Gymnasts ready for Regional action

FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. – The long wait for the 10th-ranked University of Arkansas gymnastics team is finally over as competition gets underway at the 2009 NCAA South Central Regional Championship in Barnhill Arena Saturday. The Razorbacks had a week break from competition in preparation for the regional this weekend. Six teams and several individuals all hope for one of the top two spots and a chance to move on to the NCAA Championships in Lincoln, Neb., April 16-18. “The team is so excited,” said Arkansas co-head coach René Cook. “It’s a very competitive field and we’re excited to get back to competition.” “It’s great to be hosting,” added Arkansas co-head coach Mark Cook. “It’s an outstanding field. None of these teams have visited Fayetteville and it’s great to be able to show them some hospitality – but not too much,” Cook joked. This year’s South Central field includes No. 4 Stanford, No. 16 Michigan, No. 25 Arizona, No. 27 Southern Utah and No. 31 Arizona State. The competition should be a tough one with the top two teams advancing. Arkansas, Stanford and Michigan’s numbers have been similar all season and the other three teams are not far behind. The Razorbacks open this year’s meet on the bars followed by beam and a bye before floor. After floor, Arkansas moves to vault and finishes with a bye in the six-team rotation. “We like the draw,” said René Cook. “We start nearly 50 percent of the meets on bars (when the team is on the road for a dual meet) so we’re very familiar with that. We’ve been really strong on the floor and our routines have been consistent and clean. I think that if we can score in the 9.8 range on all the events, we should be in pretty good shape by the end of the meet.” The meet is scheduled to begin with march-in at 6 p.m. Tickets are still available and can be purchased by calling the Razorback Ticket Office at 479-575-5151 or by logging on to ArkansasRazorbacks.com.