March 23, 2006
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COLUMBIA, Mo. - In search of their first Big 12 Championship, the No. 13 Missouri Tigers travel to Lincoln, Neb., this weekend for the 2006 Big 12 Championships against No. 4 Iowa State, No. 6 Oklahoma and host, No. 11 Nebraska, on Saturday, March 25 at 7 p.m. in the Bob Devaney Sports Center. For the first time in four years, the Tigers will not start the meet on floor. Mizzou opens on their strongest event, the balance beam, then move to floor and vault before closing the meet on the uneven bars.
"The Big 12 Championships will be a great meet," said Missouri head coach Rob Drass. "There are four very, very strong teams. As we've gone against each other, we've been within tenths of each other. The meet will come down to who is the most solid, consistent and who does the best job with landings. You do this meet four times, you might get a different winner each time. Whichever team wins will have to be totally on top of their game that day because it should be four, five or sixth tenths from top to bottom."
Fans unable to attend the 2006 Big 12 Championships can follow live scoring on Nebraska's official website. Direct link.
After the meet, the Tigers must wait for the NCAA to announce the Regional pairings on Monday, March 27. Mizzou is assured a seeded position at Regionals, as the top 18 teams earn seeds and the Tigers cannot finish ranked lower than 16th.
Mizzou beats SEMO on Senior Night...
On a night full of emotions, the No. 13 Missouri gymnastics team closed out the regular season with a 195.250-192.575 win over SEMO on Senior Night at the Hearnes Center on Friday. After the meet, Missouri's three seniors, Jodie Heinicka, Lauren Schwartzman and Sarah Zigler, were honored. Schwartzman highlighted the evening by picking up the beam and floor titles as she scored a 9.925 and 9.900, respectively. Fellow senior Heinicka recorded a 9.925 on bars for the fifth time this season to win the event title while Crater won vault with a 9.875. Perry tied her career-high in the all-around with a 39.300 to claim the crown. Perry finished second on vault and floor with 9.850s while Hatcher tied a career-high on beam with a 9.850 to take third and tied Hatcher on bars with a 9.825.
Tigers still among nation's elite...
The Tigers stayed steady at No. 13 in this week's GymInfo National Top 25 Poll. On individual events, the Tigers rank fifth on beam and 12th on bars nationally.
Schwartzman ranks as nation's best...
For the fifth time this season and the seventh of her carer, senior Lauren Schwartzman ranks as the nation's top beam worker with an RQS of 9.920 this week. She is tied for the nation's top spot with Georgia's freshman sensation and 2004 Olympian Courtney Kupets.
Heinicka no slouch either...
Senior Jodie Heinicka ranks fourth in the nation on the uneven bars with a 9.910 RQS. Additionally, she has ranked as the South Central Region's top bar worker all but one week this season.
Big 12 rotations announced...
Event rotations for the 2006 Big 12 Championships were announced on Tuesday. After starting on floor for the past three seasons, the Tigers will open the meet on beam. Mizzou then moves to floor and vault before ending the meet on bars.
Big 12's on the small screen...
The Fox Sports Network will air the 2006 Big 12 Gymnastics Championships on tape delay throughout the much of the country: Thursday, March 30, 2006
FSN Arizona: 12 p.m. MST
FSN Bay Area: 12 p.m. PST
FSN Detroit: 12 p.m. EST
FSN Midwest (Non-Blues): 11 a.m. CST
FSN New England (Non-Celtics): 12 p.m. EST
FSN North (Minnesota): 12 p.m. CST
FSN North (Wisconsin): 12 p.m. CST
FSN Northwest: 12 p.m. PST
FSN Ohio (Non-Cavaliers): 12 p.m. EST
FSN Pittsburgh: 12 p.m. EST
FSN Rocky Mountain: 12 p.m. MST
FSN South: 3 a.m. EST
FSN Southwest: 12 p.m. CST Friday, March 31, 2006
FSN Chicago: 12 p.m. CST
FSN Midwest: 12 p.m. CST
FSN New England: 1:30 p.m. EST
Tigers excell in the classroom as well...
Eight members of the squad were named to the 2006 All-Big 12 Academic teams. Seniors Jodie Heinicka, Lauren Schwartzman and Sarah Zigler, juniors Alicia Gilmore and Amanda Pezzullo and sophomores Julie Abaray and Katie Kluga were named to the first team while sophomore Nicole Bowman earned a spot on the second team. Heinicka and Schwartzman made the first team for the third-consecutive year while Pezzullo is a two-time selection. The eight selections led the league and is twice as many as the next school.
And the winner is...
