Missouri Gymnastics Ranked No. 9 In Latest National Poll
2/20/2006 12:00:00 AM | Gymnastics
Feb. 20, 2006
COLUMBIA, Mo. - The Missouri gymnastics team is ranked No. 9 in the latest GymInfo National Top 25 Poll, which marks the fourth time this season the Tigers have been ranked in the top-10. Additionally, senior Lauren Schwartzman ranks first in the country on beam and classmate Jodie Heinicka is tied for fourth nationally on bars, while six other Tigers find themselves in the top-100 nationally on individual events.
Starting this week, team and individual polls for the remainder of the season will be ranked by Regional Qualifying Score (RQS) and not average score. An RQS is calculated by taking the six-highest scores of the season, of which at least three must be from an away meet. The highest overall score is dropped and the remaining five scores are averaged to get an RQS.
For the third week this season, all four Big 12 Conference schools are ranked in the top-10. Oklahoma ranks fifth, Iowa State is seventh and Nebraska comes in at 10th.
As a team, The Tigers rank as the third-best beam team in the nation and are 10th on bars, 12th on vault and 15th on floor. In the South Central Region, Mizzou ranks first on beam, third on floor and bars and fourth on vault.
This week marks the third time in Schwartzman's career that she is ranked as the top beam worker in the nation. She also earned the honor twice in 2004 after recording a 10.0 in Missouri's season opener. Schwartzman is also tied for 23rd nationally on floor and ranks first on beam and sixth on floor in the South Central Region. In addition to her bars ranking, Heinicka is tied for 45th on bars and 58th on beam in the country and ranks first on bars, tied for 12th on beam and 16th on vault in the region.
Freshman Adrianne Perry ranks at least 69th nationally on all individual events, highlighted by ranking 11th in the all-around. She is tied for 23rd on floor, 33rd on beam, 58th on bars and 69th on vault nationally and ranks in the top-20 in the region on all events. Junior Whitney Crater jumped 100 spots to 12th in the country on floor and is 38th on vault and is tied for second on floor and ranks eighth on vault in the region.
Junior Amanda Pezzullo ranks 35th nationally on beam and is also ranked in the top-100 on floor and vault, freshman Alicia Hatcher is tied for 44th on beam and 66th on bars while senior Sarah Zigler is also ranked in the top-100 nationally on vault and bars.
The Tigers next host the 26th annual Cat Classic Friday and Saturday, Feb. 24-25 at 7 p.m. in the Hearnes Center. Mizzou will face Ball State, Northern Illinois and Pittsburgh on Friday night in the team portion of the event while the individual finals will take place on Saturday. Always the Big 12's highest attended meet of the season, the Cat Classic drew 4,497 fans in 2005, which stood as nation's eighth-largest crowd last season.
Players Mentioned
