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Jan. 30, 2001
For Immediate Release
Jan. 30, 2001
21st Annual State Farm Cat Classic
Meet #4--Feb. 2-3, 2001--Columbia, Mo.
Participants: University of Missouri (1-2), No. 14 BYU (3-0), No. 10 Illinois State (5-1) and No. 22 Bowing Green (4-2)
Start Time: Friday (Team Competition) 7:00 p.m.
Saturday (Individual Competition) 7:00 p.m.
Series:Missouri leads the series with Bowling Green (5-0) last meeting 1996
Missouri leads the series with Brigham Young (8-1) last meeting 1999
Missouri leads the series with Illinois State (10-3) last meeting 2000
Coaches:
Missouri: Rob Drass (Penn State '90) 9-12 at MU (2nd season), 9-12 overall (2nd season).
BYU: Brad Cattermole (BYU `76 ) 171-209-1 at BYU (13th season),
171-209-1 overall (13th season)
Bowling Green: Dan Connelly (USC `70) 35-52 at BGSU (fifth season),
85-82 overall (10th season).
Illinois State: Jill Hollembeak (Illinois State `91) 41-68 at Illinois State
(fifth season), 41-68 overall (5th season).
Tigers Set To Host 21st Annual Cat Classic
In keeping with 20 years of excellence, the 2001 State Farm Insurance Cat Classic will feature four outstanding teams competing for the coveted Classic trophy. Also, for only the third time in its history, Mizzou's signature event will feature some "stray cats" battling it out with two veteran felines.
The traditional participants in the event host and defending champion Missouri Tigers, and the No. 14 BYU Cougars-will welcome two first-time participants into the Cat Classic fray, the No. 10 Illinois State Redbirds and the No. 22 Bowling Green Falcons.
Changes in scheduling policies in the Southeastern and Pacific 10 Conferences have necessitated the change. "Cat" schools like the Arizona Wildcats, Auburn Tigers, Kentucky Wildcats, and LSU Tigers are no longer available because of their conference schedules. Coach Rob Drass indicated he will still make every effort to fill the field each year with as many "cat" schools as possible, but still wants to fill the event with top quality competition.
A Look at Missouri
Four-time champion MISSOURI looks to continue its success. The Tigers have won the event the past two years. In 2000 they put up a score of 193.800 winning four events (bars, floor, vault and all-around). The Tigers enter this year's Classic without 2000 graduate and "The Jake" winner Shannon Brown, but they do have a talented mix of youth and talent. Led by lone senior Ann Gietler, the Tigers have steadily improved every time out early in the 2001 season and look to take the team title once again.
A Look at BYU
After taking a hiatus in 2000, the BRIGHAM YOUNG Cougars will make their eighth appearance at the Cat Classic this year. The Classic has not been kind to the Cougars in the past as they have amassed a 7-23 mark in the Hearnes Center. However, head coach Brad Cattermole has the Cougars out to a solid start in 2001. The Cougars are No. 14 in the nation, and have a solid core of young talent with only two seniors and three juniors on this squad. Mizzou will face the Cougars one more time in 2001 on Feb. 16 in Provo, Utah.
A Look at Illinois State
The ILLINOIS STATE Redbirds enter the Cat Classic as one of the hottest teams in collegiate gymnastics. Led by fifth-year head coach Jill Holembeak, the Redbirds are averaging a score of 194.775 per outing and are competing at the top of the polls with the likes of Georgia, Utah, and Michigan. The Redbirds are led by a solid core of all-arounders, including sophomore Heather Mohler, senior Michelle Huston, and sophomore Denis Houda. All three gymnasts have scored in excess of 39.000 this season and lead a very talented squad.
A Look at Bowling Green
Bowling Green will be making its first of two visits to the Hearnes Center for the Cat Classic. The Falcons will also come to Columbia along with Oklahoma and Texas Woman's on March 4 for the Lathrop and Gage Corvette Cup. BGSU is led by junior Marney Oestrang, who has also scored above the 39.000 level this season. Although Oestrang is the only gymnast to record an all-around mark in 2001 for the Falcons, they have used several different lineups with a high level of success.
