Gym’Backs head to Georgia for SEC championships

BY JOE WEST Northwest Arkansas Times

Posted on Thursday, March 27, 2008

URL: http://www.wholehogsports.com/nwat/63562/

According to Arkansas gymnastics co-head coach Mark Cook, now’s when the fun really begins.

“ The season’s been long, but it goes by so fast, ” he said. “ This is where most of the fun really starts, in postseason competition. ”

For the No. 11 Gym’Backs, the “ fun” starts today when the team arrives in Duluth, Ga., site of Saturday’s 2008 SEC Gymnastics Championships. Duluth’s Gwinnett Center is known for having 10, 000 raucous fans on hand when SEC gymnasts go head-to-head.

“ It’s a great event at a great venue, ” co-head coach Rene Cook said. “ The environment is amazing as far as the electricity in the gym. ”

According to Mark Cook, the team’s focus for this meet should be on bettering its league standing.

“ Our goal is to go in there and knock off a team we haven’t beaten before and move up that SEC ladder, ” he said.

No. 3 Florida and No. 1 Georgia are the meet’s heavy favorites, so the Gym’Backs will be chasing No. 5 LSU and No. 6 Alabama, while trying to hold off No. 13 Auburn and No. 20 Kentucky.

“ It’s going to be tough, ” Rene Cook said. “ Kentucky wants to beat us, Auburn wants to beat us, everyone else wants to beat us. It’s a great conference and you can’t really slip up and expect to do anything great. ”

The Cooks aren’t overly concerned about keeping their level-headed team focused over the long weekend.

“ These guys are really good at focusing when they need to and relaxing when they need to, ” Rene Cook said.

The Gym’Backs will take part in the early practice session Friday at noon before the competition draw at 1: 50 p. m. One focus of Friday’s practice will be getting accustomed to The Gwinnett Center’s podium, something that was new to six Gym’Back freshmen last year.

The Gym’Backs have been holding steady at No. 11 nationally, and rank in the top 17 in each event (10 th on vault, 14 th on bars, 17 th on beam, ninth on the floor ).

“ The team has gained some confidence throughout the season, ” Rene Cook said. “ We’ve beaten some good teams and been fairly consistent. With that behind us, we feel like that gives us a little more confidence heading into the championships than maybe we’ve had in the past. ”

“ We’ve just got to follow through with that confidence, ” Mark Cook said. “ And pay close attention to detail. ”

The Gym’Backs will count on a sophomore heavily this weekend. Casey Jo Magee is ranked 23 rd in the country as an all-arounder, and eighth overall on the balance beam.

Senior Emily Peacock, who was recently named to the SEC Community Service Team, is looking to wrap up her outstanding Gym’Back career with a bang. She is currently ranked 18 th on the floor exercise.

The only possible lineup change the Cooks foresee is Michelle Stout going in on beam for Sarah Nagashima.

The competition officially gets underway Saturday at 3 p. m. The meet is scheduled to be televised on a tapedelayed basis on Fox Sports Net on April 4.