Seniors Jodie Heinicka and Lauren Schwartzman are nominees for this year's prestigious AAI American Award, which is college gymnastics equivelant of the Heisman Trophy. The award is given to a senior student-athlete whose career reflects a true leader in all that she does both inside and outside the gym.
Scouting No. 4 Iowa State
| National | Regional | RQS | High | Meet | ||
| Team | 4th | 2nd | 196.505 | 197.25 | v. Iowa (3/17) | |
| Vault | 6th | 2nd | 49.215 | 49.400 | at ASU (3/10) | |
| Bars | 8th | 2nd | 49.045 | 49.225 | twice | |
| Beam | 2nd | 1st | 49.145 | 49.300 | v. Iowa (3/17) | |
| Floor | T2nd | 1st | 49.270 | 49.400 |
v. Iowa (3/17) | |
The Tigers lost to Iowa State twice this season. At the Super Six Challenge on Jan. 6, the Cyclones finished third with a 194.050 while Mizzou scored a 192.700 to take sixth. On Feb. 3 in a conference dual, Iowa State again bested Mizzou 196.175-195.875 in Columbia.
Missouri holds the all-time 41-33 advantage, including an 18-11 mark in the post-season. Missouri last beat Iowa State at the 2003 Big 12 Championship.
Scouting No. 11 Nebraska
| National | Regional | RQS | High | Meet | ||
| Team | 11th | 3rd | 196.005 | 196.85 | at Oklahoma (2/4) | |
| Vault | 9th | 3rd | 49.155 | 49.300 | at Iowa State (2/19) | |
| Bars | 6th | 1st | 49.120 | 49.375 | v. Missouri (1/29) | |
| Beam | 12th | 4th | 48.900 | 49.275 | at Oklahoma (2/4) | |
| Floor | 14th | 3rd | 49.055 | 49.275 | at Iowa State (2/19) | |
The Huskers defeated the Tigers twice this season. At the Super Six Challenge on Jan. 6, Nebraska finished second with a 194.100 while Mizzou scored a 192.700 to take sixth. On Jan. 29 in the conference opener, the Huskers again bested the Tigers 196.375-195.950 in Lincoln.
The Tigers are 7-57 all-time against the Huskers, including 4-28 in the post-season. Missouri last defeated Nebraska at the 2004 Big 12 Championship.
Scouting No. 6 Oklahoma
| National | Regional | RQS | High | Meet | ||
| Team | 6th | 1st | 196.335 | 197.05 | at TWU (3/3) | |
| Vault | 2nd | 1st | 49.31 | 49.475 | at TWU (3/3) | |
| Bars | 14th | 5th | 48.975 | 49.45 | at TWU (3/3) | |
| Beam | 6th | 2nd | 49.065 | 49.35 | at LSU (2/24) | |
| Floor | 7th | 1st | 49.18 | 49.225 | at TWU (3/3) | |
The Sooners and Tigers met only once in 2006, with Oklahoma grabbing a narrow 196.100-196.000 win in Columbia on Feb. 17. Mizzou had a slight 146.875-146.850 advantage heading into the final rotation but the Sooners pulled out the victory.
The Tigers are 11-39-1 all-time against the Sooners, including 3-22-1 in the post-season. Missouri last defeated Oklahoma on Feb. 29, 2004 in Columbia.
Looking ahead to Regionals...
A total of 36 teams will qualify for six different NCAA Regionals, with Arkansas, Georgia , Iowa State, LSU , Michigan and Stanford serving as hosts.
Teams are ranked and seeded by a Regional Qualifying Score (RQS). An RQS is calculated by taking a team or individual's top six scores, of which three must be from an away meet. The highest score is dropped and the remaining five are averaged to get the RQS.
After conference championships, the top 18 teams based on RQS will earn seeds to NCAA Regionals. The NCAA will seed the teams as shown:
1 2 3 4 5 6
12 11 10 9 8 7
13 14 15 16 17 18
A team that is a seed and also a host will not be sent out of its home Region. The top 18 host anchors the trio in that region. If more than one team in a trio is a host, the NCAA will switch the lower seeded host with a like-seeded non-host team. The NCAA also has the right to break up a trio if it has teams from one region or conference.
Joining the three seeded teams in each Regional will be the top three unseeded teams from that region. The top two teams from each Regional will then qualify for Nationals.
