FAYETTEVILLE — Arkansas’ gymnastics team isn’t all about the SEC Championships, because the Razorbacks have bigger goals in mind.
No. 10 Arkansas, which was ranked No. 1 in the nation earlier this season, hopes to regain some momentum today at the SEC meet, which starts at 4 p.m. at The Arena in Duluth, Ga.
In all honesty, though, the Razorbacks are more interested in getting ready for the NCAA South-Central Regional, which they will host April 7, than how they finish in the SEC Championships.
“We want to do well at SEC, but more important it is preparation competition for NCAA regionals,” Arkansas co-coach Mark Cook said. “That’s a big point we want to make. Yeah, we want to do well at SEC, but the big apple is really the NCAA regionals to qualify for nationals.”
Arkansas’ once dreamy season has hit a few snags, most notably the injuries sustained by standout Katherine Grable and Jordan Salsberg. Grable could compete today, but Arkansas’ coaches are more interested in having her at regionals and nationals, if the Razorbacks qualify.
Salsberg will miss the rest of the season.
The Razorbacks aren’t going to Georgia empty-handed, though, because senior Jaime Pisani is still racking up victories. Pisani is ranked No. 1 nationally in the all-around and on floor exercise, and has won 13 of 15 individual events over the past three meets.
“She is taking no prisoners,” Cook said. “She is on fire. She’s dialed in. It’s a blessing and a pleasure to coach a kid who performs her sport as well as she’s performing it.”
Arkansas also will receive a boost from the return of Kelci Lewis, who has been hampered by injuries this year. Lewis will compete on the vault and floor and should help stabilize the lineup.
Co-Coach Rene Cook said one advantage of having injuries to three top performers is that it has forced other gymnasts into scoring roles. That inexperience has led to some poor meets — Arkansas failed to score better than 195.45 in losses to unranked West Virginia and No. 19 Missouri — but it should pay off in the long run.
That’s the hope, of course.
“We’re still trying to get some of the girls a little bit more confidence,” Cook said. “While it has been difficult to have the mistakes we’ve had the last two weeks, that is the benefit of that. We’ve got people in the lineup that we really weren’t planning on using and now they’re ready to go.”
Cook said the Razorbacks could move up in the rankings with a good score at the conference meet, which would help their seeding in the regional meet. One target for Arkansas is No. 8 LSU, which the Razorbacks have defeated twice this year before the Tigers steadied themselves.
Arkansas moved to No. 1 nationally after beating LSU on Jan. 20, when Arkansas scored a program-best 197.225. Since then the Razorbacks have slumped and lost to No. 1 Florida, No. 3 Alabama and No. 5 Georgia.
“You look at the top 10 teams in the country and five of them are SEC teams, and we’re one of them,” Mark Cook said. “That gives you an indication of how formidable the field is.
“It presents a great opportunity to knock one of those teams off that got us earlier in the season in a dual competition.”
SEC Championships
WHEN 4 p.m. Central today WHERE The Arena at Gwinnett Center, Duluth, Ga. DEFENDING CHAMPION Alabama TOP CONTENDERS No. 1 Florida, No. 3 Alabama, No. 5 Georgia, No. 8 LSU, No. 10 Arkansas, No. 15 Auburn TELEVISION 7 p.m. March 29 on ESPN2 and 7 p.m. April 2 on ESPNU
Sports, Pages 17 on 03/24/2012