This Friday, two of the top ranked teams will compete with #4 Alabama facing off with #10 Arkansas. Alabama has a history of being at the top of the heap, and this year is no different. While they had a bit of a rocky start to the season, losing to UCLA with a 196.300 in their first meet, they have bounced back and have been solid on all four events. The team had their best meet of the season last Friday against Missouri, where they won with a 197.175. That weekend was busy for the Tide, and they had a second meet on Sunday against rival Auburn, which they also won by a small margin, scoring a 196.875.

Arkansas is another team who is doing phenomenally well this year. For the past few years, they have finished in the high teens in rankings and have not made it past Regionals. This year, they are on fire so far, just making it into the top ten teams ranked nationally. They had some struggles at the Cancun Classic, their first meet of the season, where they finished second to Michigan with a 195.150. Their biggest issues came on beam and floor, where they were forced to count a couple falls and out-of-bounds deductions. They were much improved in their last two meets against Georgia and Oklahoma, although they still have not counted a win yet this season.

The two teams face off every year, and it’s always an exciting meet. It’s a toss up nearly every year as to which team will prevail. Last year, Arkansas won by mere tenths. In 2014, Alabama won. In 2013, they actually tied, both teams scoring a high 197.100. So which team will prevail this year? We’ve taken a look at the strengths of each side to get a feel for this match up.

Clean Yurchenko Fulls for Arkansas

On vault, Arkansas usually scores quite well, even though every gymnast on the team performs a full twisting Yurchenko, devalued this year down to a 9.95. What makes Arkansas great on this event is their ability to minimize deductions. The gymnasts get both great height and distance off the table, and often stick landings. Junior Amanda Wellick is one of the team’s best on this event. She won five vault titles last year and she continues to impress this season, scoring no lower than 9.85 so far. Check out her huge 9.9 vault from the Cancun Classic below:

Uneven Bars: Neck & Neck

Both Alabama and Arkansas have performed well on bars this year, although it’s not really the strongest event for either team and both will be looking to make improvements as the season progresses. The Razorbacks have a couple of really stand-out performers who always deliver. Sophomore Paige Zaziski is one of those and is the anchor for Arkansas. She’s got a great giant full to Tkatchev combination and sticks her double layout dismount more often than not. Check out Zaziski’s routine below from the Cancun Classic:

The Bama Beam Queens

Alabama has a huge edge on Arkansas on beam. The Razorbacks have been struggling a bit on beam this year with falls and more wobbles than you’d like. That being said, they did have their best beam rotation at their last meet against Oklahoma, when they scored a 49.025. It’s possible they were getting all the jitters out in the first few weeks and will continue to improve from here on out.

The Roll Tide have demonstrated great success on this event in every meet this season. In their first meet against UCLA, they had four gymnasts go 9.825 or higher. Last weekend was even better, when they scored a 49.275 total, which included a 9.9 from senior Lauren Beers, a 9.875 from sophomore Kiana Winston, and a 9.875 from junior Keely McNeer. Check out McNeer’s gorgeous routine from Elevate the Stage below:

Bringing the Power on Floor

The Tide and the Razorbacks both have strong performers on floor, thanks largely to some powerful and precise tumbling. Floor is often one of Alabama’s highest scoring events. They have scored 49+ each week, including a huge 49.5 against Missouri. Arkansas has also put up strong numbers on floor after their initial rocky start at the Cancun Classic. Their tumbling has come under control since then, and one of their best meets was against Georgia where they put up a 49.275.

While both teams have strong floor performers, one of the best is Alabama’s Lauren Beers. Beers had a bit of a slow start to the season due to a number of surgeries she had in the off-season, but she’s back to putting in big numbers for the team once again. In her floor routine, her big double layout has returned as her opening pass, and she ends with a double tuck. Her music and choreography are also gorgeous. Check her routine below from Elevate the Stage:




Related:
Arkansas Head Coach Mark on Cancun Performance and Moving Forward
Amanda Wellick on Season Excitement and Being an All Around Leader
Lauren Beers on What It's Like to Compete for Charity (Elevate the Stage)