FAYETTEVILLE — The University of Arkansas gymnastics team is showing signs of fast improvement under rookie head coach Jordyn Wieber, but the Razorbacks are riding a pair of lengthy losing streaks heading into tonight’s SEC home opener against Kentucky.
No. 15 Arkansas (0-3, 0-1 SEC) has lost its last nine dual meets dating to a 195.8 to 194.725 win at Arizona on Jan. 12, 2019. The Razorbacks have also lost their last nine SEC dual meets going back to a win over No. 16 Auburn on Feb. 9, 2018.
They can lay to rest both streaks with a big showing tonight against No. 13 Kentucky (4-1, 1-0 SEC), which opened with a loss at highly regarded Utah before downing Missouri in an SEC opener and taking a quad meet at home last weekend.
The Razorbacks posted a season-high 196.825 at Barnhill Arena in front of a school-record crowd of 6,714 last Friday and nearly matched it with a 196.55 at No. 1 Oklahoma on Monday. Their losses have come against Florida, Denver and Oklahoma, who were all in the top three at the time of their meets.
“I’ve just been really impressed that they’ve not been intimidated by competing against the top three teams in the country,” Wieber said. “They’re motivated to get better because they see where they can improve. We’ve been doing well, but we can do even better. We’re really striving for that 197 mark.”
Arkansas has improved 17 spots in the national rankings since opening with a 194.4 at Florida. Junior all-arounder Sarah Shaffer added the balance beam and the floor exercise to her workload last week in her recovery from injury and should be on three or four events against the Wildcats.
“I think it’s been good for me to start the season on a slower note, and then amp up from there so I’m ready to peak at the right time,” Shaffer said.
The Razorbacks know that improving on their scores is critical, but posting a dual meet win would also be nice.
“The teams we’ve been going against are ranked so high, so that’s definitely been hard for us, but we know if we can compete well against them that we’ll be able to place well against anyone else in the nation,” said junior Sophia Carter.
“We’ve built a lot of momentum, a lot of confidence going against these teams, and now we’re back home again for the second Friday in a row,” said freshman Bailey Lovett. “So there’s a lot of energy, a lot of excitement.
“Winning the meet definitely gives you a little more confidence … but posting a big score is all that matters for us.”
Wieber said winning a meet would be a “huge confidence boost” but it’s not the focus.
“We really tell the team we’ve got to stay in our bubble,” she said. “We have to do our job. We’re not focusing on winning the meet, we’re focusing on hitting our potential.
“It’s not about the wins and losses, it’s about your score. So that’s what I want them to focus on, being the best they can be. … But it is nice to have a team come in like Kentucky. They’re 13th and we’re 15th, so we know we have the potential to potentially beat them. We’re not focusing on that as a team, but it is a nice little thing.”
Kentucky, under ninth-year coach Tim Garrison, won 196.95 to 196.525 in its last trip to Barnhill Arena.
The Wildcats are led by senior Maggie Korth, who is ninth nationally in the all-around with a scoring average of 39.467.
The meet will feature six of the nation’s top 36 all-around performers. Korth will be joined by freshman Raena Worley, who is 18th (39.3) and junior Ella Warren, who is 24th (39.242). The Razorbacks counter with sophomore Kennedy Hambrick, who is 28th (39.192), as well as No. 31 freshman Kiara Gianfagna (39.163) and No. 36 senior Jessica Yamzon (39.075).
Arkansas sports the nation’s No. 8 floor team, led by Carter and Lovett. Carter is No. 12 on the event (9.908) while Lovett is No. 28 (9.875).