Feb. 8, 2001
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AT&T Broadband Gymnastics X-Treme
Meet #5--Sun. Feb. 11, 2001--Columbia, Mo.
Participants: University of Missouri (3-3) vs. No. 14 Iowa State (2-2)
Start Time: 2:00 p.m.
Series: Mizzou leads the all-time series, 22-15
Coaches: Missouri: Rob Drass (Penn State '90) 11-13 at MU (2nd season), 11-13 overall (2nd season). Iowa State: K.J. Kindler (Iowa State `92) 2-2 at ISU (1st season), 2-2 overall (1st season)
Tiger Gymnasts Look to Take No. 14 Iowa State to the X-Treme
The University of Missouri gymnatics team will host the 11th Annual AT&T Broadband Gymnastics X-Treme on Sunday at 2 p.m. in the Hearnes Center. The Iowa State Cyclones will be providing the competition for the Tigers who are now 3-3 on the season and 1-2 in the Big 12.
Mizzou is coming off of a second-place finish in the 21st Annual State Farm Cat Classic and look to surpass the .500 plateau for the first time this season. Despite falling to BYU in the Classic, Mizzou defeated two top-25 teams in Bowling Green and Illinois State and will face the 14th ranked Cyclones on Sunday.
The Tigers own a 22-15 lead in the all-time series over the Cyclones. However, Mizzou has not beaten ISU since 1994 in regular season competition. The X-treme meet will mark the end of Mizzou's four-meet home stand and is their second-to-last home meet of the season. The Tigers will head for the Rockys next Fri., Feb. 16 and Sat., Feb. 17 for meets with BYU on Friday and Utah State on Saturday.
No. 51 in the Polls but...
Mizzou is currently ranked No. 51 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 year 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 is one of the Top 25 scores in the country.
The Tigers are also facing one of the toughest schedules in the nation with six of their 11 opponents still in the GymInfo top-25.
A Look at No. 14 Iowa State
The Cyclone gymnastics team marked its 15th straight win over the Iowa Hawkeyes and its second win of the season, 196.325-195.925, on Friday Feb. 2. The Cyclones, who are led by junior Shelly Kringen placed first on the vault, floor exercise and all around. Her floor exercise and all-around scores rank as the second-best scores in the Cyclones record books. Junior Sissy Huey tied for second place on the vault with a career-high score of 9.825. Like the Tigers, ISU is searching for its first Big 12 win of the season.
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...
Tigers Finish Second in 21st Annual Cat Classic
The University of Missouri Tigers hosted the team competition of the 21st Annual Cat Classic on Fri., Feb. 2 in front of over 2,500 Tiger fans. All four teams put on a show for the crowd as No. 14 BYU took the team title for the first time in their eight all-time appearances at the event with a score of 193.600. The Tigers jumped into second place (192.425), No. 22 Bowling Green was third (192.250) and No. 10 Illinois State rounded out the field (192.125). (Cont. on pg. 3)
Mizzou was within one point of the Cougars heading into the final rotation, but were unable to capitalize on a shaky BYU beam team. Mizzou had two falls on floor on the final rotation and all-around champion Kelly Parkinson put the finishing touches on a great night with her 9.825 beam routine leading BYU to the win. Parkinson's all-around mark of 39.225 is the second-highest all-around score in Cat Classic history.
The Tigers were led by freshman Lindsay Davis, who has been a rock-solid performer for the Tigers in the all-around competition all season. Davis broke the MU freshman all-around record with her mark of 38.900 eclipsing the mark of 38.850 that was set just last weekend against Nebraska by freshman teammate Andrea Nervig.
Sophomore Leah Gremaud also registered one of the top-Tiger performances of the night as she won the balance beam on her way to breaking the Cat Classic balance beam record and also tying the MU school record with a mark of 9.925.
Davis is "D" Bomb
Tiger freshman Lindsay Davis, (her team mates call her D) completed a very successful meet at last weekend's Cat Classic. Davis has been rock-solid for the Tigers in the all-around competition all season. She broke the freshman all-around record with her mark of 38.900 eclipsing the mark of 38.850 that was set just last weekend by teammate Andrea Nervig against Nebraska. Davis set or tied career-highs in all four events during the Cat Classic. During the individual competition on Saturday, Davis appeared in three of the four events and picked up the balance beam title with a career-high score of 9.800.
Grrrremaud, Grrreat on Beam
Coming into her sophomore year, Leah Gremaud looked to be one of the major contributors for the Tigers on three events (vault, bars, and beam.) Gremaud started out slow but has awakend from her early season sleep in a big way. Gremaud set a school record during last Friday's beam competition of the Cat Classic. Gremaud put up 9.925 to tie the MU record set by Shannon Brown at the Big 12 Championships in 1999. Gremaud's 9.925 score ties the ninth-highest score in the nation this season and is her career-high.
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 score 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).
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
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)
I'll Tumble For You...
Besides being a 80's hit for The Culture Club, that is exactly what the Mizzou gymnasts will do for their fans on the floor exercise. Mizzou has several routines that feature some of the best tumbling passes in the nationThis is the glamour event in women's gymnastics that combines tumbling, dance and acrobatics in a movement interpretation of music. The floor space measures 12 meters by 12 meters. The duration of the floor routine should be between 70-90 seconds.
Floor routines must contain at least two tumbling passes (one with two flips). It must also contain three different flips within the two tumbling passes. A floor routine must contain a series of three leaps, and a series of two leaps and a tumbling skill or two tumbling skills and a leap. One of the leaps in the routine must be of "C" value or higher. The final requirement is that the routine contains a dismount commensurate with the rest of the routine. Floor exercise has become not only one of the most beautiful of athletic events, but one of the most daring and exciting, as well.
Special Requirements o Two different tumbling series, each consisting of at least three fast flight acrobatic elements, one of which is a salto (flip or somersault). o One of the acrobatic series must contain two separate saltos. o Three different saltos within two acrobatic series. o One dance element with three elements. o One mixed (tumbling and dance) series with at least three elements. o One gymnastic "C" element.