Tigers Seek Break Out at Big 12's
3/20/2009 12:00:00 AM | Gymnastics
March 20, 2009
Ames, Iowa - History might not be on the Tigers side, but No. 14 Missouri hopes to shatter the past with a big showing at the Big 12 Championships on Saturday.
The Tigers are seeking their first Big 12 title at the Championship meet at 2 p.m. Saturday in Ames, Iowa. They are joined by No. 8 Oklahoma, No. 12 Nebraska and No. 24 Iowa State. Missouri is 16-2 overall and 1-2 in the Big 12 this year.
Missouri is coming off their second-highest total of the year, a 196.425 to overtake No. 9 Oregon State's 195.950. Junior Sarah Shire (Columbia, Mo.) won her ninth all-around title at the meet, while senior Adrianne Perry (Columbia, Mo.) took the floor crown with a 9.9. Both Tigers were named to the All-Big 12 squad this week.
In addition to the Big 12 action, several awards will be announced Saturday afternoon. Shire is a candidate for Gymnast of the Year, while Mary Burke (Inverness, Ill.) is up for the Newcomer of the Year title. The All-Big 12 Championship team, based on the afternoon's performances, will also be announced.
Stay with mutigers.com for news and updates throughout the weekend.
Scouting the Big 12 competition...
No. 8 Oklahoma
The Sooners have taken two conference team titles, most recently last year by a score of 195.875. The 2009 season has been a big one for the Sooners -- they have only totaled two scores under the 196.000 mark. They finish at 9-4 (2-1 Big 12), but with an RQS of 196.465 to lead the conference. Their most recent competition was a second place finish at No. 4 Alabama, where the Sooners tallied a 196.525. Oklahoma ranks first in the conference on vault, bars and beam and second on floor. Junior Hollie Vise leads the Sooners on bars and beam. She is first in the conference on bars with an RQS of 9.87, and is third on beam behind a 9.89 RQS. Vise has been named Big 12 Event Specialist of the Week twice this year, and was picked for the All-Big 12 bars and beam teams this week. The Tigers last saw the Sooners at a quad meet in Norman, Okla. Mizzou placed second just behind OU after posting their third-highest score this year of 196.225.
No. 12 Nebraska
The Cornhuskers lead the league in most team conference titles -- eight in all. This year, they will be a strong contender for another one after an 11-4 year, including a perfect 4-0 record in the Big 12. Their high score came just this past weekend in a 196.75 first-place finish against Arizona State, Cal State Fullerton and Ball State in a quad meet in Tempe, Ariz, and they land themselves in the Top 15 with an RQS of 196.030. The Huskers lead the conference on floor with an RQS of 49.230. Senior standout Tricia Woo has been named Big 12 Event Specialist of the Week four times this year, including this week. She is third in the nation on the balance beam (first in the conference) and 13th on the floor (third in the Big 12). The Tigers last saw the Huskers on Jan. 23, when Nebraska topped Mizzou by a score of 195.75-194.75 in the Hearnes Center. Last year, they finished fourth as a team in the championship, posting a 194.975.
No. 24 Iowa State
The Cyclones are coming off a 1-10 (0-4 Big 12) season that fell short of their expectations. But don't discount Iowa State -- they have taken two team Big 12 titles all-time, and came just a tenth shy of taking the title last year after a similar 2008 campaign in which the squad went 3-15. They land at the No. 24 spot in the national rankings with an RQS of 195.130. This past weekend, the Cyclones dropped a very close meet to No. 20 West Virginia on Senior Night in Ames, 194.900-194.925. Senior all-arounder Jasmine Thompson is fifth in the conference, and was just named to the All Big 12 squad on the floor exercise with an RQS of 9.88. The Tigers last met the Cyclones on opening night of the 2009 season in a 195.050-193.175 Mizzou win over the host school. The total was the Tigers' second-highest opening night score all-time.
Rotations set for Big 12 Championships
The Tigers will start the night on the uneven bars and end on the vault next weekend, a rotation that Missouri is excited about. The squad posted their third-highest total of the year, 196.225, at Oklahoma -- the only other time this year they've competed in this order. Nebraska will follow Olympic order and start on vault, Oklahoma will start on beam and Iowa State on floor. From there, the events proceed in Olympic order (vault, bars, beam, floor).
How to catch the Big 12 action...
Live scoring will be linked to mutigers.com from the Iowa State athletics site, cyclones.com. A video highlight reel will be available after the meet on Big12Sports.com, and Fox Sports Net will air the championship meet on tape delay. The airing is TBD.
A quick recap of last year's Big 12 championship...
The No. 18 Missouri Gymnastics team tied its highest finish ever at the 2008 Big 12 Championships as they took home third place with a 195.225. No. 9 Oklahoma took home the title with a 195.875 while Iowa State finished second with a 195.775 with Nebraska placing fourth with a 194.975. Then-junior Adrianne Perry won the Big 12 title in the all-around as she tallied a 39.375. With the title, Perry becomes the first Tiger in program history to win the Big 12 title in the all-around and becomes the fourth Tiger to earn the title of "Big 12 Champion." Perry also earned that title on floor as well, finishing with a 9.900. Then-sophomore Sarah Shire collected the trophy for Big 12 Newcomer of the Year, while Perry and then-junior Alicia Hatcher each earned a spot on the Big 12 Championship bars team for the second consecutive season. Shire and Perry each earned a spot on the beam team while Perry finished first on floor.
