Feb. 14, 2008
Columbia, Mo. - Coming off of a season high 195.800 last week against Centenary, the No. 14 Tiger Gymnastics squad will look to extend its winning streak to three on Friday as the Tigers square off against No. 27 Southeast Missouri State. The meet will begin a 7:00 p.m. (CT).
The Tigers lead the overall series with the Red Hawks 20-6, with two of those wins coming last season. The Tigers bested SEMO at home last February, outscoring the Red Hawks 194.775 - 192.700 and beat them again at the Arkansas Invite.
The Tigers have seemed to improve every week, as the scores have steadily improved in each meet since the season opener in Bowling Green. Much of the Tigers success can be attributed to the turn around on beam and bars as of late. The Tigers came within .025 of the school record 149.400 on bars at the Beauty and the Beast meet. Five of the six gymnasts in the lineup either set or tied personal bests on the event, led by Adrianne Perry's (Columbia, Mo.) 9.925. Two sophomores also put up big scores on bars during Fridays meet. Liz Straatmann (Washington, Mo.) set her career high a 9.875 while teammate Becky Scholle (Chesterfield, Mo.) tied her career mark a 9.850.
Beam has been a high point as well in 2008, as the Tigers, after struggling at times on beam in 2007, now rank 15th in the nation on beam. The Tigers posted a 49.000 or higher on the beam in consecutive meets against Nebraska and UIC, with the season high 49.100 coming against the Huskers.
Several Tigers enter Friday's meet ranked among the nation's best tumblers, including Co-Big 12 Gymnast of the Week Sarah Shire (Columbia, Mo.) who currently ranks fifth in the nation in the floor exercise. Shire also ranks 28th in the nation in the all-around and 22nd on vault. Shire's score of 39.500 in the all-around versus Centenary was a new career high, as well as her floor score of 9.925.
Junior Alicia Hatcher (Blue Springs, Mo.) has made a huge jump in the polls over the last several weeks as well. Since the meet in Nebraska on Jan. 25, Hatcher has been one of the top Tiger performers, earning a 9.775 or better on both bars and beam in each of the last four meets. Hatcher's performance at Nebraska earned her Big 12 Event Specialist of the Week honors for Jan. 29. Rewarded for her hard work, Hatcher has also started to see some time in the floor lineup, posting a new career high of 9.775 against UIC. Hatcher has moved up to 19th in the nation on bars and 31st on beam.
Perry is also ranked in the top 25 in the all-around, landing a No. 24. Her best event this season has been the floor, where she ranks 30th.
SEMO enters Friday's meet as the nation's No. 27 team and is truly on the rise. The Red Hawks rank in the top 25 in every event except for the beam, which ranks 35th nationally. With a fine tuning on beam, SEMO could make a splash on the national scene.
The meet will get underway at 7:00 p.m. Stay tuned to www.mutigers.com for results and a recap for this event and all the latest news and notes on Mizzou Gymnastics.
News and Notes
Scouting the Red Hawks...
SEMO, led by head coach Tom Farden is off to one of its best starts in school history. Coming into Friday's meet with a record of 3-2 (2-1 MIC) the Red Hawks have been putting up big scores all season and were rewarded for that earning a spot in the GymInfo Top 25, ranking 23rd. The Red Hawks will face the Tigers ranked as No. 27. If not for the balance beam this season, SEMO would still rank in the top 25 as they rank 22nd in vault and floor and 23rd on bars as they rank 35th in the nation on beam. With improvement on beam, the Red Hawks could make a splash on the national scene.
Led by two-time Midwest Independent Conference Gymnast of the Week Sandra Blake, the Red Hawks look primed to make a run through the South Central region. The Red Hawks posted a season high 194.925 last weekend against Centenary. Having only one senior on the entire roster, SEMO seems to be heading in the right direction.
The Tigers lead the overall series 20-6, with the latest win coming last season as the Tigers bested SEMO twice last year. Mizzou topped SEMO 194.775 - 192.700 at home and beat them against at the Arkansas Invite 195.725 - 192.975.
With a win over the Red Hawks...
The Tigers would move to 5-1 on the season, their best start since the 1992 season ...Bring the Tigers to 2-1 on the road ... Give Mizzou 13 straight wins over SEMO ... Move the series to 21-6 overall in favor of the Tigers.
Shire is the Big 12 Gymnast of the Week: Following her most impressive and complete showing as a Tiger at the Beauty and the Beast, Sarah Shire earned the Big 12 Gymnast of the Week as announced by the conference office on Tuesday. Shire posted a 39.500 winning the all-around. Her score is a career high. She also took home three other event titles on the night, floor, vault and beam.
