Record-setting spectacular
No. 8 Arkansas gymnasts take down No. 1 Florida
Harold McIlvain II
Issue date: 1/26/09 Section: Sports
The Arkansas gymnastics team did two things it had never done before Friday at Barnhill Arena - beat a No. 1-ranked team and beat Florida.
The No. 8 Razorbacks started strong and pulled away late with a 196.375-195.425 win over the No. 1 Gators.
Arkansas (3-1, 1-0 Southeastern Conference) started the night on vault with a 49.325 score, setting a new school record for the event.
After emerging with an early lead, Arkansas gave up ground it wouldn't regain until the last rotation.
Finishing on beam, Florida started the event well with three performances of 9.800 or better. But the next three routines would cost the team, as all three Gators fell.
The Razorbacks secured the victory with final floor performances that recorded a 9.900 for junior Michelle Stout, a 9.925 for freshman Jaime Pisani and a 9.900 for junior Casey Jo Magee.
Arkansas co-head coach Mark Cook said the team really fed off the crowd to end the meet on a high note.
"We had so many students here," Cook said. "That energy sometimes comes into the performance and transcends it. And the girls feed into it with their presentations. It really helps. They performed the routines really, really well."
Cook said taking advantage of mistakes throughout the night was key.
"I've always told the girls that luck is when you take advantage of opportunity," Cook said. "And the Gators did give us some opportunity, and we took advantage of that. That's what you have to do sometimes. We had a few little errors, too. But in sports, it swings both ways."
Magee - who won her third straight all-around competition - set a new school record by scoring 39.525 in all four events.
"She is on fire," Cook said of Magee. "She works really hard in the gym, and it is nice to see her be able to achieve that. Finally breaking the school record in the all-around, that has been there for a while. We were happy for her to be able to break that."
Cook said the meet came down to the team being determined to win.
The No. 8 Razorbacks started strong and pulled away late with a 196.375-195.425 win over the No. 1 Gators.
Arkansas (3-1, 1-0 Southeastern Conference) started the night on vault with a 49.325 score, setting a new school record for the event.
After emerging with an early lead, Arkansas gave up ground it wouldn't regain until the last rotation.
Finishing on beam, Florida started the event well with three performances of 9.800 or better. But the next three routines would cost the team, as all three Gators fell.
The Razorbacks secured the victory with final floor performances that recorded a 9.900 for junior Michelle Stout, a 9.925 for freshman Jaime Pisani and a 9.900 for junior Casey Jo Magee.
Arkansas co-head coach Mark Cook said the team really fed off the crowd to end the meet on a high note.
"We had so many students here," Cook said. "That energy sometimes comes into the performance and transcends it. And the girls feed into it with their presentations. It really helps. They performed the routines really, really well."
Cook said taking advantage of mistakes throughout the night was key.
"I've always told the girls that luck is when you take advantage of opportunity," Cook said. "And the Gators did give us some opportunity, and we took advantage of that. That's what you have to do sometimes. We had a few little errors, too. But in sports, it swings both ways."
Magee - who won her third straight all-around competition - set a new school record by scoring 39.525 in all four events.
"She is on fire," Cook said of Magee. "She works really hard in the gym, and it is nice to see her be able to achieve that. Finally breaking the school record in the all-around, that has been there for a while. We were happy for her to be able to break that."
Cook said the meet came down to the team being determined to win.
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