Hogs Shatter Attendance Record in Olympian-Heavy Shootout Against Auburn
Arkansas fans packed out the lower bowl of Bud Walton Arena as over 10,000 fans packed in to see whether the coaching of former Olympic champions Jordyn Wieber and Kyla Ross would provide No. 11 Arkansas the edge, or whether the steady performance of reigning all-around Olympic champion Suni Lee would send No. 14 Auburn our on top.
In the end, it was Lee's 9.875 on beam on Auburn's last chance to pull out the conference opening win that gave the Tigers their second highest road score ever and 5th highest in program history to squeak past Arkansas 197.250 - 197.200.
"Oh my gosh, it was unreal," Wieber said of the large crowd afterward. "It exceeded all expectations. I knew 10,000 was a lofty goal and that’s totally my style, but to exceed it was really amazing. The energy and the atmosphere was so special. Chills just thinking about it.
"To be honest I thought it would be somewhere between the 8-9,000 range, and to look up at the score board and see that number was pretty amazing. I was just talking to [athletics director Hunter Yurachek], this is such a great learning opportunity for what an SEC championship will feel like or a postseason meet. It’s great preparation for our team to be in arena that is this loud and this energetic. The difference is the whole crowd is cheering for us so that was pretty nice."
Gunnar Rathbun / Arkansas Communications
While many in the crowd were using Lee as an excuse to see their first-ever Gymbacks event, the Hogs proved early on they had the talent to equalize the Olympian.
Lee, fresh off a 3rd place finish in Dancing With the Stars, made things look simplistic as she calmly stuck her bars routine for a 9.95 in her first event.
That has been the hardest thing for me in college," Lee said in an interview with ESPN during the meet. "I am so used to doing so many numbers and doing so many difficult routines. It's been a different transition."
However, Maggie O'Hara, a bars specialist for Arkansas, answered Lee's 9.95 with a 9.95 of her own with a firm stick that got the crowd off its feet while prompting the announcer to lead the crowd in the Arkansas Gymbacks' version of "That's enough for another Arkansas first down!"
"They were just fired up," Wieber said. They were going for everything – every hand stand on bars, holding their landings – it was just really fun."
Things took a turn for the worse for Arkansas during its second rotation when freshman Cami Weaver suffered a knee injury on her first vault as a Razorback. This forced the Hogs to keep a low score that would normally have been dropped.
"It was a huge bummer to see Cami go down on vault," Wieber said. "That’s gonna hurt us, but for the team to have her back and come back strong and finish the meet as well as they did, I was really proud of that."
Gunnar Rathbun / Arkansas Communications
The teams battled back and forth, with the Hogs taking a .25 lead into the final rotation with only floor left, while Auburn faced beam.
It's common for teams to make up ground while their opposition is on beam, but the Tigers corrected every wobble and hit every dismount with precision to give Auburn the lead.
Senior Kennedy Hambrick took the floor needing to remove a 9.800 from the Hogs' score. Her energetic routine not only accomplished the goal, but her 9.875 tied the meet at 187.275, setting the scene for a showdown between Lee on beam and senior Bailey Lovett on floor.
Lovett, sporting a brace on her arm and large cup marks on her back, brought power and grace to her performance. Unfortunately, it was slightly too much power on her opening pass, leaving a single flaw that gave judges just enough reason to score Auburn the winner.
Despite the team loss, Arkansas won three individual events, and Hambrick won the all-around competition.
The Hogs' Amanda Elswich won vault, Ohara tied Lee on bars, and Hambrick won beam.
SIDE NOTES
• If you haven't had a chance to see Arkansas's Leah Smith, the reigning Nastia Lukin Cup champion from Simone Biles' gym, do her mount onto the beam, spend time on YouTube and find it. It might be the most impressive beam mount you will ever see.
• If anyone posts Auburn's Derrian Gobourne's floor routine against Arkansas, go watch it. It was one of the most powerful and entertaining floor performances there will be in college gymnastics this year.
• Graphix look back at Hogs' football
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