The NCAA Committee will announce the Regional pairings on Monday, March 27
2006 NCAA Regional Sites
Region Host
Central.......... LSU
North Central.. Iowa State
Northeast...... Michigan
South Central. Arkansas
Southeast...... Georgia
West............. Stanford
Tiger Tidbits
Recorded a 9.725 on bars and a 9.450 on floor against SEMO ... was in the beam and floor lineups for the first time all year and also competed on bars at Iowa ... finished second on beam against the Hawkeyes ... competed on bars and floor against SEMO and posted a 9.725 on the uneven bars ... competed on bars against Centenary and SEMO and posted a 9.750 at SEMO's Outback Invitational ... in the bars lineup for the second-straight week at the Cat Classic and scored a career-high 9.775 ... qualified for the Cat Classic individual event finals on bars and finished in sixth place ... was in an event lineup for the first time in 2006 against Oklahoma after recovering from an ankle sprain that sidelined her for the start of the season... recorded a 9.725 on bars against the Sooners ... named to the All-Big 12 Academic first team.
Was in the floor lineup against Centenary and SEMO this past weekend ... competed on floor for the Tigers against Oklahoma and scored a 9.575 ... led off the floor lineup against Nebraska and scored a career-high 9.725 ... improved her career-best on bars with a 9.650 against Arkansas, a mark she set at the Super Six Challenge ... had a then-personal best 9.500 on floor against Arkansas ... named to the All-Big 12 Academic second team.
Ranked tied for 38th on vault and on floor in the nation ... won the vault title against SEMO with a 9.875 ... competed on vault and floor against Iowa ... picked up three event titles over the weekend with both vault and floor at SEMO and the floor title against Centenary ... won her first Cat Classic individual event title on floor with a 9.875 and finished second on vault ... in the Cat Classic team competion, recorded a 9.850 on vault ... won her second-consecutive vault title with a 9.875 against Oklahoma while tying for second on floor with a 9.875 ... won the vault and floor titles with a 9.875 and 9.850, respectively against Illinois ...the 9.875 on vault was a season high ... recorded a 9.825 on floor and a 9.775 on vault against Iowa State to finish in tied for fourth and fifth, respectively ... tied for fifth on floor at Nebraska with a 9.825 ... recorded a 9.850 on vault and floor against Centenary and Air Force for second and third place finishes, respectively ... finished tied for first on floor with a 9.825 and recorded a 9.800 on vault to tie for fourth place against Arkansas.
Tied for 58th on bars and 64th on beam nationally ... tied her career-high on beam with a 9.850 against SEMO to take third place ... also recorded a 9.825 on bars to tie for second ... placed second on bars and tied for third on beam at Iowa ... won her first career event title after with a 9.825 on bars at SEMO to tie Heinicka ... tied her career-high on bars against Centenary with a 9.850 ... earned top-four finishes on bars, beam and floor at the Cat Classic individual event finals ... at the Cat Classic team finals, recorded a 9.825 on beam to tie for third place and a 9.800 on bars for fourth ... recorded a 9.825 on beam against Oklahoma to tie for fifth place ... recorded a 9.800 on beam to tie for fourth place against Illinois ... scored a career-high 9.850 on bars to finish in fourth place against Iowa State ... also set a career-high on floor with a 9.750 and posted a 9.775 on beam ... placed fourth on beam with a career-high 9.850 while also recording a 9.800 on bars and 9.725 on floor at Nebraska ... recorded a 9.825 on bars against at Centenary to finish second ... finished in fifth place on bars with a 9.725 against Arkansas.
Ranked fourth nationally on bars and tied for 66th on vault ... claimed her 10th bars title of the season against SEMO and scored a 9.925 on the event for the fith time this sesaon ... won her ninth bar title of the season with a 9.800 and finished second on vault at Iowa ... set a career-high and team season-high on vault with a 9.900 to take the event title against Centenary ... tied Hatcher with a 9.925 at SEMO to earn the bar title ... earned the Cat Classic vault title with a 9.800 and finished second on bars with a 9.800 ... at the team finals, tied for first on bars with a 9.875 ... won her sixth-straight bars title of the season against Oklahoma with a 9.850 ... tied for third on vault with a 9.825 and recorded a career-high 9.775 on beam ... won the bars title with a 9.850 against Illinois, also finished second on vault with a 9.850 ... scored a 9.925 on bars for the fourth-straight week to claim first place honors against Iowa State ... finish tied for second on for the second straight week against Iowa State with career-high tying 9.850 ... has won bars titles in six of seven meets this season after tying for fifth at the Super Six Challenge ... against Arkansas on Jan. 13, became the first Tiger to perform a full-twisting double-layout dismount on bars ... nominee for the AAI American Award, which is given to a senior student-athlete whose career reflects a true leader in all that she does both inside and outside the gym ... named to the All-Big 12 Academic first team for the third-consecutive season.
Earned a 9.700 on floor and a 9.625 on bars against Illinois. ... competed on bars and floor against Iowa State and posted a 9.725 on floor ... scored a 9.800 on floor at Centenary for a 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.
