Dec. 12, 2008

Columbia, Mo. - The regular season might start on Dec. 9 at Iowa State, but fans can get their first taste of 2009 Tiger Gymnastics at the annual Black and Gold intrasquad meet at 7 p.m. tomorrow, Dec. 13, at the Hearnes Center.

Missouri's top returners will all be in action, including senior Adrianne Perry, who capped a stellar junior campaign by taking the all-around and floor title at the 2008 Big 12 Championship in Norman, Okla., and advancing to the NCAA Championships for the third straight year.

The intrasquad meet pits the Black squad against the Gold squad. This year's Black team will be senior Adrianne Perry (Columbia, Mo.), junior Danielle Guider (Nutley, N.J.), sophomore Alex Gold (Plano, Tex.), sophomore Lisa LaPerierre (Macomb, Mich.), junior Liz Straatmann (Washington, Mo.), freshman Allison Heizleman (Cypress, Tex.), and freshman Brittany Haines (Greenfield, Ind.).

Their competition will be the Gold team -- freshman Mary Burke (Inverness, Ill.), junior Becky Scholle (Chesterfield, Mo.), sophomore Lauren Stephenson (Kansas City, Mo.), junior Brooke Boehmer (Overland Park, Kan.), junior Sarah Shire (Columbia, Mo.), senior Alicia Hatcher (Blue Springs, Mo.) and freshman Tara Foster (Owasso, Okla).

The Black and Gold meet is a key warm-up for the Tigers before they take on a difficult 2009 schedule. Missouri will open the season on the road on Friday, Jan. 9 against Iowa State, then travel to Arizona State the next week. The Tigers' home opener will be the fifth annual Pink Out meet at 6:30 p.m. on Friday, Jan. 23 against conference rival Nebraska.

Admission to the Black and Gold meet is free. Ticket information and sales for the rest of the season are available through the Missouri Athletic Ticket Office by calling 884-PAWS or 1-800-CAT-PAWS.