March 29, 1999

COLUMBIA, MO. -- The Missouri Tigers (9-12) fell just short of qualifying as a team for the NCAA Region 3 Championships, April 10, in Lincoln, Neb. But three of Mizzou's four all-arounders will be competing at the Devaney Center.

Seniors Amanda Peterson and Jessica Haag and junior Shannon Brown represent half of the six gymnasts who have qualified individually from teams that did not make the regional field. The others will be Kim Koenig (Texas Woman's), Erin Chenier (SE Missouri State) and Beth Larson (Illinois State). SEMO's Malia Roberts would have qualified but an Achilles injury several weeks ago prematurely ended her season. MU's Meggen Smiley is the second alternate.

Missouri finished the season with a Regional Qualifying Score of 193.75 - the highest in school history - but that ranked seventh in Region 3. Arizona, with its three highest scores of the season coming in its final three meets, claimed the last team berth with a RQS of 194.631. The other team qualifers are Arizona State, Nebraska, Oklahoma, Illinois and Illinois-Chicago.

Peterson and Haag will be making their first NCAA appearances while Brown is a repeat performer from last season when she finished second among the six at-large all-around competitors.

Peterson ranked sixth in Region 3 with an RQS of 39.006 - the highest all-around regional score in Missouri history. Peterson will compete in Lincoln with the homestanding Nebraska Cornhuskers, starting on vault. Haag will compete with Oklahoma, beginning on floor exercise, and Brown will compete with Illinois, as she did last year, starting on bars.

Big 12 Championship Will Air on Fox Sports on Thursday

Fox Sports Midwest will air last weekend's Big 12 Conference Gymnastics Championships at 3 p.m., Thurs., April 1. John Naber and Kathy Johnson-Clark are the announcers.