The No. 15 Arkansas gymnastics team will showcase its new lineup for the first time this season, during the Gymback Preview intrasquad event Sunday inside Barnhill Arena.
The event is free to the public and set to begin at 2 p.m., with doors opening at 1 p.m. Free parking is available in lots surrounding Barnhill, including lots 44, 72, 73, 74, and 76.
This will be Arkansas’ fifth season under head coach and Olympic gold-medalist Jordyn Wieber, and have begun each of the previous four seasons ranked inside the top 15.
The Gymbacks finished last season with their 19th straight regional appearance, and ended up 17th nationally, which extended their 18-year streak of finishing in the Top 20. They barely missed the regional final, but finished with a new regional team score record of 197.275, and a new regional floor record of 49.500.
“The last two or three seasons, we have done a really good job of improving the level of gymnastics — doing harder gymnastics, making it cleaner — and you can see those changes,” Wieber said. “But what we are craving this year is just that consistency piece. They were able to see those sparks, and what they were capable of, but they were missing the belief in themselves to do it consistently.”
Arkansas has a loaded lineup of returners this year including all-SEC honorees Frankie Price, Cami Weaver, and Lauren Williams. The Gymbacks also added All-American Sirena Linton from Arizona as a graduate transfer, in addition to four stellar freshman – Chandler Buntin, Dakota Essenpries, Hailey Klein and Priscilla Park.
Wieber has gone back to her roots as a budding gymnast, to teach her team the intricate details it takes to reach the top. She was introduced to the sport at the age of 2 and was competing at the Junior International Elite by age 11, when she was named to the 2006 US National Team for the first time. By age 16, she had won her first two gold medals in the Tokyo World Championships, including the all-around title. A year later she won gold in the 2012 London Olympics as one of the USA’s renowned “Fierce Five.”
“I don’t think it’s just me, but it is really our coaching staff, as a whole,” Wieber said. “We complement each other really well, and we’ve all made it to that top level of our sport. It’s about all of the lessons we learned to get us there — how to train, how to compete at a high level, how to build that confidence. Our entire staff is really passionate, really energized and really dynamic, and we all bring a little something different to the table.”
Sunday’s event will also include a Toy Drive, so fans are encouraged to bring a new, unwrapped toy, to benefit children in Northwest Arkansas. Fans in attendance will also be the first to get the 2024 team poster, with autographed versions given out at Barnhill.
Arkansas will open their regular-season slate on Jan. 12, as the Gymbacks host Georgia in Barnhill, beginning at 6:45 p.m.