Tag: Kennedy Hambrick

Arkansas Gymnastics: Postseason roster moves begin to take shape

Two gymnasts who were a part of the 2022 roster have made decisions regarding their futures with the program.

The early stages of the offseason mean the same for Gymnastics as it does for every other sport. It’s now time to play “are they staying? Or are they going?”

Arkansas Gymnastics’ team season concluded on April 2, with two members of the Gymbacks’ squad competing for individual national titles on April 14. Since then, two athletes have announced their decisions on their future with the program.

One of the individual national competitors, [autotag]Kennedy Hambrick[/autotag], announced Monday that she will be returning for her 5th season.

Hambrick joined Sarah Shaffer at the National Championships in Dallas, Texas by competing in the All-Around event, while Shaffer competed in bars. According to Arkansas Athletics, her score of 39.575 in the regional semifinal was a season high, and featured no scores lower than 9.875.

While at nationals, Hambrick was named all-around All-American after placing in the top-8, grabbing the 52nd All-American honor for Arkansas Gymnastics.

Hambrick joins [autotag]Bailey Lovett[/autotag] in returning for one more season. Lovett announced her decision in February.

While one members returns, one will be leaving the program to focus on academics and her future career.

[autotag]Amanda Elswick[/autotag], a four-year competitor for Arkansas, has announced her plans to continue her academic career at another institution.

Elswick saw action in all four years that she was a Razorback, but participated in every meet on vault and beam for Arkansas during her senior year. Some of the highlights of her season include a career-best 9.950 on beam against SEMO on February 6, and winning the beam title in the meet with Georgia on February 25.

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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