Arkansas senior Jaime Pisani finished the bars with a 9.950 for a meet-high score. File Photo.
Arkansas took on No. 25 LSU Tigers in Barnhill Arena on Friday night in front of a school record crowd of 5,537 fans.
The 5,537 fans in attendance (7 of which were clad in red body paint) were there not only to watch the Gymbacks in action but also to celebrate the 10thaAnniversary of the gymnastics program.
All-American senior Jaime Pisani started the Hogs off strong by delivering a 9.900 on vault but it didn’t stop there as Katherine Grable followed Pisani with a 9.950. Arkansas finished with a total score of 49.400 on vault which was good enough for the third-best total score in school history.
“We started off really strong on vault, which was a big improvement from last week,” coach Renee Cook said. “Last week we had some errors on our landings, but we were much more improved on that.”
Different event but same story for the Hogs as the charge was once again in the bars lead by Pisani and Grable, only this time the roles were reversed when Grable led off with a 9.900 and Pisani responded with a 9.950. The Hogs continued as senior Mariah Howdeshell finished off the round with a 9.925 to give Arkansas a total of 49.450 on the bars which set a new school record.
Strong performances in the first two events set Arkansas to take the lead against the LSU 98.850 to 98.500.
The score tightened when the Razorbacks took the beam though, struggling early until sophomore Katherine Grable took to the beam and again delivered with a 9.925. Grable’s score was the highest of any other gymnast on the Arkansas squad. The Razorbacks finished with a 48.950 total on the beam
“After bars and vault it was pretty tight, going next on beam it was hard to keep composure,” Grable said. “But i think we all did a good of keeping it under control.”
LSU was not able to capitalize while they were on the floor, turning in a 48.800 which did not put them back ahead of the Gymbacks as they remained in the lead with a score of 147.800 to 147.300.
After three events Arkansas turned to the floor. Bailee Zumwalde and Amy Borsellino turned in a 9.850 and 9.875 respectively. Jordan Salsberg and Kelci Lewis each turned in a 9.800 before Grable continued her night with a 9.950 in her floor routine followed by Pisani’s 9.950.
Behind Pisani and Grable’s performances, Arkansas finished with a combined score of 197.225 for the meet.
“Both of us being as competitive as we are and being on the same team really helps us both do better,” Grable said.
Arkansas returns to action next weekend with a matchup against No. 8 Florida in Gainesville, Fla.
“We are going to enjoy this win for tonight, but going to Florida is going to be tough,” Cook said. “They are a great team and we are going to have a lot of expectations on us and that is something we are going to have to deal with on the road and its a great opportunity for us.”