FAYETTEVILLE — Arkansas’ return to the NCAA Gymnastics Championships didn’t quite go as planned.
The Razorbacks looked like a lock as a title contender early in the year when they surged into a tie for the nation’s top ranking. Then, after a flurry of injuries, Arkansas looked like a lock to miss the national meet for the first time since 2007.
Yet, after all the turbulence, the Razorbacks find themselves where they always expected to be. No. 8 Arkansas is back in the national meet, which begins today at the Gwinnett Center in Duluth, Ga.
“If you’re going to have that downturn, I guess we were lucky the way it happened,” Arkansas co-Coach Rene Cook said. “We’re going to the national championshipsin as good of a position as we have been all season.”
The Razorbacks enter the national meet coming off what co-Coach Mark Cook called the team’s best performance of the year. Arkansas scored 196.825 to finish second to No. 2 UCLA at the South Central Regional onApril 7 at Barnhill Arena in Fayetteville.
The score was the Razorbacks’ second-best of the season, but Mark Cook said it was the team’s cleanest, most aggressive performance, which was made even better by the importance of the meet. It also marked the first time since late February that the team was close to full strength.
“I don’t think we ever doubted our ability to do what we did at the regional championship, but there was a lot of gossip out there. ‘No way Arkansas is going to make it,’ ” Rene Cook said. “For us, we always felt all along we would be fine. There again, you still have to do the job when the day comes.”
Sophomore Katherine Grable, who injured her ankle against Nebraska on Feb. 24, returned to score 9.8 or better in three disciplines at the regional meet. Mark Cook said Grable scored 9.85 on the bars despite not practicing a dismount in a month, showing why she was ranked No. 1 nationally in the all-around before her injury.
“She’s a very special athlete,” Mark Cook said. “As a coach, I stand back in awe.”
Kelci Lewis, hobbled since an ankle injury she sustained against Minnesota on March 10, scored 9.775 or better in two events. Amy Borsellino, who was thrust into an all-around role when Jordan Salsberg was lost for the season, scored 39.300 to finish sixth in the regional all-around.
Mark Cook said the team’s triumph despite the roughand-tumble year has made the Razorbacks better prepared for the national meet. Grable and Lewis are back healthy and give Arkansas a strong nucleus led by senior Jaime Pisani.
Pisani, who is ranked No. 1 nationally in the all-around and the floor exercise, won the regional all-around with a score of 39.625.
“When everything goes your way, sometimes you don’t appreciate what you’vegone through,” Mark Cook said. “When you have adversity and prevail in spite of that, it makes the experience even more rewarding. We feel in some ways, even though it was painful to go through some of the meets, in the end it has been beneficial because we’re mentally more strong.”
The Razorbacks return to Duluth, where their season hit its lowest point at the SEC Championships. Arkansas finished sixth with a meager score of 194.175, nearly a point less than its second-worst score of the year.
If nothing else, it was more than adequate motivation to make a better showing this time.
“This is a totally different team,” Rene Cook said. “Our confidence level is totally different. We get to do it again and do it the way we want to do it.”GYMNASTICS NCAA Championships WHEN Today-Sunday WHERE Gwinnett Center, Duluth, Ga.
SCHEDULE Morning session begins at 11 a.m. and afternoon session begins at 5 p.m. Top three teams in each session advance to Super Six finals at 3 p.m.
Saturday. Individual finals are noon Sunday.
TEAMS Morning session: No. 2 UCLA, No. 3 Oklahoma, No. 6 Nebraska, No.
7 Utah, No. 10 Stanford, No. 11 LSU.
Afternoon session: No. 1 Florida, No. 4 Alabama, No. 5 Georgia, No. 8 Arkansas, No. 9 Oregon State, No. 12 Ohio State DEFENDING CHAMPION Alabama TELEVISION 7:30 p.m. May 2 on ESPNU
Sports, Pages 24 on 04/20/2012