Hogs gymnasts face tough test in Texas

Arkansas coach Mark Cook cheers his athletes Saturday, Jan. 5, 2019, during the Razorbacks' meet with No. 2 Oklahoma in Barnhill Arena in Fayetteville.

FAYETTEVILLE -- The No. 21 University of Arkansas gymnastics team will get a second look at powerhouse Oklahoma and take on conference foe Missouri at the same time today in Fort Worth, Texas.

The Razorbacks will be competing in the annual Metroplex Challenge at the Fort Worth Convention Center along with the No. 1 Sooners, No. 7 Denver and No. 15 Missouri.

Arkansas gymnastics

at Metroplex Challenge

SITE Fort Worth Convention Center, Fort Worth, Texas

TIME 7:30 p.m.

STREAM FloSports (subscription required)

RECORDS Arkansas (1-2, 0-1 SEC), Missouri (3-2, 0-2 SEC), Oklahoma (4-0), Denver (6-0)

RANKINGS No. 1 Oklahoma 197.625, No. 7 Denver 196.225, No. 15 Missouri 195.625, No. 21 Arkansas 195.083

EVENTS Vault: No. 1 (tie) Oklahoma 49.433, No. 12 Denver 48.975, No. 16 Arkansas 48.492, No. 17 Missouri 48.883; Uneven bars: No. 1 Oklahoma 49.467, No. 4 Denver 49.4, No. 25 Missouri 48.783, No. 38 Arkansas 48.392; Balance beam: No. 1 Oklahoma 49.492, No. 12 Missouri 48.85, No. 21 Arkansas 48.767, No. 27 Denver 48.65; Floor exercise: No. 4 Oklahoma 49.223, No. 6 Denver 49.2, No. 11 Missouri 49.108, No. 14 Arkansas 49.033

NOTEWORTHY Arkansas’ competition with Missouri will count as a conference meet. … The Razorbacks will appear in the Metroplex Challenge for the second time after finishing third in the 2015 event behind No. 1 Oklahoma and No. 2 LSU. … Arkansas is 13-9 vs. Missouri, 3-6 vs. Denver and 1-15 vs. Oklahoma.

The competition against Missouri will count as a conference meet for the Razorbacks (1-2), who opened SEC action last week with a 195.275 to 193.975 setback at No. 16 Kentucky.

Oklahoma (4-0) shot out of the gate with a 198.05 at Barnhill Arena on Jan. 5, the highest season-opening score in NCAA gymnastics history.

Missouri opened with a quad-meet victory in Tempe, Ariz., against No. 20 Arizona State, No. 23 Minnesota and Illinois-Chicago with a 195.45, but the Tigers lost SEC meets to Florida and Auburn the last two weekends.

Denver opened the season with a quad-meet victory at Alabama against the Crimson Tide, Michigan and Bowling Green.

The Sooners are led by Maggie Nichols, the nation's No.1 all-around gymnast, who scored a 10.0 on the vault at Barnhill Arena in the opener. Nichols has an all-around average of 39.7. She is joined in the top 10 by teammates Brenna Dowell, fifth with a 39.587 average, and Anastasia Webb, seventh with a 39.5 average.

Denver's Lynnzee Brown ranks 11th in the all-around with an average of 39.438.

Arkansas' top-rated gymnasts are Sophia Carter, who is tied for No. 12 on the floor (9.908), and all-arounders Jessica Yamzon, who is tied for No. 48 (38.975) and Sarah Shaffer, who is No. 54 (38.908).

Sports on 01/26/2019