Arkansas senior Jaime Pisani leads the No. 3 Razorbacks against No. 25 LSU on Friday night. During the meet the 2003 Razorbacks will be recognized for their 10th year anniversary. Photo by Gareth Patterson.
Arkansas’ No. 3 gymnastics team will have to look out for revenge in its big meet Friday.
No. 25 LSU competed against the Razorbacks in the Cancun Classic, a five-school, season-opening competition Arkansas won while the Tigers finished last.
Arkansas was ranked No. 11 and LSU No. 12 prior to the meet, but the Razorbacks jumped up eight spots after the win and a win against No. 23 Kentucky. The Tigers fell 13 spots.
“LSU is a great program,” Arkansas co-head coach Rene Cook said. “They’re going to come in here ready to go they fight hard, they have some great athletes on their team. We certainly know we have to do our job to come out ahead. It’s definitely going to be a hard fought competition.” Said Co- Head coach Rene Cook.
Arkansas is 5-0 on the season, coming off the win against Kentucky. The team is looking to beat LSU at home, after beating the Tigers on the road for the first time last season in conference action.
Despite the wide margin in scores in the Cancun Classic — 196.45 to 192.5 — the Razorbacks won’t overlook the Tigers at 7 p.m. in Barnhill Arena, said co-head coach Mark Cook.
“We’re going to expect a very tough competition,” Mark Cook said. “(LSU) faltered in Cancun, that’s not their program. They’re going to be coming here to play. So it’s gonna be a competition and we have to be on our toes.
“One thing I reminded the girls is we’re not just competing against LSU, we’re competing against everyone every single weekend.” Said Rene Cook “While we are competing against the team in the gym, every bit matters no matter what the circumstances. “
A big crowd is expected to honor the inaugural gymnastics team from 2003 in a celebration of the program’s 10th anniversary.
“It’s going to be an exciting competition,” Mark Cook said. “I expect a lot of fans here it’s our 10th year of celebration with our inaugural team and there’s a lot going on. So it’s going to be a very emotional meet.”
The current team will get a chance to show members from the first team the progress in the program. The No. 3 ranking is a program-best.
“It’s early in the season but we’re proud of what the girls are doing.” Said Mark Cook.
The Razorbacks will rely on some of their top performers against LSU.
Senior Jaime Pisani is tied for seventh in the nation in vault, second on the floor, and No. 15 in the all-around. Senior Mariah Howdeshell is tied for third nationally on bars.
Sophomore Katherine Grable is fifth nationally on the beam and No. 10 in all-around.
Staying focused and avoiding multiple errors in an event will be key, Mark Cook said.
“Don’t count falls,” Mark Cook said. “That’s the name of the game of the game in this sport. You can have some errors but five out of six scores count per event. If you have a fall you don’t want to have more than one on an event.”