Razorbacks Need to Show Out in Midst of Recruiting Frenzy
FRISCO, Texas – It's been a rough couple of weeks for Arkansas gymnastics, but if there's ever a chance to dust themselves off and prove once again they belong among the best national programs, the next three days certainly do that.
The Razorbacks begin an extended weekend tour of North Texas, one of the most fertile recruiting grounds in all of American gymnastics. It starts Saturday night at the Metroplex Challenge in Fort Worth, where in exactly two months, the national championships will take place.
This will be a strong indicator as to whether Arkansas can regain its footing and become the Top 5 team it proved to be early in the season. Two of the other three teams in this quad meet will almost definitely be at nationals. No. 1 Oklahoma, the Nick Saban's prime Alabama football of the gymnastics world, and Cal, the No. 2 team in the country, join No. 29 Washington in a loaded field.
The Sooners are coming off a season high 198.450 and boast four Top 20 all-around competitors. That's right. Not four athletes in the Top 20 of their individual events. Four in all-around. That's a big reason why they are No. 1 in every event except vault, where they are currently what one can only assume to be a disappointing No. 2 in the country with a 49.496 team average, a number Arkansas has only bested once with a 49.425 at the peak of the season on the road at Alabama.
Jordan Bowers leads the way at No. 4. She's currently the nation's top athlete on bars at 9.942 and is also No. 4 on floor at 9.938. Also in the Top 10 are Katherine LaVasseur, one of the nation's top vaulters, Faith Torrez, one of the nation's best on balance beam, and Audrey Davis, the country's third best on bars.
As for Arkansas, the uneven bars have been quite the nemesis. The Razorbacks came into a meet at current No. 3 LSU with all the outward confidence and inner bravado of a potential national championship contender, but after a long equipment delay threw off the team's rhythm, uncharacteristic falls began to take place.
Two killed all momentum from the start in Baton Rouge and another in Florida rattled team confidence as well. By the end of the meet against the Gators, it had trickled over to balance beam, one of the team's strongest events the week before, as falls started happening there as well even among the most reliable and confident gymnasts.
The good news is odds are low Arkansas will start on bars. There's never been a question as to whether the Razorbacks have the skills to compete with the best programs in the country. It's only been a case of needing to rebuild self-confidence and a bit of momentum.
If Arkansas coach Jordyn Wieber can get her athletes off to a strong start, which would almost definitely be the case if the Razorbacks start on floor where the team is currently ranked No. 9 nationally, then it's a race to the finish. Even vault, where Arkansas still hangs onto a Top 15 spot, would be a good confidence boost to get things going.
If somehow the Razorbacks can rebound with a strong meet well into the 197 range, it sets up another opportunity to measure themselves on Monday just a few miles north of Fort Worth in Denton. There Arkansas will face off with an Alabama squad it tied in Tuscaloosa and No. 17 Arizona in a meet hosted by Texas Woman's University.
In addition to needing to get the Razorbacks headed in the right direction again to position themselves for nationals, Wieber could use a strong showing to boost recruiting. This is one of the bigger showcase opportunities she will have. As stated before, North Texas is one of the big recruiting hotbeds in the country and thousands of potential recruits will descend on North Texas this weekend for their own portion of the Metroplex Challenge.
The World Olympics Gymnastics Association and Texas Dreams gyms are just two of many nationally respected locations situated within a short drive of Fort Worth and Denton, and teams as far away as Hawaii will be in town for a shot at glory. Odds are high the stands will be full of elite future college gymnasts looking to get a feel for where they see themselves in coming years.
Over 100 teams rated Level 9 or higher will compete at the Metroplex challenge over the weekend as well as hundreds of other lower level teams with young ladies looking to eventually move up and compete for a college scholarship one day. This is the equivalent of Sam Pittman getting to play one of two games that will take place in the middle of a super high school football event featuring the nation's Top 100 high school programs and all of their feeder middle schools. It's a recruiting dream.
One of the best selling points Wieber has on her side is the ability to point to competing in multiple meets in the area in addition to nationals, regular appearances on television and the second shortest drive from North Texas of any Division I program in the country.
Arkansas has had a taste of the Top 5 life, and a strong showing at these two meets can go a long way toward helping Wieber make sure that becomes a regular occurrence. For those looking to attend the Metroplex Challenge, the college meet portion of the event starts at 7:15 p.m. at the Fort Worth Convention Center.
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TRANSFER THIRD BASEMAN SHINES IN RAZORBACK DEBUT
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