Cat Classic in a Class by Itself
Considered to be one of the premier, in-season collegiate gymnastics meets, the Classic will feature two nights of competition. The two-night format is regarded as unique and is similar to the NCAA Championships. Team competition will begin on Friday night with the top individuals from that action qualifying for the individual event finals on Saturday night.
Head Coach Rob Drass
Now in his second year at the helm of the University of Missouri gymnastics program, Rob Drass looks to continue the upward trend he has set in motion during his time here.
Winning a second consecutive Cat Classic championship and returning as a team to the NCAA Regionals for the first time since 1994 made Drass' first season as the University of Missouri's gymnastics coach a successful one. The program effectively transitioned from its first 20 years under the direction of the program's creator, Jake Jacobson.
Under Drass' tutelage, the Tigers broke 16 school records, accumulated 22 individual titles and had three Academic All-Big 12 selections in the historic 2000 campaign. Mizzou's average meet score and Regional Qualifying Score were the highest in school history. The Tigers finished the year at 8-10.
Last Time out for the Tigers...
Tiger Gymnasts Put Up Strong Fight but Fall to No. 9 Nebraska
Sophomore Alina Hamm posted the highest all-around score in school history (39.225), and the Tigers slated the fifth-highest score in MU history, but it wasn't quite enough as the Nebraska Cornhuskers took the team title of the Boone County National Bank Tiger-Husker Showdown, 197.025-194.425. The Tiger's total was also the highest mark the Tigers have posted in the 2001 season.
The Tigers were very consistent putting up scores of 48.150 on vault, 48.925 on bars, a season-high 48.775 on beam, and a season-high 48.575 on floor. Hamm finished third in the all-around competition behind NU's Alecia Ingram (39.625) and Gina Bruce (39.325). Ingram won four events (vault, beam, floor and all-around) for the Huskers as they improved to 4-1 on the year.
MU Freshmen Lindsay Davis and Andrea Nervig continued their solid rookie seasons. Nervig tied the best all-around mark by a freshman in MU history with her fourth place score of 38.850 and Davis put up a solid score of 38.025 despite a fall on floor.
Senior Ann Gietler had a exemplary day putting up a 9.875 on bars and a 9.725 on floor despite being bothered by a sore knee. The 9.875-performance adds Gietler's name to another spot in MU record books, tying the sixth-highest bars mark by an MU gymnast. This is the second-straight week Gietler has set a career high on bars. Hamm also found success on bars tying her career-high mark of 9.850.
Stop!...Hamm-er Time
Last Sunday against Nebraska, sophomore Alina Hamm once again served notice to the Tiger faithful in attendance that it was indeed Hamm-er time. The Springfield, Mo. native recorded career-high marks on vault (9.75), beam (9.800) and floor (9.825) on her way to a mark of 39.225, the best all-around mark by an MU gymnast in school history. The former record was set in 1999 by Amanda Peterson who slated a 39.175 during the Cat Classic. If Hamm, Davis, and Nervig continue to put up big numbers in the all-around competition, the Tigers will be a team their opponents... can't touch (Feel free to insert your own MC Hammer reference anywhere in that last note).
No. 52 in the Polls but...
Mizzou is currently ranked No. 52 in the latest GymInfo poll. Teams are ranked according to average scores thus far this season. However, the Tigers have improved every time out this season from their season-low 184.625 performance at Ball State, to their season-best 194.425 performance against Nebraska last Sunday. Besides being the fifth-highest score in school history, the Tiger's 194.425 score is one of the top 25 scores in the country.
Tigers Finding their Balance on Beam
The Tigers performance on balance beam has been a roller coaster ride so far this season. However, Mizzou did post its best beam score of the season (48.775) last Sunday against Nebraska.
The balance beam is 16-feet long, 4-feet high and merely 4- inches wide. Performing on it requires precise movement and intense concentration. A beam routine should be between 70 and 90 seconds. The first special requirement of a beam routine is that it contain a tumbling series. It must also contain a series of two leaps and a series of one tumbling skill and one leap skill (called a gym/acro series). Also, the gymnast's torso must touch the beam at some point during the routine. The gymnast must complete a turn of at least 360 degrees on one leg, and there must be a leap with large amplitude. This requirement may be a part of the leap series, the gym/acro series or entirely on its own. Finally the gymnast must dismount the beam.
