Razorbacks maintain Top 10 ranking headed into week four

FAYETTEVILLE — Arkansas held steady in the top 10 in Road To Nationals weekly rankings, maintaining the No. 10 spot for the second-straight week with an average of 196.008.

The Razorbacks posted a 196.150 in a close loss at Missouri last Friday, after scoring a 196.525 a week before against Kentucky, marking its highest scores in back-to-back meets since Feb. 3 and Feb. 10, 2017.

Led by its high scoring balance beam squad that is averaging a score of 49.200 through three meets, which ranks fourth in the nation. The Razorbacks have three athletes ranked in the top 60 in the event, led by Freshman Sophia Carter who is tied for 34th with an average of 9.867. Senior Amanda Wellick and sophomore Jessica Yamzon rank tied for 41st while sophomore Michaela Burton is ranked 54th.

Ranking 11th as Arkansas’ second best event, the Razorbacks average a score of 49.025 through three weeks on vault. Senior Braie Speed leads all Razorbacks on the event, ranking tied for 20th in the nation with an average of 9.867. Speed led all athletes, winning the event title, at Missouri last Friday scoring a 9.900, her highest since the 2017 NCAA Fayetteville Regional. Sophomore Sydney McGlone ranks 27th, while Wellick comes in at No. 54 to round out the top 60.

Arkansas has matchups with No. 1 Oklahoma, No. 5 Florida, No. 7 Alabama, No. 11 Georgia, No. 13 Denver left this season, along with a quad meet in St. Louis that includes rematches against No. 2 LSU and No. 17 Missouri.

The Razorbacks began the year as the preseason 19th-ranked team, and moved up to No. 11 following its week one score of 195.350 at LSU. It’s the first time the Razorbacks have been in the top 10 in back-to-back weeks since Feb. 22 and 29, 2016, where Arkansas ranked ninth in both weeks.

Back at home in Barnhill Arena, the 10th-ranked Razorbacks host the 11th-ranked Georgia Bulldogs for a Southeastern Conference bout beginning at 6 p.m. this Friday. The meet will be shown live of the SEC Network, while tickets for the meet can be purchased here.