Shire, Perry land on All-Big 12 teams
It's that time of year again, and the awards continue to roll in after a record-setting year for the Tigers. Junior Sarah Shire was named to the vault, bars and beam All-Big 12 teams to lead the conference. This is her second All-Big 12 selection; last year, she made the vault team. Senior Adrianne Perry was picked to the floor team, as she comes in at second in the conference with an RQS of 9.89 on the event. This is her third All-Big 12 selection, as she has made the vault team for the past two years. The top four Big 12 gymnasts with the highest regional qualifying score (RQS) in each event, excluding all-around, determine All-Conference honors.
Six Tigers named to Academic All-Big 12 teams
Missouri continues to lead the conference both in the gym and in the classroom. Seniors Adrianne Perry and Alicia Hatcher, juniors Brooke Boehmer and Becky Scholle, and sophomore Lauren Stephenson were named to the first team. In addition, sophomore Alex Gold was named to the second team. This is the third selection for Hatcher; she has been a first team pick in every year she has been eligible. This is also the second year for Perry, Boehmer and Scholle. First team members have recorded a 3.20 or better GPA, while the second team are those with a 3.00 to 3.19 GPA. To qualify student-athletes must maintain a 3.00 GPA or higher either cumulative or in the two previous semesters and have participated in 60 percent of her team's scheduled contests.
Shire finds another place in the record books
Junior Sarah Shire has contributed some of the Tigers' top scores this season, many of which cracked the Top 15 all-time. But she now claims the title in at least one category: most all-around wins in a season.Her nine titles in one year is the most all-time for Mizzou Gymnastics. The previous record was eight, held by senior Adrianne Perry in her 2006 freshman campaign.
Tigers snag best winning percentage all-time
While scores rule the roost in the sport of gymnastics, it doesn't hurt to win a few meets. The Tigers have done more than that this year -- their winning percentage of .889 is the best in 30 years of Tiger gymnastics. The former title belongs, not surprisingly, to the 1994 squad with an .833 after a 15-3 regular season.
Lucky No. 13
As noted last week, the Tigers had hit their highest score of the year on Friday, Feb. 13, posting a 196.625 to outdo No. 17 Illinois. Not missing a step, Mizzou put up their second highest score, a 196.425, last week, on Friday, March 13 to top No. 9 Oregon State.
Sarah Shire is six-time Gymnast of the Week
The junior was named the Big 12 Gymnast of the Week on March 18 by the conference office, the sixth time this year and fourth time in five weeks that Shire has claimed the honor. She now leads the Big 12 for most weekly awards garnered this season.
Shire's award comes after her ninth all-around crown of the year this past weekend at the Eagle Invitational in Ypsilanti, Mich. She took top honors by a score of 39.475, as well as the vault and bars title with a 9.825 and 9.9, respectively.
This is the third week in a row that Shire has stood as Gymnast of the Week -- she received the title two weeks after a career-high performance of 39.575 in her all-around win at the Cat Classic. She received the honor two weeks before after her performance at Beauty and the Beast, and was also Co-Big 12 Gymnast of the Week in January with Nebraska junior Kylie Stone. Shire won the award outright the week before. Senior Alicia Hatcher was also named Big 12 Event Specialist of the Week that week.
Shire has been one of the most dominating gymnasts in the conference this year. She has now won the top title in nine of ten meets this year, and has taken 18 individual event titles.
Tigers push record books on vault
Missouri is ranked 11th nationally on the event with an RQS of 49.155, second highest in the Big 12. The Tigers have now cracked the 49.000 mark on the event six times this year, including five meets in a row before last week. Mizzou's season high on the event came midway through the season when the Tigers posted a 49.250 against SEMO, the fifth highest score in program history and the highest since March 2007.
Missouri breaks out on bars
The Tiger squad added the uneven bars to their list of events where they've broken the 49.000 mark in the fourth week of the season -- but their best came just last week against Oregon State, when the Tigers hit a 49.150 to tie their season high set at Ohio State earlier this year. Leading the pack was junior Sarah Shire who tied her career and season high on the event with a 9.900 to take the title. Senior Alicia Hatcher and freshman Mary Burke paced the Tigers with a pair of 9.850's.
Tigers light up the floor
Choreographer Amy Smith and the Tiger squad have been working hard on floor routines, and it shows. Missouri is ranked No. 15 nationally on the floor with an RQS of 49.085. That's also good enough for third in the Big 12, just under two-tenths of a point behind first place Oklahoma. Contributing to that total in a big way have been senior Adrianne Perry and junior Sarah Shire. Perry is second in the Big 12 and 12th nationally (9.890 RQS) on the event, while Shire is ranked 39th (9.870 RQS) and eighth in the Big 12.
