Feb. 11, 2003

On the docket...
No. 21 ranked Mizzou gymnastics kicks off a two-week road stint traveling to Auburn, Ala. Missouri faces the No. 15 ranked Auburn Tigers in a match-up scheduled for Fri, Feb. 14 at 7:00 p.m., in Beard-Eaves Coliseum.

The Tigers take a week reprieve before heading to Norman, Okla., where Mizzou is scheduled to compete against the No. 16 ranked Oklahoma Sooners on Fri., Feb. 21, also at 7:00 p.m. Mizzou welcomes its next home venue on March 2 when the Tigers host the 9th Annual Corvette Cup in the Hearnes Center. Eastern Michigan, Southeast Missouri State and Texas Woman's University round out the four-team event that is coupled with a classic Corvette show.

Tickets to the Corvette Cup are available by calling 1-800-CAT-PAWS or in the Hearnes Center ticket office.

Marking up Mizzou
Continuing to pounce the competition, the Tigers brought home the 23rd Annual Cat Classic title setting three meet records, including the all-time vault and balance beam scores. Mizzou posted a 49.150 collective on both events to set the records and topped the evening scoring a 195.875 to post the highest team score in the meet's prestigious history.

On its way to the championship podium, Mizzou knocked off two ranked opponents in No. 10 Arizona and No. 20 Brigham Young. The Tigers also set a new precedent scoring the second-highest program score in the history of the Missouri program.

Eying Auburn The Tigers are currently ranked 15th in the nation with an average score of 195.075. Auburn also owns a 196.475 team high and a 194.795 regional qualifying score.

Last season Missouri bested the Tigers during the Cat Classic competition where it outscored Auburn 194.475-192.500. Despite the victory, Auburn leads the MU-AU series 8-7. Overall, the Tigers finished the 2002 season with an 8-9 record and a fifth-place standing in the Southeastern Conference. Auburn rounded out the year with a 42nd-place ranking by GymInfo.

Highlighting Mizzou's Last Outing
? The Tigers posted the programs highest team vault score recording a 49.150.
? Mizzou's 49.150 vault and beam totals set new Cat Classic meet records for those events. In addition, Missouri's 49.075 bars finial was the Classic's third-highest total.
? Mizzou's 195.875 team total set a new precedent for future Cat Classic teams by knocking down the meet's all-time highest score of 194.950 set last year by Brigham Young. In addition, the mark is Mizzou's second-highest program score in history.

Tigers in the Rankings
Owning a 5-2 season record and a No. 21 ranking, the Tigers continue to top the nation on all four apparatus. Bringing their season average to 194.405 after five meets, the Tigers are currently ranked 21st in the nation with a season high score of 196.475. Missouri is ranked 17th in the country on the balance beam with a 48.505 average. The Tigers are 25th on the uneven bars (48.510), 27th on the floor exercise (48.810) and 28th on vault (48.580).

In the South Central Region, Missouri ranks fifth overall with fifth-place standings on the uneven bars, balance beam and floor exercise. The Tigers are ranked sixth in the region on the vault.

Schwartzman Stands Out
Missouri freshman Lauren Schwartzman won four event titles and set two school records to earn Big 12 Gymnast of the Week, the conference office announced Tuesday.

Schwartzman helped lead the Tigers to the championship of the 23rd Annual State Farm Cat Classic, which included wins over two ranked teams, Arizona and BYU. During the first night of team competition, Schwartzman scored a 9.925 on the balance beam, which was a personal-best and tied the MU all-time and freshman records. The score also tied the Cat Classic record. On floor exercise, Schwartzman again won top honors with a 9.850. The two scores advanced her to the individual championships on Saturday. Schwartzman put up back-to-back 9.900 routines on beam and floor to take the Cat Classic individual beam title and tie for top floor honors.

Coming out in her inaugural season as one of Mizzou's most consistent competitors, freshman Lauren Schwartzman is giving Mizzou fans a glimpse of the ever increasing ability of the Tiger program. In four meets this season, including three against top-20 opponents, Schwartzman has finished in the top third in each of her events. She has rounded out a five-meet stint with seven individual event titles, including a Cat Classic record.

With her few collegiate meets under her belt, Schwartzman is already seeing recognition in the rankings. The freshman owns an impressive 9.835 average on the floor exercise to rank 13th in the South Central Region. She is also ranked 18th in the region with a 9.750 beam average.

