No. 8 Arkansas upsets top-ranked Gators

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FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. – The balance beam giveth and the balance beam taketh away. And never was that more evident than Friday night as the eighth-ranked University of Arkansas gymnastics team upset No. 1 Florida in Southeastern Conference action in Barnhill Arena. The Razorbacks (3-1, 1-0 SEC) got their first-ever win over the Gators (2-1, 1-1 SEC) scoring a near school record 196.375-195.425 victory. Junior Casey Jo Magee set a school record winning her third consecutive all-around title with a 39.525. Junior Michelle Stout had her best meet of the young season with a career-best 39.400 finishing second overall. The Razorbacks swept all four of five individual titles with Magee winning the all-around and the beam titles. Freshman Jaime Pisani tied for the vault win and picked up the floor title. Stout won the third vault title of the year as well. “Oh my gosh, it’s just great,” said Magee after the meet. “I’m just so excited. Florida is so strong but our goal was to come in and do it for our fans and for each other. We wanted to give it our all and just see what would happen. I couldn’t be more excited right now.” “We’ve been telling this team that they are good all year,” said co-head coach Mark Cook. “This win validates all of their hard work and effort not only for this team but also for the teams who laid the foundation of this program. This is an exciting moment in the history of the program and I couldn’t be more pleased with the team’s effort tonight.” Magee and Cook had reason to be excited. Arkansas was just shy of the school record with a 196.375 but did set a program record on the vault with a 49.325 to open the meet. The Razorbacks got career-bests from freshmen Mariah Howdeshell and Jaime Pisani while Magee tied her career mark in the event. Pisani’s 9.90 tied Stout as the duo won the vault title. “It was a great way to start the meet,” said Cook. “It set the tone and really put us in a good frame of mind to start the meet.” The Razorbacks moved to bars where they were solid with a 48.975 behind a 9.875 from Stout for a second-place showing. The Gators scored a 49.275 on the vault and pulled ahead of Arkansas 49.175-48.975 after two rotations. Arkansas moved to beam and struggled to a 48.70, counting a 9.60 and 9.65 while throwing out a 9.325 after the first beam worker fell. Florida scored a 49.075 on the floor and extended its lead, 147.525-147.00. But just as the beam seemed to be the downfall of the Razorbacks, so too it seemed for the Gators. Florida fell three times scoring a 47.90 opening the door for Arkansas. The Razorbacks took advantage of the opportunity with a 49.375 on the floor securing the win. Pisani set a career-best with a team-leading 9.925 to win the individual title. Magee and Stout tied for second with a 9.90. “We’ve always talked about taking advantage of whatever the meet gives us,” said Cook, “and that’s exactly what happened tonight. We had a couple stumbles on the beam but we didn’t let it get to us. We came out and did our job on floor and that was the difference in the meet.” The win is the first-ever for Arkansas over the Gators. Arkansas picked up its first win over Alabama last year in a tri-meet at UCLA and the Razorbacks return to SEC action Friday hosting the Crimson Tide at 7 p.m. The Razorbacks don’t have long to celebrate its win over the Gators hitting the road Sunday for a Monday night meet at No. 5 Oklahoma. For more information about Arkansas gymnastics, log on to ArkansasRazorbacks.com.