January 27, 1999
Another classic cat fight at Hearnes Center is shaping up as four of the nation's top gymnastics programs come to Columbia for the 19th annual Cat Classic.
For 18 years, the Cat Classic has been Missouri's "signature event, our ace-in the hole" as Coach Jake Jacobson likes to call it. "It's the event that made our program."
The meet, sponsored by State Farm Insurance, features the Tigers of Ol' Mizzou, the Tigers of Auburn, the Cougars of Brigham Young and the Wildcats of New Hampshire. Last year, a "stray cat" - the Iowa State Cyclones - was in the field, but it's back to all cats for 1998. It is, though, a different looking field. All three visitors have competed in the Cat Classic before, but not recently.
AUBURN, which won last year's Corvette Cup in Columbia, hasn't been to the Cat Classic since 1996. Coach Bob Dillard, who is in his final year of coaching at Auburn, has led his Tigers to a pair of second-place finishes at the Cat Classic, but never to the championship. His top gymnast is senior Sarah Balogach - who took second in the all-around and set a meet floor exercise record (9.9) at last year's Corvette Cup. Ironically, it was an injury to her suffered later in the season, that prevented Balogach from competing in the NCAA Central Regional and cleared the way for Mizzou's Shannon Brown to get an individual all-around berth.
BRIGHAM YOUNG, 12th at last year's NCAA Championships, hasn't been to Columbia since 1991, and will be competing in its seventh Cat Classic. The Cougars' highest previous finish was third in 1990. Coach Brad Cattermole's Cougars were the seventh seed at last year's NCAA Championships after placing second at the Midwest Regional. BYU returns a number of key gymnasts who competed at last year's nationals, led by seniors Natalie Emig Broekman and Denice Pauga, junior Jessica Nelson, and sophomores Kim Little and Marisa Cosgrave.
NEW HAMPSHIRE is the relative newcomer on the block. The Wildcats have appeared in just two Classics, and took sixth place in 1985 and fifth in '93. Coach Gail Goodspeed's Wildcats are led by senior Denise Gregorio and return junior Cara Lepper, who missed last season due to injury but holds the school record on the balance beam - 10.0.
The Cat Classic kingpins - Penn State and Arizona - are notable by their absence. The Lady Lions ended a 17-year run in Columbia with their ninth Cat Classic championship last year. This will be the second straight year that the Arizona Wildcats are not in the field after 16 consecutive Cat Classic trips and seven championships.
Missouri has won the event only twice - in 1990 and 94 - but as Jacobson says, "We don't schedule to win. My philosophy has always been to bring in the best teams possible for these invitationals." MISSOURI was disappointed last season when the Tigers finished last in the field for the first time in the event's history. They rejoiced, though, in individual accomplishments. Charise Schrupp won the floor exercise title for the second time in three years with a school-record 9.9 performance. Chandra Harlow took third on bars and Meggen Smiley tied for fourth on floor.
Since 1994, 15 team and individual records have been established at the Cat Classic. Some of those were by former national champion Jenny Hansen of Kentucky who recorded the only perfect "10" in Cat Classic history on vault in 1994.
The brainchild of Jacobson, the Cat Classic utilizes the theme of feline mascots. Jacobson sold the theme to the Ralston-Purina Company in 1980, and the first event was held in February of 1981. This is the seventh season that State Farm Insurance, one of the nation's foremost corporate promoters of women's athletics, has sponsored the meet. From the beginning, the nation's best teams have competed in the Classic's truly unique atmosphere. U.S. gymnastics stars Julianne McNamara, Kathy Johnson, Mary Lou Retton, Kelly Garrison-Steves and Shannon Miller have been celebrity hosts.
"I think the emphasis here is more on the sport. We try to promote the sport of women's gymnastics and not just the University of Missouri," Jacobson says. "So we bring in a lot of great gymnastics teams to showcase the sport, and I think the spectators really appreciate that.
"But the Cat Classic is kind of a trend-setter nationwide, because it was one of the first, if not the first, events in women's gymnastics that acquired a sponsor and tied into a theme, and nothing else has come close as far as the Cat Classic idea of all cat schools. It's been a really rewarding thing to see that event turn out the way it has."
Four times in its history (1985, 86, 87 and 92) the Cat Classic has drawn more than 10,000 fans to Hearnes Center. "The spectators enjoy seeing the girls from Arizona and Penn State and whatever other cat schools are here competing, so the atmosphere is more like going to the opera or something," Jacobson says. "They appreciate all of the performances and not just one. They like it all."