With two separate quad meets slated for this weekend, the No. 16 Arkansas gymnastics opened with a third-place finish Saturday, in the Metroplex Challenge in Fort Worth.
Competing against a stack field that included the country’s top two teams, No. 1 Oklahoma and No. 2. Cal, the GymBacks put up a team score of 196.800, which was good enough to finish ahead of Washington’s 196.450.
The Sooners took high honors with a team score of 198.300, followed by the the Golden Bears’ 197.400, with
Arkansas (3-4-1, 2-2-1 SEC) began the night equaling its season-high on the uneven bars with a score of 49.400. Sophomore Reese Drotar and junior Maddie Jones led the Razorbacks, turning in solid routines with stuck dismounts to each score 9.900.
The Hogs stumbled a bit on the beam with a team score of 48.650, as junior Kalyxta Gamiao led Arkansas with a 9.875 on the event. The Razorbacks sat in fourth place after two events, but came up solid on the final two apparatuses to edge out Washington.
Sophomore Lauren Williams scored a 9.925 to earn a share of the event title on vault – her third of the season. Fellow sophomore Cami Weaver was close behind with a 9.875.
Sophomore Frankie Price rocked the floor exercise with a score of 9.950, which put her in a tie for the event title, also her third of the season. Williams turned in her second 9.925 in consecutive events
The Gymbacks will compete again in the Metroplex on Monday at 2 p.m. This time they will be in Denton for a quad meet with No. 9 Alabama, No. 17 Arizona, and host Texas Women’s.
The team will then return home to host No. 5 Kentucky on Friday at 7:15, inside legendary Barnhill Arena. It will be Equality Night and will air live on the SEC Network.