FAYETTEVILLE — Following Arkansas’ record night last Friday against Georgia, the Razorbacks moved up to No. 8 in this week’s Road To Nationals weekly rankings, its highest ranking since Feb. 1, 2016.
With one of the nation’s youngest rosters, that includes 10 underclassmen, the Razorbacks secured its seventh score over 197 in school history last Friday against the Bulldogs. It’s just the second time in program history, and first since 2012, that Arkansas has posted a 197 in the month of January.
Freshman Sophia Carter secured the nations third best beam score of the season with a 9.975 against the Bulldogs, making her the 10th-ranked gymnasts in the nation in the event.
The Razorbacks upped its average on the beam to 49.256, giving it the fourth-best beam team in the nation for the third-consecutive week.
Four gymnasts hold spots in the top-60 of the individual rankings, including sophomores Jessica Yamzon and Michaela Burton who are tied for 22nd and 27th, respectively.
Vault remained the Razorbacks second-best event, jumping two spots to No. 9 in this week’s rankings with an average of 49.044.
Senior Braie Speed is the highest ranked individual on the event, coming in at No. 22, while junior Sydney McGlone and senior Amanda Wellick come in at No. 50 and No. 56, respectively.
Arkansas made huge strides on bars and on the floor against Georgia, moving them up six spots to No. 13 on bars and up 10 spots to No. 19 on the floor.
On bars, the Razorbacks had their best performance of the season against Georgia with a score of 49.175. Individually, Wellick and Speed lead the way, both placing in the top-60 with Wellick at No. 34 and Speed at No. 54.
The Razorbacks were assisted on the floor by five scores over 9.875 against Georgia, including a 9.950 by Carter and a 9.900 by fellow freshman Sarah Shaffer.
Shaffer is the highest ranked Razorback coming in at No. 74, while Yamzon is the 78th best gymnasts on the floor.
Arkansas has matchups with No. 1 Oklahoma, No. 5 Florida, No. 10 Alabama, and No. 13 Denver left this season, along with the Mardi Gras Invitational meet in St. Louis that includes rematches against No. 2 LSU and No. 23 Missouri on Feb. 16, 2018.
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 three straight weeks since 2016, and the first time that Arkansas has held a top-10 ranking for three weeks in the first month of the season since 2014.
The Razorbacks travel to Tuscaloosa, Alabama this Friday for a Top-10 Southeastern Conference showdown against the Crimson Tide.
The meet is scheduled to begin at 7:30 p.m. and will be streamed on the SEC Network+ and the WatchESPN app.
