If you've been following mickinickharp's gymnastics stories here the last couple of seasons (and if you haven't, you should), you know Katherine Grable has been among the most consistently dominant Razorback athletes in any sport the last few years.
The Gym'Backs have been ranked among the nation's best teams in recent years, in no small part due to her brilliant career. She finished tied for second nationally in the individual all around competition the day before claiming her national titles on the vault and floor exercise.
From UA:
"I am honored to be the first national champion in program history," Grable said. "It has been a dream of mine for my floor and vault routines to be recognized during my time as a Razorback. To win both events in the final meet of my career is surreal."
The Oshkosh, Wis., native won the vault national title after posting a career-best 9.975 in the second-position, which would stand for the whole first flight. LSU's Rheagan Courville would stick her vault in the second flight as well to share the Co-National Championship. The 9.975 is the highest winning vault score in NCAA history. Grable’s vault title, marked the second individual national championship on the vault in co-head coach Mark Cook’s Career. Grable claimed three scores of a perfect 10.0 from half of the judges on the event.
"We have gotten close with a few gymnast in the past, but this is a history breaking moment for our program," Cook said. "It is such an honor to bring back these national championships for our program but also for the Arkansas Razorbacks and for the whole state of Arkansas."
On the floor, Grable was the last to go for the event. She needed to beat a three-way tie of 9.95's to claim the outright title. Grable completed her routine to the tune of a 9.962 and claimed her second national title of the day. She did so by scoring two perfect 10.0’s from the judges to count one of them and earn the edge she needed to claim the outright title.
"It is such an honor to see your hard work and dedication pay off," assistant coach Samantha Cortez said. "To be a part of the first team to advance to the national championship and now be a apart of the team’s first national championship is incredible."
Grable completed the storybook ending for her career as a Razorback by claiming the first two national championships in program history and collecting a share of the program record on four of the five events.
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Here are the championship-winning routines.
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