Arkansas falls shy of league title meet

FAYETTEVILLE -- The 16th-ranked University of Arkansas gymnastics team concluded the 2025 regular season with a 197.8-197.225 loss to No. 7 Missouri on Friday.

The Razorbacks finished ranked ninth in the SEC in National Qualifying Score, forcing them to miss the conference championship meet as only the top eight of nine programs qualify. Arkansas did not control its own destiny in the race for the final spot, but a higher score could have helped its case.

"It was an emotional night," Coach Jordyn Wieber said. "The team was very aware of what was at stake and they wanted it so bad. We put out a really great, strong performance, just left the door open.

"I felt like, personally, a lot of routines were scored a lot lower than they should have been. That's just my own opinion. I felt like the total should have been higher based on what I was seeing from the team."

Joscelyn Roberson appeared close to a perfect 10 for the second home meet in a row. Wieber, Roberson's teammates and the Walton Arena crowd clamored for the perfect score. When the 9.925 was posted, the crowd booed.

The score tied Roberson and teammate Frankie Price with Missouri's Amari Celestine for first place on the floor exercise.

Roberson scored 9.975 in the Razorbacks' meet against Alabama on Feb. 28, another instance in which Wieber felt the freshman should have been awarded a 10.

There was a 10 at Bud Walton, however: Missouri's Helen Hu achieved her second perfect score of the season on balance beam. She scored the first perfect 10 of the college season on the balance beam in January.

Roberson's 9.925 was Arkansas' top score on the balance beam and tied her for third place in the event. She was the only competitor in the all-around and finished with a total of 39.525.

Hailey Klein was Arkansas' only other medalist, placing second on vault with a score of 9.875.

Kalyxta Gamiao, one of the Razorbacks' senior night honorees, scored 9.9 on both beam and floor to lead off each rotation.

"What an amazing farewell to our home arena for her," Wieber said. "It's been an incredible four years. She's continued to get better and better and more confident as a human being and an athlete."

The Razorbacks had exhibitions on all four events. Cami Weaver's 9.925 in exhibition matched Roberson's team-high score. Kaitlyn Ewald completed a new vault for the first time for a 9.775, Dakota Essenpries scored 9.775 on floor exercise and Sadie Smith got 9.725 on balance beam.

Arkansas will now wait for the NCAA Selection Show on March 24 to learn its postseason destination. The top 36 teams by NQS make it to NCAA Regionals, and the top 16 teams are seeded.

Teams ranked Nos. 1, 8, 9 and 16 are seeded into one regional, followed by Nos. 2, 7, 10 and 15; Nos. 3, 6, 11 and 14; and Nos. 4, 5, 12 and 13.

The Razorbacks are still in contention for a national seed. The SEC championship meet would have given Arkansas another opportunity to improve its NQS, which rose to 197.055 with Friday's score.

"We're in a really competitive conference," Wieber said. "One team sitting out, a team that's probably top 15, 16, is kind of a shame, honestly.

"We're just controlling what we can control as a team. We're still an incredibly strong, competitive team, and we keep telling them, even if we're not at SEC championships, regionals is really what matters most. Everything we want is still in front of us and we're going to keep pushing and fighting."