After beginning the season with three straight meet scores above 197, the No. 13 Arkansas gymnastics team has struggled a bit on the road the past two weeks – while facing two of the best programs in the country.
After falling at No. 3 LSU a week ago, the Gym’Backs were outpointed at No. 6 Florida on Friday night, 197.850-196.050.
In front of a rowdy home crowd of 8,823, the Gators outscored the Hogs on all four apparatuses. Arkansas did not register a score of 9.900 until midway through the meet, however, they did bounce back to secure a share of two individual event titles.
Sophomore Frankie Price tied on the floor exercise with an impressive 9.950 and junior Kalyxta Gamiao scored a stellar 9.925 on the beam, finishing in a three-way tie for first.
It was meet of the season aired on the ESPN Network, and the first time the Arkansas program has ever appeared on the flagship network, as a team.
Arkansas now has two meets within three days next week, beginning with the Metroplex Challenge in Fort Worth, where they will face Cal, Oklahoma and Washington on Feb. 17. Two days later, they will travel to Denton, Texas, to compete with Alabama, Arizona, and host Texas Woman’s University.