Jan. 27, 2006

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COLUMBIA, MO. - The No. 10 Missouri Tigers head to Lincoln, Neb. this weekend for an important conference matchup against No. 12 Nebraska on Sunday, Jan. 29 at 2:00 p.m. CT. The Tigers will aim to break the Huskers' 58 meet home unbeaten streak at the Devaney Center, a mark that dates back to 1993 when Missouri head coach Rob Drass was an assistant for Nebraska.

The meet will be Nebraska's version of the Pink Out, with both squads donning pink leotards to promote breast cancer awareness. Members of Nebraska's women's golf and rifle teams will distribute breast cancer detection awareness information to fans and Lincoln-area breast cancer survivors will present the post-meet awards.

Shreveport again friendly to Mizzou...
The Tigers put on an impressive show against Air Force and host Centenary in Shreveport, La., on Jan. 20 as Missouri scored a season-high 195.575 to defeat the two schools. At the meet, Mizzou tied the seventh-highest beam score in program history with a 49.175 and also recorded a 49.125 on floor.

A number of Tigers had career nights in the meet. Freshman Adrianne Perry won the all-around for the second-consecutive meet with a career-high 39.150, in addition to personal bests on vault (9.875), floor (9.875) and beam (9.850). Senior Lauren Schwartzman tied the third highest beam score in Mizzou history, a mark she set in 2004, after a 9.950 on the event and fellow senior Jodie Heinicka recorded a 9.925 on bars for the second straight week. Also impressing were junior Whitney Crater with 9.850 on vault and floor, freshman Alicia Hatcher, who notched a career-high 9.825 on bars and junior Amanda Pezzullo, who had a personal best 9.900 on beam.

Tigers move up in the rankings...
Thanks to an impressive 195.575 against Air Force and host Centenary on Jan. 20, the Tigers entered the top 10 at No. 10 to tie the program's highest ranking. Based on individual events, Mizzou is tied for fourth nationally on beam, tied for 10th on bars, ranked 14th on floor and 16th on vault.

Can the Tigers halt the streak?
Entering Sunday's meet with the Tigers, Nebraska owns a 58 meet home unbeaten streak, dating back to 1993 when Missouri head coach Rob Drass was an assistant with the Huskers. During the streak, Nebraska has 56 victories and two ties, including a 195.675-195.675 tie with Michigan on Jan. 13.

About Nebraska...
Nebraska enters its matchup with Mizzou ranked No. 12 in the nation with a average team score of 194.258 and a 4-2-1 record. Last time out, the Huskers fell to then No. 3 Utah 195.750-193.000 in Salt Lake City, Utah.

Individually, sophomore Emily Parsons is the NCAA's best vaulter with a 9.925 average and is ranked fourth in the all-around (39.317) and balance beam (9.875). Also, junior Stephanie Carter is tied for fourth on vault with a 9.875 average.
Mizzou vs. Nebraska: 7-58

Mizzou blasting competition on beam...
With a 48.575 beam average on the season, the Tigers are tied with UCLA as the fourth best beam team in the nation. Mizzou, led by 2004 Big 12 Conference beam champion Lauren Schwartzman, can go eight or nine deep on the event. Amazing, the Tigers beam prowess is without the help of former Junior National beam champion Julie Abaray, who has not yet competed this season due to a sprained ankle.

Pink Out a success...
The meet against Arkansas marked the second annual Pink Out, a meet aimed to raise breast cancer support and awareness. In honor of the event, the Tigers donned pink and black leotards while most of the 2,897 fans in attendance wore pink as well. The 2006 Pink Out raised over $1,600 to support breast cancer research.

Tiger Tidbits

Nicole Bowman
Improved her career-best on bars with a 9.650, a mark she set at the Super Six Challenge ... had a season-high 9.500 on floor against Arkansas.

Whitney Crater
Recorded a 9.850 on vault and floor against Centenary and Air Force for second and third place finishes, respectively ... is 11th in the South Central Region on vault with a 9.800 average ... finished tied for first on floor with a 9.825 and recorded a 9.800 on vault to tie for fourth place against Arkansas.

Alicia Hatcher
Recorded a career-high 9.825 on bars against at Centenary to finish in second place ... finished in fifth place on bars with a 9.725 against Arkansas ... is tied for 11th in the South Central region with a 9.775 bars average.