Recorded a 9.750 on bars against SEMO to tie her career-high ... tied for third on beam at Iowa with a 9.700 ... scored a 9.750 at SEMO to finish fourth on beam ... earned fifth place on beam at the Cat Classic individual event finals ... was in the bars and beam lineup at the Cat Classic team finals and against Oklahoma ... was in the bars and beam lineup against Illinois and earned a 9.700 on beam ... competed on bars and beam against Iowa State and posted a 9.725 on beam ... set a career-high on beam with a 9.775 at Nebraska ... 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 ... named to the All-Big 12 Academic frist team.
Ranks 23rd nationally in the all-around, tied for 92nd on beam, 48rd on floor and 98th on bars ... claimed the all-around title with a career-high tying 39.300 against SEMO and finished second on vault and floor with 9.850s ... won the all-around, beam and floor titles at Iowa ... claimed all-around titles against Centenary and SEMO and tied Crater for the floor title at SEMO ... won the Cat Classic all-around title with a career-high tying 39.300 and finished second on beam .... tied for first on floor at the Cat Classic team finals ... finished second in the all-around with a 39.125 against Oklahoma ... won her third all-around title of the season with a 39.000 at Illinois, also finished second on bars ... against Iowa State, finished tied for third on beam with a 9.825 ... set an all-around personal best for the third straight week with a 39.300 at Nebraska to finish in second place ... recorded a career-high 9.875 on beam and 9.850 on bars to go along with a 9.825 on floor ... tied for first on beam and tied for fifth on floor and vault at Nebraska ... won the all-around title at Centenary while finishing first on vault and second on floor ... won the all-around with against Arkansas inher first all-around competition ... has a balance beam move named after her called "The Perry.
Ranks tied for 46th on beam in the nation ... recorded two third place finishes on vault and floor and came in fourth on beam against SEMO ... finished third on beam and vault against both Centenary and SEMO ... won her first Cat Classic individual title after scoring a 9.825 on beam ... finished tied for third on beam at the Cat Classic team finals ... recorded a 9.825 on beam to finish tied for fifth against Oklahoma ... recorded a 9.800 on beam to tie for fourth at Illinois ... competed in the vault, beam and floor lineups against Iowa State and posted 9.725, 9.700 and 9.675, respectively ... tied for fifth on vault with a 9.750 against Nebraska ... recorded a 9.775 on beam and a 9.700 on floor ... 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 ... named to the All-Big 12 Academic team for the second year in a row.
Lauren Schwartman
Ranks tied for first in the nation on beam ... also ranks tied for 58th on floor in the country ... took home the beam and floor titles against SEMO with a 9.925 and 9.900, respectively ... competed only on vaut at Iowa and posted a 9.625 ... claimed her seventh and eighth beam titles of the season against Centenary and SEMO ... recorded a season-high 9.850 on vault against Centenary to finish second on the event ... finished second on floor at the Cat Classic individual event finals ... took home top honors on beam and floor at the Cat Classic team finals ... scored a 9.950 on beam for the third time this season in the Cat Classic ... earned her fifth beam and seventh total title of the season with a 9.900 against Oklahoma ... tied for second on floor against the Sooners with a 9.875 ... finished second on beam and recorded a season-high 9.800 on vault to tie for third against Illinois ... scored a 9.950 on beam for the second time this season against Iowa State to claim first place ... also posted a 9.850 on floor to tie for first place ... 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 ... nominee for the AAI American Award, which is given to a senior whose career reflects a true leader in all that she does both inside and outside the gym ... named to the All-Big 12 Academic first team for the third-straight season.
Tied for 40th on bars in the nation ... scored a 9.825 on bars against SEMO to tie for second ... also set career-highs on beam and floor in exhibition against SEMO ... finished third on bars and tied for fifth on vault at Iowa ... recorded a 9.800 on vault against both Centenary and SEMO ... claimed her second-straight bars title against Centenary with a 9.875 ... won her first career Cat Classic individual title with a 9.850 on bars ... tied for first on bars with a 9.875 in the Cat Classic team finals ... finishd fifth on vault with a 9.800 against the Sooners ... had a solid meet against Illinois with a 9.775 on bars and a 9.700 on floor, also set a career-high on floor after scoring a 9.775 in exhibition ... tied for second on bars against Iowa State with a 9.875 ... the score marks the second week in a row Zigler tied her career-high ... recorded a 9.875 on bars with against Nebraska to tie for fifth place ... also recorded a 9.700 on vault ... 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 ... named to the All-Big 12 Academic first team.