UA finishes 6th, but Cooks share coach of the year honors

DEMOCRAT-GAZETTE PRESS SERVICES

Posted on Sunday, March 30, 2008

URL: http://www.wholehogsports.com/adg/221307/

DULUTH, Ga. — Arkansas didn’t get the top-five finish it was hoping for Saturday at the SEC Gymnastics Championships, but the Lady Razorbacks didn’t leave empty-handed.

No. 11 Arkansas scored a 194. 650 to finish sixth overall, but Arkansas Co-Coaches Mark and Rene Cook tied for SEC Coach of the Year honors with Auburn’s Jeff Thompson and Georgia’s Suzanne Yoculan. It is the Cooks’ first league honor.

“It’s a huge honor to be recognized by your peers for this award,” Rene Cook said. “It definitely makes you feel good for all of the hard work you do.”

The Lady Razorbacks now await NCAA regional selections, which will be announced Monday.

The meet was one of the closest in recent memory, with topranked Georgia edging No. 3 Florida and No. 6 Alabama, which tied for second. Georgia scored 197. 350, just better than the runners-up at 197. 325. Fifth-ranked LSU (196. 50 ) finished fourth, followed by No. 13 Auburn (196. 10 ). Arkansas edged No. 20 Kentucky (194. 025 ).

Arkansas battled back for a strong finish on beam (49. 025 ) and floor (49. 050 ), but it couldn’t overcome low scores on the vault (48. 625 ) and bars (47. 95 ) to open the meet.

“This is the most pressurefilled meet of the season, even more than the national championships,” Cook said. “The pressure to perform is huge. It’s exciting, but the emotions are tough to control.

“ Obviously we were extremely disappointed, but we were happy to finish strong on the last two events. We have a lot of work to do before regionals.”

Sophomore Michelle Stout led Arkansas in the all-around with a 39. 075, followed by sophomore Casey Jo Magee with a 38. 675.

Arkansas opened the meet on the vault after drawing one of the more favorable rotation orders. Junior Alexandra LaChance turned in a solid 9. 725, but Casey Jo Magee fell during her routine and scored 9. 20. Sophomore Amy DeFilippo scored a 9. 675 and senior Samantha Cortez a 9. 625 before Arkansas finished with back-to-back 9. 80 s from Stout and Sarah Nagashima for a 48. 625.

DeFilippo led off on the bars following Arkansas’ bye in the second rotation and executed a nearly flawless routine for a 9. 70, but Nagashima followed her with another fall and a 8. 775. Emily Peacock came back with a solid routine for a 9. 70, while Stout posted a 9. 75 and Magee a 9. 80 to help Arkansas to a 47. 95.

Arkansas then came back with one of its best beam scores in recent meets, posting a 49. 025, its second-best beam total at the SEC Championships.

Samantha Cortez led off with a 9. 75 and was followed by DeFilippo’s 9. 775. Peacock then tied Arkansas’ best beam performance at the SEC Championships with a 9. 85, and Stacy Bartlett came through with a 9. 80. Magee rounded out Arkansas’ scoring by tying Peacock with a 9. 85.

Arkansas had another bye in the fifth rotation before finishing on the floor exercise with a 49. 050. Nagashima turned in an upbeat routine that scored a 9. 75, and Stout matched Nagashima’s energy with a solid 9. 80. Magee added a 9. 825 and LaChance a 9. 80 before Cortez and Peacock anchored the floor with their marks of 9. 80 and 9. 825, respectively.