No. 15 Gym'Backs travel to No. 14 Penn State Saturday

FAYETTEVILLE — The 15th-ranked University of Arkansas gymnastics team faces its first road challenge of the 2007 season traveling to No. 14 Penn State for a double-dual meet Saturday. Arkansas faced Penn State in the season opener at the Super Six Challenge last weekend with the Nittany Lions getting the best of the Gym’Backs. "We’re excited to be heading to State College," said co-head coach Rene Cook. "We had them (Penn State) here and we didn’t score as well as we would have liked so we’re looking for a chance to redeem ourselves this weekend. We want to go in there and not count a fall and just perform better." Arkansas was paced by junior Emily Peacock and freshman Casey Jo Magee in last week’s opener. Peacock opened the meet with a 9.875 on the bars, an event that promises to be Arkansas’ strongest this year. She added a 9.675on beam and a 9.625 on the floor. Magee competed for the all-around title in her first collegiate event. She was solid for the Gym’Backs finishing with a 38.650. "The girls have done a good job this week of moving on from the first meet," said co-head coach Mark Cook. "If anything, it’s the coaches who tend to stew a bit more but as coaches, we have to make changes and move on and I think we’ve all done a good job of that this week." Arkansas put together a pretty solid lineup for the opener but is planning several changes for the Penn State meet. "Fans will probably see some major changes in the first month of the season," noted Rene Cook about the lineup. "We have so many freshmen and we are continuing to re-evaluate after each practice and each meet. We’re looking for that balance of chemistry and consistency." Magee and senior Cassie Drew are again tabbed for the all-around this week. Sophomore Breanne Guy is scheduled to return to the lineup as her foot injury heals and will likely make an appearance on the vault. Freshman Sarah Nagashima is trying to break into Arkansas’ bars lineup this week while junior Samantha Cortez is currently scheduled to compete on three events. Arkansas returns home next weekend opening Southeastern Conference competition with defending national champion and top-ranked Georgia Jan. 19, at 7:00 p.m. The Gym Dogs have two silver medalists on the roster ad have won the nation title for two consecutive seasons. Tickets are still available for the event. Please call the Lady Razorback Ticket Office at 57-LBACK or log on to LADYBACKS.COM.