Razorbacks finish last in tri-meet

The University of Arkansas scored a season-best road score on Sunday and put a gymnast on the podium on each event, but it was not enough to avoid a third-place showing behind Missouri and LSU in the program’s first SEC tri-meet.

No. 11 Missouri posted just its seventh win over No. 5 LSU in program history and won the meet with a 197.35. LSU, boosted by a 10 from Haleigh Bryant finished just behind at 197.2 and the No. 16 Razorbacks scored 196.8.

The Razorbacks got second-place finishes from senior Bailey Lovett on the floor exercise (9.9), senior Amanda Elswick on the balance beam (9.925) and freshman Maddie Jones on the uneven bars (9.925). Freshman Makenzie Sedlacek’s 9.9 tied for third on the vault.

Arkansas senior Kennedy Hambrick, coming off the first missed meet of her career due to covid protocols, competed on the beam (9.9), the floor (9.825) and the vault (9.6) but not the bars.

Bryant captured the all-around title with a 39.7 over Missouri’s Sienna Schreiber (39.525) and Arkansas freshman Leah Smith (38.75), whose performance was highlighted by a 9.85 on the vault and a pair of 9.8s on the beam and floor.

The Razorbacks (2-5, 0-5 SEC) return to action on Friday against No. 27 Georgia.