Jodie Heinicka
Scored a 9.925 on bars for the second-straight week to take home first place honors on the event at Centenary ... against Arkansas on Jan. 13, became the first Tiger to perform a full-twisting double-layout dismount on bars ... ranks first on bars in the South Central Region and is tied for third nationally ... also is tied for 12th in the region on beam.

Ashley Khederian
Scored a 9.800 on floor at Centenary for a new season-high ... in the bar lineup for the second-consecutive year at the Super Six Challenge, Khederian did not disappoint with a 9.700 on the event.

Katie Kluga
Recorded a 9.750 on both bars and beam at Centenary, which earned her a third place finish on bars ... tied Lauren Schwartzman with a team-high 9.700 on beam to help the Tigers place third on the event at the Super Six Challenge ... ranks 16th nationally on bars.

Adrianne Perry
Set four career-highs against Centenary and Air Force, including all-around (39.150), vault (9.875), floor (9.875) and beam (9.850) ... for the second week in a row, won the all-around title at Centenary while finishing first on vault and second on floor ... won the all-around with a 39.025 against Arkansas in her first home meet and her first all-around competition of the season ... ranks second in the South Central Region and tied for ninth nationally in the all-around ... also is tied for third in the region on floor and tied for fifth in the region and 22nd nationally on vault.

Amanda Pezzullo
Set a career-high with a 9.900 on beam against Centenary and Air Force to tie for second place ... also recorded a 9.700 on floor ... had an impressive meet against Arkansas after recording a 9.825 on vault to finish tied for second place ... recorded a 9.725 on floor and a 9.650 on beam against Arkansas.

Lauren Schwartzman
Marked the third-highest beam score in program history with a 9.950 at Centenary to match her own score set in 2004 ... also finished first on beam and floor after recording a 9.900 on the floor exercise ... won the beam title against Arkansas with a 9.850 on the event and tied Perry for third place on floor with a 9.800 ... ranks eighth nationally and third in the South Central region on beam and third in the region on floor.

Sarah Zigler
Finished third on vault against Centenary and Air Force after notching a 9.800 ... placed first on vault with a career-high 9.850 and finished third on bars with a 9.800 against Arkansas ... ranks 17th in the South Central Region on vault with a 9.767 average.

GymInfo National Top 25 Poll
1. Georgia
2. Utah
3. Alabama
4. Michigan
5. Florida
6. Stanford
7. Penn State
8. Oklahoma
9. UCLA
10. Missouri
11. LSU
12. Nebraska
13. Arizona State
14. Arizona
15. Iowa State
16. Kentucky
17. Auburn
18. Denver
19. Oregon State
20. Minnesota
21. Western Michigan
22. Arkansas
23. Illinois-Chicago
24. North Carolina
25. Michigan State

Mizzou in the National Rankings
Event Rank
Vault 16th
Bars 10th(t)
Beam 4th(t)
Floor 14th
Team 10th

Tigers in the National Rankings
Whitney Crater 45th(t)-VT
Jodie Heinicka 3rd(t)-UB
Alicia Hatcher 46th(t)-UB
Adrianne Perry 9th(t)-AA; 22nd(t)-VT; 44th(t)-FX
Lauren Schwartzman 8th-BB; 38th(t)-FX

Mizzou in the South Central Region Rankings
Event Rank
Vault 4th
Bars 3rd
Beam 2nd
Floor 4th
Team 2nd

Tigers in the South Central Region Rankings
Vault
5t. Adrianne Perry
11. Whitney Crater
17. Sarah Zigler
37t. Jodie Heinicka

Bars
1. Jodie Heinicka
11t. Alicia Hatcher
16. Katie Kluga
31. Adrianne Perry
35. Nicole Bowman
40t. Ashley Khederian

Beam
3. Lauren Schwartzman
12t. Jodie Heinicka
14. Amanda Pezzullo
28. Adrianne Perry
37t. Katie Kluga

Floor
3. Lauren Schwartzman
4t. Adrianne Perry
23. Amanda Pezzullo
37. Ashley Khederian
42. Whitney Crater
49t. Nicole Bowman

All-Around
2. Adrianne Perry

*The South Central Region includes Arizona, Arizona State, Illinois, Illinois-Chicago, Illinois State, Missouri,Nebraska, Northern Illinois, Oklahoma and Southeast Missouri State