Gymbacks Meet Sooners In Norman
The #13 ranked Arkansas Razorbacks Gymnastics, GymBacks, hit the road as the conference slate of meets continues. This week, on Friday, the GymBacks are in Norman, Oklahoma, to take on the #1 Oklahoma Sooners. The meet will broadcast on ESPN2 with Bart Conner and Kennedy Baker on the call beginning at 8 pm and will be the second appearance of the season on the channel.
In this, we will analyze what to expect in Norman, who are the Sooners, some history between the programs, numbers, and three keys to success for Arkansas.
What To Expect In Norman
It will be a “Rowdy” time in Norman as this will be the first “Country for a Cause” meet. Each student-athlete will wear a cowboy hat in a certain color that represents a cause that is important to them.
We will see the Sooners Ava Siegfedlt, Aspen Lenczner, Kelsey Slade, and Hannah Scheible wearing pink, for breast cancer awareness. In addition, gymnasts Danielle Sievers and Addison Fatta will don purple hats for Alzheimer’s awareness, while Kiera Wells will don the same color for pancreatic cancer. We will see blue hats, for autism awareness, from Elle Mueller and Faith Torrez, while Audrey Davis and Jordan Bowers will bring awareness to prostate cancer with their light blue hats.
Fans, who are encouraged to join the team in celebrating their own causes and pick up colored ribbons ahead of the meet, will see dark blue worn from Lizzy Blessey. Heart disease awareness will be celebrated with red hats worn from Caitlyn Smith and Danae Fletcher. Lastly, we will see Lily Pederson and Hurley Snow supporting mental health awareness with their green hats when they are introduced.
Who Are The Sooners?
Oklahoma enters the meet with Arkansas fresh off 197.550-196.300 over #10 Alabama in their first road test of 2025. With this win, the Sooners are now 8-0 on the year including 2-0 in conference competition. As they are back at home this weekend, the Sooners inside Lloyd Noble Center are nearly unstoppable. To further this point, the 2025 senior class is currently undefeated at home in their careers. In addition to this, since 2007, the Sooners are 149-4 inside on their home turf.
In this meet, there are many talented women on the Sooners roster. This will be a real test for the Razorbacks even after the massive win, last Friday, over the #2 ranked LSU Tigers .
Series History
This series has been quite one-sided and it is essentially all Sooners. In fact, it’s the most lopsided series for Arkansas as they have just one win in 25 tries. The win, in Norman, on January 26, 2009, was prior to each being in the same conference. The 2025 visit to Norman for the GymBacks is the first in the regular season since the 2020 meet. With this, Arkansas is 1-15 all-time versus Oklahoma in the regular season.
Numbers Game
As you know the sport of Gymnastics is both an individual and team judged sport. Each program has impressive numbers in the events and all-around rotations. We will now analyze these numbers from the routines and look at the team leader in them.
Oklahoma Sooners
In the first event of Friday, the Vault, the Sooners averaged a 49.325 on the year. In addition to this, Lily Pederson leads the Sooners with a 9.888 in the event. The next routine, Unbalanced Beams, have been strong for Oklahoma as they average a 49.481 in the routine.
On the bars, Audrey Davis, with an average of 9.950, leads the team. On the balance beam the Sooners enter with an average of 49.469. Leading the team is Faith Torrez who averages a 9.913 through this season. In the floor routine the Sooners averaged a 49.431 with Torrez also leading with a 9.938. Torrez leads the Sooners in the All-Around scoring with a 39.575 while the team averages a 197.106 in 2025.
Arkansas Razorbacks
For the visiting GymBacks, the last two weeks have been impressive as they have improved across the board. In the Vault routine, the Razorbacks average a 49.144 and Dakota Essenpries has a score of 9.850 which leads the team. In the Uneven Bars, Arkansas averages a 49.063 with Mati Waligora scoring a team leading 9.825 in the routine. The Balance Beam routine, led by Kalyxta Gamiao with a 9.838, will be one to watch Friday as Arkansas averages a 48.906.
On the Floor routine Arkansas has an average of 49.388 and was vital in the win over LSU. Joscelyn Roberson leads the GymBacks with a 9.913 in the routine. In addition to the floor, Roberson leads the All-Around scoring for the team with a 36.362 while the team averaged a 196.500 score.
Three Keys To Arkansas Success
Ride Momentum
As we have mentioned, Arkansas knocked off conference rival LSU in a historic win. In fact, the win was the biggest of the Jordyn Weiber era and highest-ranked win since the 2001 win against #1 ranked Florida.
More Floor
When you analyze the Razorbacks on the Floor routine they are almost perfect at times. For junior Frankie Price, and her 9.950 against LSU, she came very close as one judge scored her routine a 10. In addition to Price,and Roberson, Arkansas will use routines from Maddie Jones, Gamiao, and Haley Klein to score as high as possible against the top ranked Sooners.
Vault To The Win
In the Vault event, Arkansas has been landing well as of late. For Cami Weaver, who scored 9.875 against LSU, and the rest of the Razorbacks this routine will be key to their success. In the above mentioned team scores, the Razorbacks have the ability to take advantage to spring them forward in Norman. For Razorback fans on Friday, the lineup of Essenpries, Roberson, and Weaver, along with Leah Smith and Ja’Leigh Lang can be a catalyst to a possible historic upset.
In closing, this meet will be on the nation will be watching intently. With the above mentioned night planned in Norman it will be a fun night of Friday Night Heights in the Southeastern Conference. We will have much more on this in post-meet coverage, stay tuned.
