Feb. 17, 2006
COLUMBIA, Mo. - The No. 11 Missouri gymnastics team's highest score of the season was not enough to defeat No. 6 Oklahoma as the Sooners slipped past the Tigers 196.100-196.000 in front of 1,424 fans in the Hearnes Center on Friday night. Four different Tigers, seniors Jodie Heinicka, Lauren Schwartzman, Sarah Zigler and junior Whitney Crater, snagged event titles to lead Missouri while freshman Adrianne Perry finished second in the all-around with a 39.125.
"This was our best meet of the season but it was bittersweet," said Missouri head coach Rob Drass. "It was our best meet of the year but we were one-tenth shy of getting the tie. I thought we did a great job, you can't ask for more than the best we've done all season. I thought we really cleaned up vault, the landings were good on beam and bars. We're really getting the finer things down."
The Tigers started the night on vault with a 48.975, led by Crater, who picked up her second-consecutive vault title after notching a 9.875. Heinicka tied for third with a 9.825 while Zigler recorded a 9.800 to finish in fifth place.
Continuing the strong showing, Mizzou scored a 48.875 on bar as Heinicka and Zigler both picked up a 9.850 to clinch the event title. The first place finish was the sixth-straight for Heinicka, who has now won six-of-seven bars titles this season and is tied for fourth nationally on the event. Tying for fifth for the Tigers was freshman Alicia Hatcher, who scored a 9.750.
On Mizzou's most consistent event, the Tigers did not disappoint after earning a 49.125 on beam. Schwartzman, the nations third best beam worker, tied Sooner Lori Winn for first place with a 9.900 for her fourth beam title in 2006. Earning a 9.825 was Hatcher, who finished in fifth, while Heinicka set a new career-high with a 9.775 on the event.
Entering the final rotation with just over a one-tenth advantage, the Tigers scored a season second-best 49.025 on floor but could not hold off Oklahoma as the Sooners posted a 49.150 on beam to overtake the Tigers in the final standings. Crater and Schwartzman were impressive, for Mizzou, however, as each scored a 9.875 to tie for second place on the event. With the score, Crater tied her career-high while Perry scored a 9.850 to tie three Sooners for fourth place.
"We did a great job tonight," said Heinicka. "This was the first time we hit all of our routines, so that's a good feeling. Wins are important for team morale but they don't matter in the grand scheme of things, all that really matters is our score. We just try to aim at bettering ourselves every meet and getting the best score we can."
Next weekend, the Tigers host their 26th annual Cat Classic on Friday, Feb. 24-25 at 7 p.m. CST. Mizzou will take on Ball State, Northern Illinois and Pittsburgh in the team portion on Friday night before the individual event finals on Saturday night. The Cat Classic always ranks as the Big 12 Conference's best attended event and last year's event drew a crowd just shy of 4,500.
Vault
1. Whitney Crater; 3. (tie) Jodie Heinicka; 5. Sarah Zigler
Bars
1. (tie) Jodie Heinicka, Sarah Zigler; 5. (tie) Alicia Hatcher
Beam
1 (tie). Lauren Schwartzman; 5. (tie) Alicia Hatcher, Adrianne Perry
Floor
2. (tie) Whitney Crater, Lauren Schartzman; 4. (tie) Adrianne Perry
All-Around
2. Adrianne Perry