Steadily Improving...
In each of the Tigers first five meets, the Tigers scores have increased showing the team is on the rise and yet to post the scores that they are capable of. After setting as season high 195.350 at Nebraska, the Tigers posted a 195.400 against UIC the following Friday and flowed that with a 195.800 against Centenary last Friday. The scores have grown from the 194.100 that the Tigers opened with at Bowling Green to the 195.800 posted on Friday, proving that the Tigers are just starting to click.
Close, but no cigar...
Through the first three meets, the Tigers Achilles heel could have been labeled as the uneven bars, but after the last two meets, the Tigers have fine tuned that event. The bars have been so good as of late that the team almost broke the school record of 49.400 versus Centenary tallying a 49.375, just .025 off. The score ranked second in school history and tied for the second highest bars score in the nation this season. Five of the six Tigers in the lineup set or tied personal records as well, led by Adrianne Perry's 9.925, which ranks her fourth all-time in the Tigers record books.
Achilles heel no more...
One of the pleasant surprises over the previous two meets has been the Tigers performance on the balance beam. Often times, the beam was the Tigers Achilles heel in 2007, but in 2008, the beam has seen a huge turnaround due to Assistant Coach Amy Smith. In each of the Tigers last two meets, they have scored at least a 49.000 on beam, highlighted by a 49.100 at Nebraska. Adrianne Perry tallied a 9.900 against UIC, the highest of any Tiger this season.
Get on the floor...
The Tigers put up a season high of 49.275 on floor versus Centenary, due largely in part to Sarah Shire. Shire posted a 9.925 and now ranks fifth in the nation on floor, not bad for an athlete who had only done floor once in her collegiate career. During her time at Utah, Shire made an appearance in the floor exercise just once, and that was due to injuries. Now ranking fifth in the nation on floor, Shire has proved to many people that she can indeed tumble with best.
Living up to the hype...
When Sarah Shire transferred to Mizzou from Utah, the hype surrounding her could not have been bigger. In five meets this season, Shire has exceeded expectations and proved to be one of the best gymnasts in the nation as a sophomore. Aside from her skills on both beam and vault, Shire has excelled on floor and bars and in the all-around. Shire has posted the highest all-around score in the Big 12 in each of the last two weeks and set a career high 39.500 on Friday. Shire has set personal bests on bars and floor in 2008 and keeps getting better week in and week out. Shire also ranks 28th in the country in the all-around.
Movin' on up... Junior Alicia Hatcher has been on a tear in the last three meets. Since earning Big 12 Event Specialist of the Week after her performance at Nebraska, Hatcher has moved up in the national polls. Making her mark on beam and bars, Hatcher now ranks 19th on bars and 31st on beam. Along with her standout performances on beam and bars, Hatcher also has set a new high on floor this season.
Among the best...
Since she stepped on campus two years ago, Adrianne Perry has been one of the best gymnasts in the nation. Perry has once again proved that in 2008, ranking 24th in the all-around, averaging a 39.175. Despite not being ranked in the top 25 in any event nationally, Perry has been a perfect example of consistency, putting up big scores all season ranking her in the top 25 in the all-around.
A true event specialist...
Sophomore Brooke Boehmer has made huge contributions to a beam lineup that struggled to find consistency in 2007. In 2008, Boehmer has helped add that consistency to the rotation. Averaging a 9.731, Boehmer ranks second on the team on beam this season, behind only standout Alicia Hatcher.
Fine tuned...
Senior Ashley Khederian has been a key member of the Tiger roster since she was a freshman, but it seems that she has saved the best for last. Spending the summer fine-tuning her routines, Khederian has been the Tigers most consistent performer in 2008. Khederian has scored a 39.000 in the all-around twice this season and has not fallen once on any event. After competing in the all-around just twice last season, Khederian has been a key all-arounder in every meet for the Tigers.
Fabulous Frosh...
After posting a 9.900 on vault at the Black and Gold intrasquad, Tiger fans got a good glimpse of what to expect from freshman Alex Gold. Gold lived up to those expectations in the first three meets, posting a 9.850 in the first two and scoring a 9.800 at Nebraska and a 9.725 last weekend against Centenary. Also seeing time in the floor lineup, Gold tallied a 9.850 at the Beauty and the Beast, the best of her collegiate career.
A lineup change...
If you ask anyone in the Missouri Gymnastics program, "Who is the hardest worker on the team?" you are likely to hear Liz Straatmann. After rebounding from an ACL injury last season, Straatmann finally got her shot in the bars lineup in each of the last two meets. Straatmann notched a 9.875 on bars at the Beauty and the Beast meet, a career best in only her second career appearance in the lineup. In fact, Straatmann had never topped a 9.725 during her exhibitions, showing the huge strides she has made this year.
