Jan. 22, 2009
Columbia, Mo. - No. 12 Missouri might be wearing different colors on Friday night, but the Tigers hope to bring their same form and talents against No. 13 Nebraska in their home opener at the Hearnes Center.
The meet will begin at 6:30 p.m. Fans are encouraged to wear pink to show support for breast cancer awareness and research, the cause that drives the annual event. The first 500 fans will receive free T-shirts, and a portion of the admissions proceeds go to Columbia's Ellis Fischel Cancer Center.
"This is always a great meet for us," Head Coach Rob Drass said. "I think it's a way for us to give back to the community. It's a cause that touches many of our athletes, judges and officials. We're excited to help out and do our part to help out the community in general."
"It's also a lot of fun for our athletes," he continued. "The girls get to wear pink -- I don't think there are a lot of girls that don't list pink as their favorite color."
Fans can look forward to quite a show. Friday night's matchup pits two of the country's top programs against each other at an early point in the season when both are striving to set a winning precedent for the coming weeks.
"I think it's always a big meet when you have a Big 12 opponent," Drass said. The conference is loaded with talent, and Nebraska is perennially a good team. We expect a close meet."
Missouri will be looking to avenge last season's 195.350 - 196.675 loss to the Huskers in Lincoln. The Tigers are now riding a wave of momentum after dominating in their first meet against Iowa State, then taking a come-from-behind victory at Arizona State last week.
At the top of the bill are junior all-arounders and Co-Big 12 Gymnasts of the Week Sarah Shire (Missouri) and Kylie Stone (Nebraska). Shire (Columbia, Mo.) has won the award two weeks in a row after taking the season's first two all-around titles by a score of 39.350. She is ranked seventh overall, No. 2 on the beam and No. 14 on vault.
Coach Drass is hoping that a big turnout will contribute to both a victory for the Tigers and a large donation to the cancer center.
"We want to make as big a donation as we can," he said. And I think our team loves to perform for our hometown crowd. The more people we have, the better our performances. We're excited to compete in front of a home audience again."
Stay with mutigers.com for the latest news and updates after the meet this weekend.
Scouting Nebraska The Cornhuskers might prove to be the Tigers' toughest test so far this season as Nebraska brings talented all-arounders and event specialists alike to the Hearnes Center. Nebraska will face the Tigers in their home opener on Friday. They entered the season ranked 11th, and now sit at No. 13 nationally after a win at Iowa State and a close loss to Denver. Nebraska finished 2008 by placing third at the NCAA Southeast Regional in Gainesville, Fla. after a 13-9 season. Missouri narrowly fell to the Huskers, 195.350 - 196.675 just about one year ago, though the Tigers topped Nebraska at the Big 12 Championships to claim third place. The all-time record is lead by Nebraska, 63-8. The Cornhuskers will rely on junior All-American all-arounder and this week's Co-Big 12 Gymnast of the Week Kylie Stone. Stone missed last season after a preseason injury, but has won the all-around title in Nebraska's first two meets. Another name to watch will be senior All-American Tricia Woo, who claimed the beam and floor titles at the Southeast Regional and the Big 12 beam crown in 2008.
Fifth annual `Pink Out' set for home opener The Tigers' first home meet will be the fifth annual "Pink Out". Tickets are $5 for adults, $3 for kids with a portion of the admissions proceeds donated to the Ellis Fischel Cancer Center. Fans are encouraged to wear pink, and the first 500 through the doors will receive a free T-shirt. And the Tigers are hoping for a big audience and a big donation to the cancer center -- last year's crowd of 2,766 was the fourth largest non-Cat Classic crowd in program history.
Shire claims Big 12 award for second straight week The junior shares the award with Nebraska junior Kylie Stone this week.The award came after Shire won the all-around title for the second week in a row, this time at Arizona State, repeating her score of 39.350 from the week before. This is the third weekly award for Shire -- along with last week's award, she was named Co-Big 12 Gymnast of the Week after putting up a 39.500 against Centenary in February 2008. Shire was also named the Big 12's Newcomer of the Year for 2008, and was picked for the first-team All-Big 12 on vault and for the All-Big 12 Championship team on beam. Her win at Arizona State included a 9.925 score on balance beam -- a new career high for the gymnast. Just the week before, she had tied that record with a 9.900 against Iowa State. She also matched her season highs on bars (9.775) and floor (9.80) in last weekend's meet. The performance last Friday pushed Shire to No. 7 in the country, No. 2 on the beam and No. 14 on the vault.
Tigers push record books on vault Missouri is tied for seventh nationally on the event with an average of 49.037, the highest in the Big 12. The Tigers cracked the 49.000 mark for the first time this season last week at Arizona State -- the squad posted a 49.175 facing a deficit against the home team. The score cracked the Top-15 list for program history, and is the highest team total on the event since March 2007.
Texas native is Gold for Tigers Sophomore Alex Gold (Plano, Texas) has quietly become one of the Tigers' go-to gymnasts on vault and floor. She posted scores of 9.800 and over on vault in Missouri's first two meets, while also posting two scores of 9.750 on floor to anchor the middle of the Missouri lineup. Her 9.850 on vault against Arizona State tied her career high, which she hit twice last season.