Tag: Gymbacks

Column: For 24 hours the Arkansas athletic department was the most dominant in the country.

Has Arkansas athletic ever had a more dominant 24 hours than what we saw between Friday and Saturday night?

The 2023-24 athletic season has not been kind to Arkansas fans.

Arkansas football failed to make a bowl game for the first time since Coach Sam Pittman came to Arkansas. To add insult to injury, stars like KJ Jefferson, Raheim “Rocket” Sanders, and Chris “Pooh” Paul all left the program, two for SEC foes.

Arkansas Basketball had national championship hopes after beating currently No. 3 ranked Purdue in the preseason and knocking off No. 8 Duke in the ACC/SEC challenge. But the Hogs fell below .500 in conference play for the first time in the Musselman era and now need a miracle to make the NCAA Tournament.

Until this weekend, Arkansas fans haven’t had much to be happy about this athletic year, but Friday night sparked 24 hours of record-breaking and dominant performances across all sports.

It all started with Arkansas baseball’s game against Oregon State. Despite being pulled after just one Inning against James Madison, Lefty Hagen Smith pitched one of the best games anyone in Hog uniform has ever pitched. Smith stuck out 17 of 18 batters in a lineup that could rival any in the country. The Hogs went on to beat the Beavers 5-4.

Not to be outdone by their male counterparts, the other Diamond Hogs wanted to create history of their own. Left-hander Robyn Herron saw Smith’s performance Friday night and said, “Eh, I can do better than that,” and boy, if she didn’t, she came very close. Herron Pitched a no-hitter for the second time in Arkansas history, beating Illinois State 7-0. She struck out 11 of the 21 batters she faced.

Just because the season has been disappointing for the Hardwood Hogs doesn’t mean they can’t have a day of their own. Khalif Battle went off yesterday in Arkansas’ 88-73 win over Mizzou. The transfer from Temple scored a whopping 42 points. The performance is good for the second-highest single-game point total this century, behind only Rotnei Clarke’s record of 51 points in 2009.

Last but certainly not least, the GymBacks beat No. 6 Kentucky 197.400 to 197.150. The win is against the highest-ranked team Arkansas has beaten since 2016. Their score of 197.400 is also good for tying the 4th highest score ever for the GymBacks.

You can also add in the fact that Arkansas Track and Field swept the SEC Indoor Championships, but that’s just the norm for the most dominant track and field program in the country.

It would be hard to find another 24-hour period where the Arkansas athletic department was so dominant across multiple sports, and it couldn’t have come soon enough for Arkansas fans.

Gym’Backs tumble on the road, lose to another Top 10 team

Arkansas was able to tie for a pair of individual titles Friday night.

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.

Arkansas gymnastics begins Friday with most season tickets sold

The Arkansas gymnastics team will open the season at home Friday against Georgia after setting a new program-high in season tickets sold.

With its season set to get under way Friday night in legendary Barnhill Arena, the No. 15 Arkansas gymnastics team has already set a new program record with 2,250 season tickets being sold.

This marks the third consecutive year that the Gymbacks have set a new season-ticket sales record under fifth-year head coach, and former Olympic gold medalist, Jordyn Wieber.

Season tickets and individual meet tickets are still available.

Arkansas is coming off its 19th straight regional appearance, where they finished with a new regional team score record of 197.275, and a new regional floor record of 49.500. The Gymbacks finished 17th in the country, ending the season in the Top 20 for the 18th straight season.

This season will include three home meets inside Barnhill, along with two meets in Bud Walton Arena. Arkansas returns a core of veterans, with Frankie Price, Jensen Scalzo, Leah Smith, Cami Weaver and Lauren Williams. The Gymbacks also added beam All-American Sirena Linton from Arizona, as a graduate transfer, along with four promising freshmen – Chandler Buntin, Dakota Essenpries, Hailey Klein and Priscilla Park.

Arkansas will host Georgia at 6:45 p.m. on Friday night.

Arkansas Gymnastics: Hambrick, Shaffer qualify for Nationals

Arkansas Gymnastics will be well represented at the NCAA Gymnastics Championships as Kennedy Hambrick and Sarah Shaffer compete for an individual national title!

For the second consecutive season, the Arkansas Gymbacks’ season concluded with a trip to the Sweet 16. The season ended Saturday by placing 4th in the regional final, finishing behind No. 1 Oklahoma, No. 8 Minnesota, and No. 9 Cal in Norman, Okla.

Arkansas scored record-highs in beam (49.475), and vault (49.500), and finished with a record of 10-18, which is a program-best since the hire of head coach [autotag]Jordyn Wieber[/autotag] prior to the 2020 season.

Despite the team’s season coming to a close, two members of the Arkansas Gymnastics squad will continue to compete for individual National Championships.

Graduate Senior [autotag]Sarah Shafer[/autotag] and senior [autotag]Kennedy Hambrick [/autotag] will represent Arkansas Gymnastics as National Qualifiers in the Individual National Championship held April 14 at Dickies Center in Fort Worth, Texas.

Hambrick will compete as an all-around contestant for the second season in a row.

Last season, Hambrick finished sixth on vault (9.8875), and beam (9.9125), and fifth place on bars (9.900), en route to a fifth-place overall finish in all-around competition. Hambrick set a personal record on bars this season by scoring 9.975 in a meet with Southeast Missouri. She earned an event title in beam against Auburn on January 14 by scoring 9.950, and won an all-around crown in the meet with Ohio State on January 7 by scoring 39.350.

Graduate senior Sarah Shaffer will compete as a National Qualifier by representing Arkansas Gymnastics on bars.

The Tyler, Texas native returns to her home state to compete in the the Individual National Championships for the first time. She was a key component to Arkansas’ 2018 team that advanced to nationals by earning SEC Freshman of the Year, as well as spots on the All-SEC team and All-SEC Freshman Team.

The NCAA Gymnastics Championships begin Thursday, April 14 and will conclude Saturday, April 16. This year’s event will be held in Fort Worth, Texas.

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