Garner, Yamzon Earn SEC Honors At Championship

Session I Final Scoresheet | Session II Final Scoresheet | Photo Gallery

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – Hailey Garner earned All-SEC and SEC All-Freshman honors and Jessica Yamzon also earned SEC All-Freshman honors, as the Arkansas gymnastics team competed at the Southeastern Conference Championship on Friday in Jacksonville Veterans Memorial Arena.

Entering the championship as the No. 8 seed, Arkansas earned a fourth-place finish in the first session and an eight-place overall finish with a score of 194.900.

Garner earned All-SEC and All-Freshman honors on uneven bars, where she tied for first among freshmen and tied for third among all Session I gymnasts with a 9.875.

Yamzon earned All-Freshman honors in the all-around with a 38.825, second-best among freshmen and fifth-best among Session I gymnasts. Sydney McGlone also tied for third among Session I gymnasts with a 9.850 on vault.

Arkansas scored a 48.925 on vault in the second rotation, its fifth-highest score in a meet this season, led by McGlone, Braie Speed (9.825) and Heather Elswick (9.800). Arkansas entered the final rotation trailing No. 14 Missouri for third place in the session by less than half a point, 146.750-146.375.

Yamzon led off the final rotation with a 9.800, to finish with a 38.825 in the all-around, and Garner and Samantha Nelson followed with back-to-back scores of 9.850. Michaela Burton also scored a 9.800 in the rotation, but Arkansas was unable to move ahead of Missouri into third place.

Kentucky, the No. 5 seed and No. 12 team in the nation, led after each rotation and won first place in the first session with a final score of 196.625, followed by Auburn, the No. 7 seed and No. 21 team in the nation, with a 196.550, and then Missouri (195.825) and Arkansas (194.900).

In the evening session, top seed and No. 2-ranked LSU edged second-seeded and No. 4-ranked Florida, 198.075-197.825 for the championship title. Third-seeded and sixth-ranked Alabama (197.400) and fourth-seeded and eighth-ranked Georgia (196.700) rounded out the top four, followed by Kentucky, Auburn, Missouri and Arkansas.

Notable

• Arkansas competed on podium for the first time this season.
• Hailey Garner scored a 9.875 on uneven bars, tied for the fourth-highest score in an SEC Championship in program history. She also scored a 9.850 on balance beam.
• Jessica Yamzon scored a 9.800 on balance beam for a 38.825 in the all-around.
• Hailey Garner and Jessica Yamzon became the fifth and sixth SEC All-Freshman selections in program history, since the the All-Freshman team began in 2013.

Quotable – Coach Mark Cook

“We didn’t do the best that we could do, but we did fair. We did some good things and we did some other things that we had some errors on. All in all, we kept our energy, we had a good attitude and we competed hard. It was a good learning experience for many of our younger athletes.”

“We have to rest a little bit before regionals and then re-focus and try to execute better. We counted a fall on balance beam today, so we need to eliminate that from our scoring. We have to execute. We have another chance at Regionals and that’s what we’re going to focus on.”

Up Next

Arkansas will also host an NCAA Regional on April 1 at 4 p.m. in Barnhill Arena. The teams, all-around competitors, and individual event specialists will be announced on Monday. Each regional will consist of six teams, four individual all-around competitors, and two individual specialists per event.

Tickets are $10 for adults, $5 for youth 17 and under, and $5 for students at any college or university with student ID. Fans can purchase tickets online or by calling the Razorback Ticket Center at 800-982-HOGS or 479-575-5151. All tickets are general admission.

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