Unavoidable Instability of Past Month Continues in Kentucky Meet
Arkansas gymnastics coach Jordyn Wieber has a problem, and there's not much she can do about it.
For a full month now, the goal has had to be to actually compete in a meet, and she's been determined to make that happen one way or another.
Covid caused the cancellation of a highly anticipated meet against LSU following the high of the Auburn meet in front of a record crowd in Bud Walton Arena.
The following week, Arkansas barely fielded enough competitors at No. 2 Florida as COVID drained bodies, ate into practice time and made building back up to a point where it was safe for the women to compete nearly impossible.
Then came the ice and snow. West Virginia had to cancel last minute because of issues with safe travel, so a determined Wieber scrambled those around her to find any team that might be willing to create a short week for themselves and throw off their heavily protected routines so the Gymbacks wouldn't have to lose a second weekend.
That led to Southeast Missouri State coming into Barnhill Arena this past Sunday for an impromptu meet that allowed Arkansas to shake off some of the mental rust created by the start and stop of personal routines over the past few weeks.
Adding in a long list of injuries and extended recoveries meant the athletes faced a near impossibility of building momentum and a rhythm
It appeared everything would finally settle this week heading into a meet against No. 10 Kentucky,
But as the week progressed, it became apparent adjustments would be needed. Wieber determined freshman Leah Smith, who usually competes in all-around, needed a break from pushing through all four events with the loss of recovery time between meets to cut down on the potential of an avoidable injury.
Nagging achilles pain for Sarah Shaffer meant she wouldn't be on floor unless a desperate situation arose, which wouldn't be a big adjustment since Wieber had been putting together a line-up without Shaffer on floor since the Auburn meet a month ago.
But, then on Friday, with no more practices left to evaluate her team, word came down that All-American Kennedy Hambrick would enter quarantine. This not meant the Gymbacks wouldn't have anyone competing in all-around, giving the win to Kentucky's Raena Worley by default, but that a decision on how to replace one of the best gymnasts in the country at the last possible second as Wieber watched warm-ups to see who would be best fit to go.
The meet was supposed to be about getting off to a quality start in the first two events against Kentucky.
Stumbles and falls on vault and especially bars had gotten Arkansas off to slow starts in multiple meets this year, digging Arkansas in a deep hole heading into its strongest events – beam and floor.
The Gymbacks didn't have to be in the lead after the first two events, but at least needed it close to give themselves a chance to run down the Wildcats in front of a packed Barnhill Arena.
However, after two events, it was clear that the shift to just being able to compete for a fourth consecutive week had taken its toll once again.
There were still highlights. Shaffer put injuries aside and landed a beautiful run on vault.
Freshman Leah Smith, who won her first all-around this past Sunday against Southeast Missouri State, followed a fall by Emma Kelley to stick the landing after a tight performance on bars for a 9.825, giving Arkansas momentum on its weakest event.
Fellow freshman Maddie Jones used that momentum to chip away at Kentucky's lead with a 9.85 performance.
Shaffer later took a fall, guaranteeing the Gymbacks would have to keep at least one low score, but Maggie O'Hara stepped up and immediately got her back.
An All-American on bars last year, O'Hara struggled the last two meets. However, the precision, technique, and determination shown the last time O'Hara had to get back onto the bars after a fall on Sunday made it clear that whatever mental blocks were limiting her performance had been wiped away.
With the block gone heading into this meet, O'Hara returned to old form. She flew with power as she switched back and forth between the bars and nailed the landing with a powerful flourish, excited to finally pull in a score to her personal standard with a meet-best 9.925.
Considering Arkansas was without Hambrick, who regularly finds herself in contention for all-around and is always a threat to land a perfect score bars, trailing by .675 at the halfway point wasn't the worst-case scenario.
With Kentucky struggling on floor exercise, the door was open for Arkansas to make up considerable ground on beam. The Gymbacks are No. 9 in the country in the event and have smashed school records left and right this season.
However, it wasn't meant to be. Leah Smith and Amanda Elswick, who have been nearly flawless all season, uncharacteristically struggled to stay on the beam, meaning Arkansas would have to count its second fall of the night.
The Gymbacks posted a 48.50, a large drop from the 49.475 the team posted at Florida two weeks ago.
That left Arkansas needing to make up 1.25 on the final round, but the silver lining was Kentucky needed to finish strong on beam, its weakest event, to lock up the win, while the Gymbacks looked to close strong on floor just feet from a raucous full student section.
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Jones and senior Bailey Lovett used the energy to land 9.9s for the second individual wins of the night, and Savannah Pennese added in a 9.875 for a clean sweep of the Top 3 in the event, but it wouldn't be enough as the Gymbacks posted their lowest team score since the season opener against Ohio State.
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Both teams finished below their season average, which means they are each in danger of dropping in the rankings.
Normalcy will continue to not be a thing for at least the next two weeks. Arkansas will head to Missouri on a Sunday instead of the usual Friday to take on two sets of Tigers as LSU will squeeze its way into the meet also.
This will mean adjusting to another short week when Georgia rolls into Barnhill the following Friday to close out a tumultuous February.