Special Requirements o One tumbling series of two or more flight elements. o One dance series of two or more elements. o One mixed series (tumbling/dance) of two or more elements. o One gymnastics leap, jump or hop with great amplitude (may be part of the gym or mixed series). o One gymnastics turn (minimum of 360 degrees) on one leg. o Element or connection close to the beam
Tigers Raising the Bar on Uneven Bars
Since struggling in the first meet of the season on bars, the Tigers have been on fire averaging nearly 49.000 per outing. The Tigers put up the third-highest bars score in school history (49.050) in their meet against Southeast Missouri State on Jan. 21. MU missed the all-time bars record (49.175) that was set last season by just .125 points. All six Tiger gymnasts set individual career highs as well on Sunday, including sophomore Alina Hamm who broke the MU school sophomore bars record with her mark of 9.875.
Senior Ann Gietler continued the assault on the career-high list for the Tigers against Nebraska on Jan. 28 when she once again put up a personal-best with a score of 9.875.
The Young and the Restless
No, sorry soap opera fans, no drama or bad acting...just good gymnastics. The Tigers are a very young squad in 2001. The roster features seven freshmen, seven sophomores and one senior.
Talented freshmen Lindsay Davis and Andrea Nervig are developing into two quality all-arounders for Mizzou. Davis' Missouri Cup-winning all-around mark of 38.775 is just .075 points off of the MU freshman all-around mark set by Kim Leslie in 1992.
Nervig encored her second-place finish against SEMO with a record setting performance against Nebraska eclipsing Leslie's eight-year old record posting an all-around score of 38.850 to grab a third-place finish.
Floor Music...You Name It...We're Using It
The 2001 Tigers have a new choreographer as first-year assistant coach Kira Atkinson assumes the controls. Tiger floor routines will feature everything from the Beastie Boys to music from the soundtrack of "The Last of the Mohicans." Here is a run down of some of the artists the Tigers will feature on floor this season.
Laura Forbes: Mark Anthony's "I Need To Know"
Ann Gietler: DMX's "Party Up"
Andrea Nervig: The Verve's "Bittersweet Symphony"
Alina Hamm: Beastie Boys' "Slow Ride"
Laura Anson: Lenny Kravitz' "American Woman"
Lindsay Davis: Rusted Root Medley
(Sorry, no Neal Diamond)
Tiger Superlatives
Although the Tigers are only three weeks into their 2001 season, several records and career-highs have been established. Listed below are the new marks that have been established so far.
New Career Highs as of 1/28/01
Ann Gietler -Bars, 9.875 (vs. Nebraska 1/28/01) Shannon Brett -Bars, 9.100 (vs. SEMO 1/21/01) Laura Forbes -Beam, 9.675 (vs. Nebraska 1/28/01) Leah Gremaud -Vault, 9.525 (vs. Nebraska 1/28/01) -Bars ,9.750 (twice) Alina Hamm -Vault, 9.750 (vs. Nebraska 1/28/01) -Bars, 9.875 (vs. SEMO 1/21/01) -Beam, 9.800 (vs. Nebraska 1/28/01) -Floor, 9.825 (vs. Nebraska 1/28/01) -all-around, 38.775 (vs SEMO 1/21/00) Heather Holden -Beam, 9.350 (vs. Ball State 1/7/01) Lindsay Davis -Vault, 9.700 (vs. SEMO 1/21/01) -Bars, 9.700 (twice) -Beam, 9.725 (twice) -Floor, 9.650 (vs. SEMO 1/21/01) Katie Myers -Vault, 9.300 (vs. Nebraska) Andrea Nervig -Vault, 9.625 (vs. Nebraska 1/28/01) -Bars, 9.875 (vs. SEMO 1/21/01) -Beam, 9.775 (vs. Nebraska 1/28/01) -Floor, 9.725 (vs. SEMO 1/21/01) Lauren Owca -Vault, 9.650 (vs. Nebraska 1/28/01) -Floor, 9.675 (vs. Nebraska 1/28/01)
Tiger Records set as of 1/28/01
Andrea Nervig -All-around score by a freshman (38.850 vs Neb.) Alina Hamm -All-around score MU Record (39.225 vs. Neb.)