Arkansas Moving Up in the Rankings

The University of Arkansas gymnastics team is on a roll in 2020, moving up from its preseason ranking of 19th in the nation, the Gymbacks are currently ranked 14th all-around after their third-straight 196+ performance on Friday against Kentucky. Arkansas' 49.525 team floor score on Friday is tied for second-best in program history in the event and elevated them to fourth in the nation on the floor.

Two Razorbacks tied for the floor title against Kentucky, sophomore Kennedy Hambrick and junior  Sophia Carter who earned a pair of 9.925's. It's the second floor title of the season for Carter whose 9.950 tied with redshirt-freshman Bailey Lovett against Denver just a week before as the duo secured the floor title for Arkansas.

Arkansas has seen improvements on both the vault and beam since the start of the season and now sit at 23rd and 22nd respectively. The Gymbacks are averaging 49.075 as a team on the uneven bars, coming in at 16th on the apparatus.

Redshirt-junior Sarah Shaffer nailed her Yurchenko layout half for a career-high 9.900 on the vault, while junior Sydney Laird finished her clean routine on the bars with a stuck dismount and a 9.900 on the bars for the third-straight meet. Shaffer's performance earned her a spot on the Sports Center Top 10 and Laird earned her first bars title of the season.

The Razorbacks saw 12,062 fans flock to Barnhill Arena to see the rise of Arkansas gymnastics this season, breaking a program record with 6,714 fans against Denver on Jan. 17 and then with 5,321 fans in the stands when they hosted Kentucky on Friday (Jan. 24). First year head coach Jordyn Wieber and her staff have elevated the program to such great heights, bringing two of the top three crowds in program history in just the first two home meets of the season.

Arkansas travels to no. 20 Missouri on Friday (Jan. 31) but will return to Barnhill Arena on Feb. 7 when they host no.13 Georgia on Glow Hogs Night!

Arkansas and Georgia are set to kick off at 7:00 p.m. (CT).