Razorbacks Host No. 6 Missouri In Home Opener

January 12, 2017

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FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. – Coming off a strong finish in its season opener at No. 4 UCLA, the 12th-ranked Arkansas gymnastics team makes its 2017 home debut, hosting No. 6 Missouri on Friday night at 7 p.m. in Barnhill Arena. It’s also the Southeastern Conference opener for both teams. Doors open at 5:45 p.m.

After scoring a 195.350 against the Bruins, the Razorbacks (0-1) moved up five spots in the rankings to No. 12 in the latest National Association of Collegiate Gymnastics Coaches/Women (NACGC/W) rankings. They also rank 13th on the vault, 16th on the uneven bars, 12th on balance beam and 22nd on floor exercise.

Three-time All-American Amanda Wellick tied for first place on vault with a 9.900 and placed second in the all-around with a 39.300. Her vault score is tied for fifth in the SEC and tied for eighth in the nation, while her all-around score ranks seventh in the SEC and 15th in the nation.

A trio of freshmen in Michaela Burton, Hailey Garner and Jessica Yamzon made their collegiate debuts in the season opener, while sophomore Makenzie Anderson made her first appearance on bars and junior Mia Bargiacchi made her first appearance on floor. Senior Heather Elswick also returned to the lineup and scored a 9.700 in floor exercise after missing the entire 2016 season due to injury.

Missouri (2-0), which entered the season ranked No. 19, scored a 196.225 in season-opening wins over No. 24 Illinois and Ball State and moved up 13 spots to No. 6 in the latest rankings. It’s the highest season-opening score and the team’s highest ranking in program history.

Notable

Arkansas is 12-5 all-time against Missouri, winning the last nine meetings with Missouri, including all eight meetings since Missouri joined the SEC prior to the 2013 season.
Arkansas will face seven more teams ranked in the top 30 nationally. That includes four of the top six, all at home, beginning with No. 6 Missouri.
Casey Jo (Magee) MacPherson, an eight-time All-American at Arkansas, is in her fourth season as an assistant coach at Missouri.
Arkansas has made 13 consecutive trips to NCAA Regionals, which includes two NCAA Regional titles and two NCAA Super Six appearances.
Arkansas will host an NCAA Regional in 2017 for the first time since 2014 and for the fifth time in program history.

Quotable – Coach Mark Cook on the season opener

“It was a really good experience for us to open the season there and see how our team would respond to that trip and that experience. They did a really good job, especially the young ones. We tried to prepare them for that, but there’s no preparation until you get out there and you feel that experience for the first time, competing in a collegiate meet of that caliber.”

Looking Ahead

The meet with Missouri marks the first of six straight weeks against SEC competition. Arkansas will host No. 3 Alabama (Jan. 27), No. 2 LSU (Feb. 10) and No. 5 Florida (Feb. 17) and travel to No. 30 Georgia (Jan. 20) and No. 13 Auburn (Feb. 3) over the next five weeks.

Season ticket packages for all five regular-season home meets start at $25 for general admission. Fans can also purchase reserved season tickets for $40. Single-meet and NCAA Regional tickets are also now on sale.

Fans can purchase tickets by calling the Razorback Ticket Center at 800-982-HOGS or 479-575-5151. Additional ticketing information can also be found online.

For more information on Arkansas gymnastics, follow @RazorbackGym on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook.