Jan. 26, 2000
Rob Drass will make his first trip back to Nebraska as the head gymnastics coach at the University of Missouri this week, when his Missouri Tigers (2-4) meet the seventh-ranked Nebraska Cornhuskers (7-3) on Saturday at the Bob Devaney Center in Lincoln. The meet will begins at 12 p.m., and will be held in conjunction with a men's gymnastics meet between Nebraska and the Air Force Academy. For the Cornhuskers, it's their first home meet of the season, after competing at the Super Six Challenge, at Iowa State, and at the Bermuda Triangle Challenge. Drass spent the last eight seasons as an assistant coach at Nebraska before coming to Mizzou to succeed the retiring Jake Jacobson.
Series Record
Nebraska leads the series with Mizzou, 21-3, and tripped the Tigers 194.55-192.575 last year in Columbia. The Cornhuskers have won four in a row over the Tigers since MU triumphed, 188.15-187.5 in Columbia in 1995. Mizzou has never beaten the Huskers in Lincoln.
Central Michigan Wins In Mizzou's First Road Meet
Central Michigan's Bethany Couturier won the all-around title Saturday with a score of 39.025 and paced the Chippewas to a 193.4-190.5 gymnastics victory over the Missouri Tigers, in Mount Pleasant, Mich.
For Mizzou, it was the Tigers' second highest score ever for its first road meet of the season, and left MU with a 2-4 record.
Couturier also won on balance beam (9.825) and was joined in the winners circle by teammates Michele Orloski on vault (9.75), Sarah Nelson on bars (9.825) and Nicole Liphardt on floor (9.875). Central Michigan is now 5-2.
But first-year Missouri Coach Rob Drass was encouraged. "Allie Akers and Shannon Brown really stepped up and had a nice meet for us. As a team, we're doing the right things. We knew coming up here that this would be a tough place to win, but we've identified our problems, corrected them, and now we just need to put a full meet together." Brown placed second for Mizzou in the all-around with a second-high score of 38.75. Akers scored 9.7 on vault, 9.75 on beam to place second, and 9.7 on floor. Tiger freshmen Laura Anson and Alina Hamm each scored 9.725 on vault to tie for second place. The rookies led MU to a season-high team vault score of 48.4, which is tied for the 7th-best vault score in school history.
Brown's Off To A Quick Start
Senior Shannon Brown, who's been an all-around qualifer to the NCAA Regional championships each of the last two years, is off to a fast start for the Tigers. She's averaging 9.808 on floor exercise to tied for 45th in the national rankings, and she's 75th in the all-around with an average of 38.333.
She had season bests of 9.55 on vault, 9.775 on bars and 38.75 in the all-around in last weekend's meet at Central Michigan. Her beam score of 9.85 two weeks ago in the Mizzou Gymnastics X-Treme is tied for the 7th best effort in school history.
Against Nebraska last season in Columbia, she tied the Missouri school record with a 9.9 on the uneven bars and won the event over Nebraska All-American Heather Brink. Brown went out again the next week - on the first night of the Cat Classic - and posted another 9.9.
Brown competed at Nebraska's Devaney Center last season, in the NCAA Region 3 Championships, and set Mizzou NCAA Regional records in the all-around (38.625), beam (9.875) and floor (9.775) and tied the bars mark at 9.775.
Akers Moves Up In Beam Rankings
Senior Alison Akers has scored 9.75 or better in all three of Missouri's meets so far in 2000 and is tied for 24th nationally on balance beam with an average score of 9.808. She's the third-ranked beam worker in NCAA Region 3. Akers tied her career beam high with a 9.875 in winning the Mizzou Gymnastics X-Treme, Jan. 16 - a figure that she has accomplished four times in her career and which is tied for the second-best mark in school history, behind Shannon Brown's 9.925 that tied for the Big 12 championship last spring.
She's coming off her best meet of the season, having scored 9.7 on vault, 9.75 on beam and 9.7 on floor at Central Michigan.
Freshmen Having A Sudden Impact
Rob Drass has gradually worked five freshmen into the Missouri lineup with good results. On Saturday, rookies Alina Hamm and Laura Anson paced the Tigers with a pair of 9.725s on vault, contributing to the team's best vault score of the year - 48.4 (which is tied for the 7th-best figure in school history). That duo leads Missouri in vaulting with average marks of 9.625 and 9.6, respectively.
Jacqueline Coatsworth, who just joined the team this semester after graduating from high school in December, competed as a part of the regular lineup on bars for the first time Saturday, and will likely see action on beam this week. She exhibitioned in that event last week, and scored 9.625.
Other freshmen who are competing for the Tigers are Leah Gremaud, who set a Mizzou freshman beam record with a 9.85 against Iowa State, and Terri Baker.
Scouting The Cornhuskers
With just a 10-gymnast roster, Coach Dan Kendig has his Cornhuskers hitting on all cylinders early in the 2000 campaign. Nebraska ranks seventh nationally.
Led by All-American Heather Brink, who ranks second in the nation in the vault (9.875) and tied for 17th in the all-around (38.95), Nebraska ranks 6th nationally in vault, 7th on uneven bars, 12th on floor, and 14th on beam.
Nebraska currently has four all-arounds ranked in the nation's Top 50 - Brink, freshman Jessica Wertz (tie 29th, 38.8), sophomore Laura Goss (tie 37th, 38.7) and freshman A.J. Lamb (43rd, 38.625).
Tigers Quickly
The Missouri gymnastics team had a team grade point average of 3.017 for the Fall '99 semester, and seven Tigers had individual GPAs of 3.0 or better. Terri Baker, Ann Gietler, Leah Gremaud, and Meggen Smiley made the Dean's List ... In the most recent NCAA report, the Missouri gymnastics team had a 100 percent graduation rate ... In NCAA Region 3, Missouri ranks 6th, behind Nebraska, Arizona State, Oklahoma, Arizona, and Illinois State.
Missouri Records Set in 2000
CLASS RECORDS
Balance Beam by a Freshman - 9.85,
Leah Gremaud, Jan. 9, Iowa State
20th Annual Cat Classic Is Next For MizzouMissouri will defend its team championship in next week's 20th annual State Farm Insurance Cat Classic at Hearnes Center. The team title and individual all-around crown will be decided on Fri., Feb. 4, with the individual event finals contested on Sat., Feb. 5. Competition both nights begins at 7 p.m.
Providing the opposition will be the Pittsburgh Panthers and a pair of "stray cats" - the Northern Illinois Huskies and the Southeast Missouri State Otahkians.
Two-night reserved seat tickets ($8) and single-session tickets ($5 and $3) are now on sale at the Athletic Ticket Office, 1-800-CAT-PAWS, or 884-PAWS (locally).
MU BESTS IN 2000VAULT 9.725 Laura Anson (C. Michigan) 9.725 Alina Hamm (C. Michigan) 9.7 Alison Akers (C. Michigan) 9.675 Katie Cole (C. Michigan) 9.6 Alina Hamm (Gym X-Treme) 9.575 Katie Cole (Iowa St., X-Treme) 9.575 Terri Baker (C. Michigan Team 48.4 (Central Michigan)
BARS 9.775 Shannon Brown (C. Michigan) 9.75 Chandra Harlow (Iowa State) 9.725 Alina Hamm (Gym X-Treme) 9.7 Chandra Harlow (C. Michigan) 9.675 Chandra Harlow (X-Treme) 9.65 Alina Hamm (Iowa State) 9.65 Laura Anson (Gym X-Treme) Team 47.8 (Gymnastics X-Treme)
BEAM 9.875 Alison Akers (Gym X-Treme) 9.85 Leah Gremaud (Iowa State) 9.85 Shannon Brown (X-Treme) 9.8 Alison Akers (Iowa State) 9.75 Alison Akers (C. Michigan) Team 47.6 (Gymnastics X-Treme)
FLOOR 9.825 Shannon Brown (Iowa State) 9.825 Shannon Brown (X-Treme) 9.775 Shannon Brown (C. Michigan) 9.75 Alison Akers (Gym X-Treme) 9.725 Katie Cole (Gym X-Treme) 9.7 Meggen Smiley (Iowa State) 9.7 Alison Akers (C. Michigan) Team 48.35 (Gymnastics X-Treme)
ALL-AROUND 38.75 Shannon Brown (C. Michigan) 38.5 Shannon Brown (X-Treme) 37.75 Shannon Brown (Iowa State) Team 191.35 (Gym X-Treme)
NACGC NATIONAL RANKINGS JAN. 25 - BY AVERAGE SCORE RANK/TEAM REGION SCORE 1. Utah 2 196.125 2. Alabama 4 195.8 3. Michigan 5 195.616 4. Georgia 6 195.575 5. UCLA 1 195.15 6. LSU 4 194.483 7. Nebraska 3 194.408 8. Penn State 5 194.0625 9. Iowa State 2 193.8125 10. Stanford 1 193.775 11. Arizona St. 3 193.6 12. Denver 2 193.591 13. N.Hampshire 5 193.441 14. CS-Fullerton1 193.3 15. Minnesota 2 192.975 16. Ball State 4 192.95 17. Kentucky 4 192.8375 18. Maryland 6 192.808 19. Florida 6 192.575 20. Washington 1 192.5125 21. Towson 6 192.508 22. Auburn 4 192.425 BYU 2 192.425 24. N. C. State 6 192.4 25. Oklahoma 3 192.3625
UPCOMING IN THE BIG 12 Sun., Jan. 28 BYU at Iowa State TX Woman's at Oklahoma Sat., Jan. 29 Missouri at Nebraska Fri., Feb. 4 MU hosts Cat Classic Minnesota at Iowa State Nebraska at Oklahoma Sat., Feb. 5 MU hosts Cat Classic
MISSOURI IN NATIONAL RANKINGS Vault T-33rd, 47.891 Uneven Bars 43rd, 47.475 Beam 46th, 47.291 Floor 42nd, 47.667 Total 44th, 190.325
Alison Akers Beam T-24th, 9.808
Shannon Brown Floor T-45th, 9.808 All-Around 75th, 38.333