Three's Company...
The Tigers have had three all-arounders in our of their five meets thus far in 2008, Adrianne Perry, Sarah Shire and Ashley Khederian. The only meet to not feature the three was the season opener at Bowling Green when Perry sat out on vault due to illness. The Tigers have never had three all-arounders in the lineup consistently since head coach Rob Drass took over the program in 2000, showing the increasing talent that he has been able to bring into the program over the years.
Best start since 1992...
The Tigers victory over Centenary on Friday moved them to 4-1 on the season. Although the 2004 season was the Tigers best in recent memory, the Tigers have not started a season this well since 1992, when they started 7-1. With a victory this weekend, the Tigers will move to 5-1, putting the 1992 season in their sights.
Milestone Victory ...
After toppling the Cyclones 194.125 - 192.400 at the fourth annual "Pink Out" meet, Mizzou earned its first victory over the Cyclones since 2003. Although the Tigers bested the Cyclones in the post season, the win was the first for Mizzou over Iowa State in the regular season since topping them 192.575 -192.000 in 2003.
Fourth Annual "Pink Out" meet sees record-breaking attendance...
With a lot of hype circling the 2008 squad, the Tigers saw plenty of support in their home opener against Iowa State as 2,766 fans packed the Hearnes Center. It was the third highest attended event other than the Cat Classic at Mizzou. The only two events to top the 2008 "Pink Out" was last years Beauty and the Beast, which saw 6,197 fans file into the Hearnes Center and the 2006 "Pink Out" against Arkansas which had 2,897 fans.
Off to a fast start...
With a score of 194.100 on opening weekend at Bowling Green, the 2008 Tigers took their place in history. The score is the second highest opening-weekend score in the history of the program, behind only the 2004 team which tallied a 195.350 in its season opener against Iowa State.
Feb. 22 meet vs. Big 12 Rival Oklahoma to be televised...
With Missouri's stock consistently rising in the Big 12 Conference, the match up at Hearnes Center between the Tigers and Oklahoma has become a pivotal match up in determining Big 12 supremacy. The match has been picked up by the Missouri Sports Network and will be televised locally on Fox Sports Midwest and Metro Sports. It will be a tape delayed broadcast with dates and times yet to be announced.
We go way back...
With a team loaded with talent, the Tigers can trace some of their success to the Great American Gymnastics Express prep team. GAGE, based out of Blue Springs, Mo., has produced four key members of the Tiger squad, starting with juniors Adrianne Perry and Alicia Hatcher. The two juniors were also teammates with sophomore Liz Straatmann and transfer Sarah Shire. Perry has qualified for National in each of her first two seasons, while Hatcher earned All-Big 12 honors on the bars in 2007. The four GAGE athletes will continue to be the cornerstone of the Tiger lineup.
New Coaching Staff has Tigers Geared Up... The start of the 2008 season has been a little bit easier for Tiger Head Coach Rob Drass, especially in lieu of the 2007 season. Drass and the Tigers have hired two new coaches that will help the Tigers excel in 2008. Associate Head Coach John Figueroa was an assistant at Denver University since 2000 and will be a key member of the coaching staff. Figueroa helped turn the DU program around, taking its bar routine to new heights, ranking 10th. That turnaround helped "Fig" earn the Region 2 Assistant Coach of the Year award in just his first season at the collegiate level. "Fig" will also serve as the recruiting coordinator for the Tigers.
Standout gymnast Amy Smith, a national champion during her competitive days at UCLA will serve as an assistant coach this season. Smith is a proven gymnast that will focus her efforts on beam and floor. Known for her choreography, Smith has reworked almost all of the floor and beam routines, giving the Tigers a fresh look on both events.
Adrianne Perry Starts to Rewrite Record Books...
Entering only her junior season, Adrianne Perry has already started to rewrite the Tiger gymnastics record books. Perry holds five of the top 15 all-around scores in the history of the program. Perry is also the sophomore record holder in the all-around and vault with scores of 39.550 and 9.950, respectively. With another great season, Perry should close in on many of former Tiger standout Alicia Robinson's records in 2008.
Home grown products...
The 2008 Tigers feature a pair of homegrown superstars that have helped put the program in the national spotlight this season. Junior Adrianne Perry and sophomore Sarah Shire are leading the Tigers through the 2008 season, and both call Columbia, Mo. their home. Both trained together at GAGE during high school and have helped Missouri get off to its best start in several years.