Conference team ranked this year. The 16th-place finish is also an improvement over last year’s 31st-place showing when the Razorbacks had a 3.3008 GPA with four student-athletes recognized. Arkansas’ best team finish came in 2005 with a seventh-place showing and nine all-scholar athletes. Arkansas was 10th in 2004, 14th in 2003, 26th in 2006 and 21st in 2007. Southeast Missouri State led the nation with a nearly perfect 3.9124 team GPA and 14 individual gymnasts on the all-scholar team. The rest of the top five includes Southern Utah with a 3.68, Michigan State with a 3.65, Alabama with a 3.56 and Hamline with a 3.545. Of the top 16 teams, Alabama (No. 4), Stanford (No. 12) and Arkansas (No. 16) were the only teams to reach the NCAA Championship in 2009. For more information about Arkansas gymnastics please log on to ArkansasRazorbacks.com.

2009 NACGC/W Scholastic All-America Teams