March 4, 2001

Columbia, Mo.-- The University of Missouri gymnastics team continued to fight for a spot in NCAA Regional competition on Sunday taking third place in the 7th Annual Lathrop & Gage Corvette Cup with a score of 193.075. Mizzou finished behind the Oklahoma Sooners (195.075) and the Bowling Green State Falcons (194.825). The Tigers had several brilliant moments during the meet that teams with a pre-game car show including what was an awesome display on floor. The Tigers set a new MU school record on their final event of the afternoon with a 49.200-effort propelling them into third place.

"We did several good things today," head coach Rob Drass said. "I was very impressed with our effort on floor and we are heading in the right direction, but we need to address the issue of inconsistency we dealt with all season."

Despite their inconsistencies as a team, several Tigers individually had great meets. Senior Ann Gietler competed in her final home event as a Missouri Tiger on Sunday and definitely went out with a bang. The two-time academic all-Big 12 selection tied for first place honors with OU's Carla DeMartini on the unveven bars with a 9.850 effort. Despite Gietler's efforts on bars, the Tigers struggled on what is usually their strongest event with three falls and recorded a score of only 47.450 when they normally average near 48.000.

On beam, sophomore Leah Gremaud picked up her third beam title of the season with a score of 9.900, which also eclipses the former Corvette Cup record of 9.850 held by four other athletes. Gremaud has won all three of her titles this season in the friendly confines of the Hearnes Center and holds the school record (9.925) and the third highest score (9.900) on beam in MU history.

The Tigers also got a strong showing on floor. Columbia native and sophomore Laura Forbes claimed her first career championship with a career-high effort of 9.925. Not only did Forbes post a career-high, she also recorded the highest score in MU school history. Every MU floor competitor set or tied career-high marks on the floor exercise including sophomore Alina Hamm, who tied for third place with her mark of 9.875. Hamm continued to string together quality all-around efforts as well as she eclipsed the 39.000 plateau once again slating a 39.025.

Freshman Lindsay Davis also put together a quality all-around performance, overtaking her own freshman MU all-around record with her score of 38.925. Davis finished fourth in the vault and fifth in the all-around competition.

The Tigers are now 4-9 overall and 0-4 in the Big 12. They are on the proverbial "bubble" to qualify for NCAA Regional Competition and need some help from other teams in the region if they hope to qualify for the event, which culminates on April 7 in Lincoln, NE. But first, the Tigers must take of business during the rest of their regular season which includes visits to Iowa State next Sun., March 11 and Michigan State on Sat., March 17. Below are the results from Sunday's action.

Team Score

Oklahoma-195.075
Bowling Green-194.825
Missouri-193.075
Texas Woman's-191.350

Vault

Missouri-48.200
Oklahoma-48.800
Bowling Green-48.875
Texas Woman's-48.325

Bars

Missouri-47.450
Oklahoma-49.075
Bowling Green-48.300
Texas Woman's-47.325

Beam

Missouri-48.225
Oklahoma-48.150
Bowling Green-48.600
Texas Woman's-47.450

Floor

Missouri-49.200
Oklahoma-49.050
Bowling Green-49.050
Texas Woman's-48.250

Individual

Vault

1. Marny Oestreng, BGSU 9.875
2. Mariana Goncalves, OU 9.825
2. Leah Mueller, OU 9.825
4. Lindsay Davis, MU 9.800
4. Pia Svojall, BGSU 9.800

Bars

1. Ann Gietler, MU 9.850
1. Carla DeMartini, OU 9.850
1. Leticia Ishii, OU 9.850
4. Mariana Goncalves, OU 9.825
5. Alison Mayberry, OU 9.800

Beam

1. Leah Gremaud, MU 9.900
1. Kasie Tamayor, OU 9.900
3. Letitcia Ishii, OU 9.875
4. Marney Oestreng, BGSU 9.850
5. Ann Marie Kassouf, BGSU 9.825
5. Kathy Emerson, BGSU 9.825

Floor

1. Laura Forbes, MU 9.925
2. Leah Mueller, OU 9.900
3. Alina Hamm, MU 9.875
3. Patty Walpert, TWU 9.875
5. Four competitors at 9.850


All Around

1. Marny Oestreng, BGSU 39.350
2. Leticia Ishii, OU 39.175
3. Mariana Goncalves, OU 39.100
4. Alina Hamm, MU 39.075
5. Lindsay Davis, MU 38.925