Davis Decimates Mizzou's Record Books
Junior Lindsay Davis put up another meet of big scores helping the Tigers claim the 2003 Cat Classic title. Taking second in the all-around competition, Davis posted a 39.225. She opened the meet scoring a 9.825 on vault, earned a 9.800 mark on bars and scored a 9.850 on the balance beam before rounding out the meet scoring a 9.750 on the floor exercise. The junior advanced to the Cat Classic individual finals in her first three events, but was cut short in the competition after taking a fall from the vault.

Davis' successful Cat Classic appearance came on the heels of the junior's record-setting evening helping Missouri's 196.475 trampling of Illinois State. Mizzou's only four-event competitor decimated the competition recording two career-high marks on her way to scoring Missouri's second-highest all-around score in program history. Davis opened her meet scoring a career-high 9.875 vault. She went on to post a 9.850 to tie for top honors on the uneven bars, set another career-mark on the beam scoring a 9.850 and rounded out her evening scoring a 9.850 on the floor exercise. Tallying a 39.425 all-around total, Davis' mark bests her previous career-high by more than a point and also establishes a new Missouri junior record.

Davis' star-studded performance was foreshadowed by glimpses of greatness earlier in the season. The junior scored a 9.900 on the uneven bars to tie Mizzou's junior record on the event and set a new personal career high against No. 4 ranked Nebraska

This week, Davis is ranked 15th in the South Central Region averaging a 38.755 all-around score. Davis is also individually ranked 28th on the floor exercise, 30th on beam, 43rd on bars and 38th on vault.

Robinson Revs Up
After sitting out Mizzou's first meet of the season due to a foot injury, All-American Alisha Robinson continues to work her way into the Tiger all-around lineup. Appearing in her first quad-event meet of the year, Robinson scored a solid 39.175 to finish third in the all-around. Robinson opened the meet scoring a 9.850 on the vault to tie the sophomore record on the apparatus and finish second. Moving onto the uneven bars, she handily won the event recording a 9.900 to once again tie the sophomore high. Rounding out her meet, Robinson scored a 9.750 on the balance beam and a 9.675 in her first floor routine of the year.

Making a quick recovery from her injury, Robinson's came out showing her standard strength helping the Tigers best Illinois State. Robinson opened the meet scoring a 9.850 on the vault to tie for second overall on the apparatus. She then scored a 9.750 on the bars and hit a 9.825 to finish third on the balance beam for Mizzou.

Making her quad-event return, Robinson jumped to the top of the rankings as the sixth-finest all-around competitor in the South Central Region. She also ranks 10th in region on the vault with a 9.825 average. She is 46th on bars and 47th on floor.

Bridges on a Roll
Coming in as one of Missouri's most consistent athletes, junior Rachel Bridges once again earned top honors on the vault advancing to the Cat Classic individual competition with a second-place 9.825 finish. She followed up taking third in the finals scoring another 9.850. The feat comes on the heels of two-career-high vaults on the year when she scored a 9.850 to finish second on the apparatus against Illinois State and took the dual-meet title against then No. 18 ranked Pittsburgh, In addition, Bridges' 9.850 also ties the fifth-highest vault score in Mizzou history.

Holding her ground against ranked opponents, Bridges faced off against then No. 4 ranked Nebraska scoring a 9.775 on the balance beam and recorded a 9.800 on the floor to boost Mizzou.

Overall, Bridges is ranked 36th on vault in the South Central Region with a 9.670 average. She also tops the region as the 13th-finest balance beam competitor with a solid 9.760 beam average.

Nervig Sets the Bar
Bolstering the Tigers to their first Big 12 victory in six years and a follow-up 196.475 record setting meet against Illinois State, junior Andrea Nervig maintained her characteristic consistency against the Redbirds. She opened her meet scoring a 9.750 on the uneven bars and posted a 9.800 on the floor exercise.

Her performance comes on the heels of her electrifying showing against then No. 4 ranked Nebraska. Nervig scored a 9.825 on the uneven bars and helped the Tigers record their eighth-highest team floor score in program history nailing a 9.875 routine for the second straight meet.

Topping the charts against Pittsburgh, Nervig won both the uneven bars and floor exercise titles. She scored a 9.875 to tie for first on floor and posted a 9.850 to top the competitors on bars. She also scored a 9.650 on the vault for Mizzou.

