FAYETTEVILLE — Six University of Arkansas gymnasts earned All-SEC recognition from the conference office Wednesday after the Razorbacks’ record showing at the SEC Championships in New Orleans last weekend.
Juniors Maddie Jones and Leah Smith, sophomores Frankie Price, Cami Weaver and Lauren Williams, and freshman Hailey Klein turned in All-SEC performances as the Razorbacks posted a 197.05, the program’s best score at the event, on their way to a sixth-place finish.
The six selections tied the program record and represented the highest number to earn All-SEC honors under fifth-year Coach Jordyn Wieber.
Gymnasts earn All-SEC recognition for finishing with one of the top two scores (including ties) on their respective events in either session.
Williams earned a 9.85 score on the vault to finish 13th overall.
The Rogers native now has three All-SEC awards after after earning them in the vault and the floor exercise in 2023. She is the first Razorback gymnast to earn All-SEC honors in consecutive years since Sophia Carter on the floor exercise in 2020 and 2021.
Jones, a first-time All-SEC performer from Charlotte, N.C., scored a 9.9 on the floor exercise to place seventh overall.
Price and Smith had matching 9.875s on the floor exercise. Price, of Dallas, earned her second All-SEC honor following her performance on the vault last year. Smith, a first-time All-SEC gymnast from Houston, made the All-Freshman designation in 2022 on the uneven bars.
Weaver and Klein matched the UA meet record with 9.925 on the balance beam, previously accomplished by Hailey Garner (2018). The duo tied for tied for eighth. Weaver, of Pelham, Ala., earned her second All-SEC award after accomplishing it on the vault in 2023. Klein, of Lake Forest, Ill., followed Williams as a Razorback to earn All-SEC honors as a true freshman in back-to-back years.
Arkansas posted program highs for the SEC Championships in team score, on the balance beam (49.45) and the uneven bars (49.25) while posting its eighth score of 197-plus this season. The previous school record for 197s in a season had been five last year.
The Razorbacks are set to host the NCAA Fayetteville Regional at Walton Arena on April 3-6 with eight other teams in town. Boise State and BYU will compete in a play-in meet Wednesday to determine the final team in the evening session of April 4 that will also include LSU, Minnesota and Oregon State.
The 10th-seeded Razorbacks will compete against Kentucky, Arizona and Nebraska at 1 p.m. on April 5, with the top two teams from each session qualifying for the regional final on April 6 at 5 p.m.