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FAYETTEVILLE — Senior All-American Jaime Pisani won the all-around title and helped power Arkansas’s gymnastics team to a second-place finish in Saturday’s NCAA South Central Regional for its fifth straight trip to the NCAA championship.
The top two teams from each of the six regionals advance to the NCAA championship on April 20-22 in Duluth, Ga. Arkansas, in its 10th season, earned a spot in a regional for the ninth time and its sixth trip to the national championship.
No. 3 UCLA, the top seed in the region, won with a 197.225.
No. 10 Arkansas, the No. 2 seed and hosting in Barnhill Arena, finished second with a 196.825, which is a school record for a regional. No. 15 Boise State had a 196.05, No. 19 Missouri a 195.45, No. 34 Maryland a 194.40 and No. 29 New Hampshire a 193.90.
Pisani, ranked No. 1 in the nation in the all-around, led the way with a 39.625, setting a school for a regional. Pisani, the Southeastern Conference beam champion two weeks ago, also won beam with a 9.925, and finished second on floor with a 9.925 and bars with a 9.875, and was fourth on vault with a 9.90.
In addition to Pisani’s performance, junior All-American Amy Borsellino finished sixth in the all-around with a 39.30. She had scores of 9.875 on vault for sixth, 9.80 on bars for 11th, 9.725 on beam and 9.90 on floor to tie for third.