Prior to her pouncing of the Panthers, Nervig won the uneven bars competition scoring a 9.875 against the ISU Cyclones. She also put up a 9.725 on the floor and a 9.575 on vault to boost the Tigers over Iowa State. Nervig's 9.875 bar score also ties as Missouri's 11th-highest all-time mark on the apparatus.

Nervig is currently ranked 39th in the nation on the uneven bars and is 98th on the floor. In the South Central Region, Nervig tops the charts as the ninth-finest bars competitor averaging a 9.825 on the year. She is also tied for 22nd on the floor with a 9.819 average.

Dombart Drives Forward
Sophomore Rachael Dombart continues to earn her keep as a bi-event specialist after one of the finest meets of her career. In her second Cat Classic competition, Dombart scored a 9.825 and tied for third-place overall on the uneven bars. She went on to again tie for third-place honors on the balance beam scoring a 9.875. Both marks advanced the sophomore to the individual championship meet where she put up another 9.875 to finish second on beam behind Tiger teammate Lauren Schwartzman.

Opening the Tigers' bars lineup against Illinois State, she scored a 9.825 to finish second on the event and post her highest mark of the year. Dombart maintained her consistency on the balance beam scoring a 9.800 to tie for fourth overall and help Missouri to a new team record. Helping advance Missouri over Big 12 rival Iowa State, the sophomore scored a 9.775 to open MU's bar lineup and went on to score a 9.675 on beam pushing Mizzou to its first conference victory in nearly a decade. She persisted in her stability against Pittsburgh scoring a 9.725 on bars and 9.700 on beam and backed up her performance, scoring a 9.725 on the beam against then No. 4 Nebraska.

Dombart is tied for 23rd in the South Central Region on the balance beam averaging a 9.725. She also tops in as the region's 38th finest uneven bars contender averaging a 9.646.

Harping on Heinicka
Freshman Jodie Heinicka had a break out meet at the 2003 Cat Classic winning the individual bars championship with a 9.875 career-high. The mark came on the heels of a 9.800 showing during team competition and a seventh-place tie on the apparatus. In addition, Heinicka also earned top marks on the vault recording a 9.825 to tie for fifth.

Heinicka jump-started her collegiate career leading the Tigers with a 9.800 on vault against the Iowa State Cyclones in her inaugural meet to finished third on the event. Building upon her resume, she also scored a 9.700 on the apparatus against the top ranked Cornhuskers.

Hamm Makes it Happen
Rounding out her collegiate career in signature style, senior Alina Hamm has continued to ground Mizzou with consistency. Opening the season, she pulled out a 9.800 floor routine to finish second on the event and rally the Tigers against the Iowa State Cyclones and their first Big 12 Conference victory in six years.

She went on to improve her scores as a two-event participant against then No. 18 ranked Pittsburgh vaulting a 9.650 and scoring a solid 9.750 on the floor exercise. Following up against then No. 4 ranked Nebraska, Hamm scored a 9.725 on the vault and opened Missouri's floor lineup tying her career-high mark on the apparatus with a 9.825.

Hamm maintained her steady strides at the Cat Classic where she opened the meet scoring a 9.825 on the vault and set a new career-mark. The senior tied for second overall in the competition and advanced to the individual championships on the event where she scored a 9.775 to tie for fifth.

Hamm is currently ranked 25th in the region on the floor exercise with a 9.775 average. She is also ranked 30th on the vault averaging a 9.680.

Asraf on the Assist
Sophomore floor specialist Ashley Asraf continues to add stability in the Tiger lineup posting solid scores. In her first meet of the year against Iowa State, she pulled out a 9.775 floor routine to help the Tigers best the Cyclones.

Performing as a two-event competitor against Pittsburgh, Asraf redeemed her pervious score on the balance beam scoring a solid 9.725. Bolstered by her improvements, the sophomore recorded a 9.775 on the floor to help Mizzou post its 11th-highest all-time floor score.

Helping to better Missouri's floor mark against Illinois State, Asraf scored a 9.775 on event leading the Tigers to their eighth-highest team score in program history.

Roets on the Rise
Austin, Texas, native Katie Roets likewise opened her NCAA career in grand fashion scoring a 9.775 on bars to help Mizzou best Iowa State. Helping the Tigers against Pittsburgh, Roets scored a 9.625 on bars. Keeping in tune with her previous notes, Roets scored a 9.675 on bars against Nebraska and put up a solid 9.625 helping the Tigers record their highest all-time beam score. Overall, Roets is tied fir 28th in the South Central Region on bars with a 9.692 average.