Jan. 21, 2010
COLUMBIA, Mo. - The No. 13 Missouri Tigers (4-0) return home to the Hearnes Center after a big win in Las Vegas last weekend to take on No. 17 Iowa State (1-1). However, don't expect to see the Tigers in black and gold Friday, they will be sporting pink. The meet marks the sixth installment of the Pink Out that supports breast cancer awareness and research.
"We are excited about Pink Out," Missouri Head Coach Rob Drass said. "It's one of the ways our team gives back to the community. We give back a lot of ways but this is probably the most public. Anything we can do to recognize and honor different people, we are always willing to do."
The meet is also the beginning of conference competition as Iowa State is the first Big 12 opponent the Tigers will face this season. The Cyclones are looking to rebound after dropping a close contest to No. 6 Utah last week. The last time Iowa State took a win against Missouri in the regular season was 2007.
"I think the beginning of our season has been pretty jam packed with almost every team being in the top 20," Drass said. "With Iowa State we are expecting more of what we have seen so far. They are good, quality competition. We are going to get their best shot on Friday and I think it will be a good close meet. It just comes down to who hits more routines and who sticks more landings."
The Tigers also saw a close meet last weekend against No. 12 Kentucky, No. 16 LSU and Arizona State. The meet came down to the last rotation, where Missouri trailed LSU by four tenths of a point. The Tigers rallied and posted a 49.200 on bars, with huge scores of 9.950 and 9.925 from senior All-American Sarah Shire (Columbia, Mo.) and sophomore Mary Burke (Inverness, Ill.), to take the advantage with a 195.625.
"I thought we had a good solid meet," Drass said. "There are always things we did better than the week before and always things to work on. Beam was better, vault was better and bars were better last week, but I though floor wasn't quite as good. We want to get a top to bottom performance from start to finish and put up a good one for the home crowd."
The home crowd, which is always important to the Tigers, will be relied upon to help raise money for breast cancer research as well. One dollar of every ticket sold will go to the Ellis Fischel Cancer Center of Columbia. All fans are encouraged to wear pink and the first 500 people through the doors will receive a free Pink Out t-shirt. The meet gets underway at 6:30 p.m.
Stay tuned to mutigers.com for all the latest news and information on Missouri gymnastics.
News and Notes
Scouting No. 17 Iowa State (1-1)
The No. 17 Iowa State Cyclones are looking to rebound after a close loss at No. 6 Utah last week. Despite being hit hard by injuries that caused the loss of three experienced seniors and one junior, the Cyclones have averaged a 194.325 in their first two meets to rank in the top 25 on all four events. Sophomore Michelle Browning has really come on strong in the first part of the season as one of the team's all-around competitors. The Houston native received a 39.125 overall against Utah and is tied for No. 25 nationally in the all-around. Keep an eye out for senior Ashley Kent on beam as she is ranked No. 17 in the nation on the event after posting a 9.825 two weeks in a row. Missouri and Iowa State have a long history in gymnastics. The two teams have been competing against each other since 1980. Missouri leads the all-time series 45-39.
Pink Out history
The 2010 Pink Out meet marks the sixth in the series history. The first Pink Out meet was held on Jan. 21, 2005, when Missouri beat Centenary College of Louisiana 191.275-188.225. Last year, the Hearnes Center saw its largest Pink Out crowd (fourth largest non-Cat Classic crowd) as 3,459 pink-wearing fans came to watch the Tigers. The meet raised over $1,000 for the Ellis Fischel Cancer Center. Overall, Missouri is 4-1 in the Pink Out meet.
Tigers 4-0 for first time since…
The Missouri gymnastics team is 4-0 for the first time since 1992. It also happens to be the last time Missouri won a meet against LSU. The 1992 Tigers finished the season 15-7 and won the program's only conference championship (Big Eight).
Missouri claims Big 12 Gymanst of the Week for second straight week
The Big 12 Conference named senior All-American Sarah Shire the Big 12 Gymnast of the Week on Jan. 19. This is the eighth time Shire has earned the weekly conference award in her collegiate career. Shire led Missouri (4-0) to a 195.625 win over then No. 14 Kentucky, No. 16 LSU and Arizona State at the Lady Luck Invitational in Las Vegas. She tied for the bars (9.950) and beam (9.900) titles while finishing second in the all-around (39.400). Shire's 9.950 on bars set a new career high and tied the Missouri record for the highest all-time score on the event. Shire, the reigning Big 12 Gymnast of the year, is currently tied for second nationally on beam. This is the second time in as many weeks that a Missouri gymnast has been named Big 12 Gymnast of the Week. Sophomore Mary Burke earned the award for the first time in her career after the first week of competition.
Hello record books
Sarah Shire made history at the Lady Luck Invitational with her bars score. Her 9.950 tied her for the all-time individual record on the event. Shire now owns that record along with All-American Alisha Robinson who posted the score twice (once in 2004 and 2005) and 2006 Big 12 Female Sportsperson of the Year Jodie Heinicka who was the first Missouri gymnast to achieve the mark in early 2004.
Tigers climbing up the rankings
Missouri has steadily climbed up the rankings since their preseason post at No. 16. After the first two meets of the season, the Tigers are No. 13 after moving up from No. 15 last week. They are ranked in the top 20 on all four apparatuses – No. 13 on vault, No. 7 on bars, No. 12 on beam and No. 20 on floor. A great conference season is shaping up in the Big 12 as all four teams have moved inside the top 20. Oklahoma remained at No. 2 in this week's rankings, Nebraska fell back a few spots from No. 3 to No. 9 and Iowa State moved up from No. 21 to No. 17. Mary Burke and Sarah Shire already rank close to the top in the national rankings as well. Burke is ranked seventh in the all-around after her career-high performance of a 39.225 in Las Vegas. She also is tied for seventh on bars with her career-high 9.925 last weekend. Shire is tied for second on beam after posting a 9.900 to win her second beam title of the season.
Howard steps it up
Freshman Tori Howard was only planning to vault as an exhibitionist at the Lady Luck Invitational last week. However, a change in the lineup occurred before the rotation began and Howard found herself in the second spot. She sprinted down the runway and put up a huge vault for the Tigers that earned her a 9.825 and paved the way for teammate Alex Gold's 9.850. Howard is tied for 39th nationally on the event with just that one vault to her name.