University of Missouri
Big 12 Championship
No. 13 Gymnastics Finishes Fourth At Big 12 Championship
3/25/2006 12:00:00 AM | Gymnastics
March 25, 2006
Lincoln, Neb. - The No. 13 Missouri gymnastics team finished in fourth place at the 2006 Big 12 Championship with a 194.850 Saturday night in Lincoln, Neb. No. 4Iowa State won its second Big 12 Championship with a 196.475 while No. 11 Nebraska scored a 196.475 to finish second and No. 6 Oklahoma came in third with 195.350.
The night was highlighted by freshman Adrianne Perry winning 2006 Big 12 Newcomer of the Year. It marks only the second time in Missouri history a Tiger has claimed the award after former Mizzou great Alisha Robinson won the award in 2002.
"I am extremely honored and excited to win this award," said Perry. "It's a great honor."
In her final Big 12 Championship, senior Lauren Schwartzman tied for third on the balance beam to earn the fourth All-Big 12 honor of her career. Fellow senior Jodie Heinicka narrowly missed her first such honor as she finished fifth on the uneven parallel bars. Perry scored a 38.975 in the all-around to finish ninth.
"Our performance the second half of the meet was great after having a tough time on floor," said Missouri head coach Rob Drass. "We had a little trouble on floor, just finishing things off and getting things rolling. I really thought we did a great job on beam. Our best event tonight was vault, we had landings, amplitude, and we finished up strong on bars."
The Tigers kicked off the meet on beam, their strongest event as the squad entered the meet ranked fifth in the nation. As a team, Mizzou recorded a 48.725 on the event, with Schwartzman scoring a 9.850 to finish tied for third place. Freshman Adrianne Perry posted a 9.750 while junior Amanda Pezzullo recorded a 9.725.
In the second rotation, Missouri moved to the event that has been the team's Achilles heel all season, the floor exercise. Schwartzman again paced the Tigers with a 9.775. Scoring a 9.700 for Mizzou was freshman Alicia Hatcher while posted a sophomore Julie Abaray notched a 9.675 as the Tigers recorded a 48.400 on the event.
Mizzou came raging back in the third rotation as the Tigers scored a 49.025, which ties the third-highest score of the season for the squad on the event. Senior Sarah Zigler started Missouri strong with a 9.825, which marked the second-highest score of the year for her on the event. Perry also notched a 9.825 for the Tigers as both she and Zigler tied for sixth place. Schwartzman and fellow senior Jodie Heinicka scored 9.800s.
Ending the on bars, Heinicka finished off the Tigers' night with a 9.825 to take fifth place. With a 9.775, Perry tied for 10th place and sophomore Julie Abaray, Hatcher and Zigler all scored 9.700s.
"We have a couple things to work on for Regionals," said Drass. "We know what it will take to make it to the Championships."
On Monday, March 27, the NCAA will announce pairings for the six Regionals to take place at one of six sites. The Tigers will either travel to Arkansas, Georgia, Iowa State, LSU, Michigan or Stanford for Regionals to take place on either April 7 or 8 to compete with five other teams. The top two finishers will then qualify for the NCAA National Championship in Corvallis, Ore., on April 20-22.
Big 12 Conference Awards
Gymnast of the Year: Janet Anson, Iowa State
Newcomer of the Year: Adrianne Perry, Missouri
Coach of the Year: K.J. Kindler, Iowa State
Big 12 Conference Champions
All-Around: Brittney Koncak-Schumann
Vault: Emily Parson, Nebraska; Janet Anson, Iowa State
Bars: Vanessa Meloche, Nebraska; Desire' Sniatynski, Nebraska;
Stephanie LoPiccolo, Oklahoma; Erin Dethloff, Iowa State
Beam: Emily Parsons, Nebraska
Floor: Kacey Oiness, Iowa State
Players Mentioned
