March 26, 2010
LINCOLN, Neb. – A successful regular season has left the No. 14 Missouri Tigers (11-3) hungry for their first Big 12 Championship title. The Tigers will get their chance at the conference crown this Saturday, March 27 in Lincoln, Neb., against No. 2 Oklahoma (14-0), No. 12 Nebraska (15-3) and No. 16 Iowa State (7-7). Oklahoma is the two-time defending conference champion, while Nebraska is hoping to claim its ninth Big 12 title.
Reigning Big 12 All-Around Champion Sarah Shire (Columbia, Mo.) will look to defend her title and make it the third straight year a Tiger has won the conference all-around title. The senior All-American matched her record of nine regular-season all-around titles in one season against Centenary last Sunday with a 39.600 and could make it 23 for her career with a win Saturday. Sophomore Mary Burke (Inverness, Ill.) is currently ranked second in the Big 12 and will compete for the top of the podium as well.
Several yearly awards will be handed out after the championship meet. Shire is nominated for Big 12 Gymnast of the Year and could become the second gymnast in conference history to win the award twice. Freshman Lauren Swankoski (Chadds Ford, Pa.) is up for Big 12 Newcomer of the Year, an award that three Tigers (including Shire) have won previously. The All-Big 12 Championship teams will also be announced based on the results of the meet.
Stay tuned to mutigers.com for news and updates from the championship.
News and Notes
Scouting the Big 12 opponents...
No. 2 Oklahoma (14-0)
Oklahoma has accomplished the perfect regular season and at 14-0 the Sooners have scored no lower than 196.100 in their 11 meets this season. The highest score OU has accomplished this season was an impressive 197.950 in a win over No. 1 Alabama. Oklahoma senior's Jackie Flanery, Kristin Smith and Hollie Vise impress every week, but youngsters Megan Ferguson and Natasha Kelley have made an impact as well. The Sooners have competed any gymnast consistently in the all-around but an OU gymnast won Big 12 Specialist of the Week nine of the 11 weeks this season. When Oklahoma and Missouri competed in Columbia, Mo., on Feb. 19 the Sooners took the win, 197.050-195.500.
No. 12 Nebraska (15-3)
Just like Missouri, Nebraska has had its ups and downs throughout the season but has managed to stay a steady top-12 team. The team's high of 196.475 came on Feb. 12 in a quad meet against Illinois, Denver and Iowa. All-American Kylie Stone, who shared Big 12 Gymnast of the Year last year with Shire, has been limited to mostly vault and bars this season and hasn't competed since Feb. 20. The Huskers have relied on Erin Davis and Lora Evenstad for the high scores. Davis ranks first in the Big 12 on vault scored a perfect 10 on the event early in the season. Evenstad, the 2009 Big 12 Newcomer of the Year, ranks fourth in the conference on floor and holds a high of 9.925. The Tigers and the Huskers meet in Lincoln, Neb., early in the season on Jan. 30. Nebraska took the win 194.700-193.275.
No. 16 Iowa State (7-7)
Iowa State is coming off a win against Minnesota where they tied their season-high 196.225. The Cyclones went 0-3 in Big 12 Competition (all road meets) but was able to hang with all three teams. Iowa State kept the meet extremely close with Missouri on Jan. 22, as the Tigers only had a 147.000-146.950 lead over the Cyclones heading into the final rotation. Missouri held on to win 196.400-196.000. The Cyclones standout on the season has been Michelle Browning who was named Big 12 Gymnast of the Week twice this season. The sophomore holds a high of 39.350 in the all-around and 9.925 on floor.
Tigers remain 14th
The Tigers maintained their No. 14 ranking in the weekly GymInfo rankings released on March 22. Missouri has held the 14th spot for the past two weeks. The team ranks 15th on vault (third Big 12), 14th on bars (second Big 12), 16th on beam (fourth Big 12) and 15th on floor (third Big 12).
Burke, Shire named to All-Big 12 Team
The Big 12 Conference announced the 2010 All-Big 12 Gymnastics Team on March 25 and two Missouri gymnasts landed all-conference honors. Sarah Shire and Mary Burke earned themselves spots on the conference team as a credit to their success in the regular season. Shire and Burke, who rank first and second in the conference, respectively, were the only two gymnasts to earn all-conference honors in the all-around, making it a Missouri sweep in the category.
Shire highlighted the annual team, taking all-conference honors in all four events and in the all-around. It is the third time in as many years Shire has been named to the vault team, the second for bars and beam and the first time for floor. This is the first time since 2007 Big 12 has named an all-around team.
This is Burke's first time to appear on the regular-season list. She was named to the All-Big 12 Championship Team on vault after the 2009 championship meet. The Illinois native just missed out on earning all-conference honors on bars as she currently ranks fifth in the conference on the event. The 2010 All-Big 12 Gymnastics team includes the top four conference gymnasts with the highest regional qualifying score (RQS) in each event and the two all-around competitors. RQS figures are based off the final regular-season GymInfo rankings.
Six Tiger gymnasts earn academic honors
Missouri has been recognized by the Big 12 Conference for the accomplishments of six gymnasts outside the gym and in the classroom. Five Tigers have been named to the 2010 Academic All-Big 12 first team and one to the second team.
Seniors Brooke Boehmer (Overland Park, Kan.) and Becky Scholle (Chesterfield, Mo.), junior Alex Gold (Plano, Texas) and sophomores Mary Burke (Inverness, Ill.) and Allie Heizelman (Cypress, Texas) all received first team honors, while senior All-American Sarah Shire (Columbia, Mo.) was named to the second team.
This is third time in as many years that Boehmer and Scholle have been a first team selection and have earned the honor all three years eligible. Gold earned second team honors last year and her hard work in the classroom paid off as she improved to first team honors this year. This was the first year Burke and Heizelman have been eligible for selections and are setting the pace for the team's academic future. The selection also marked the first for Shire. Heizelman leads the team with a 3.75 GPA.
Don't forget about Miss Mary
Most of the focus on Missouri all-around competition this season has been on Sarah Shire, and deservedly so as Shire is the No. 1 ranked gymnast in the country. But hanging right behind her is Mary Burke who ranks 24th in the country and second in the Big 12. Burke has matched or replaced all her career highs this season and holds impressive scores of 9.925 on bars, 9.975 on floor and 39.375 in the all-around, and that's as just a sophomore. Burke is one of only two gymnasts that have taken the top all-around spot on the podium away from Shire this year. She won her first all-around title the first week of the season against Ohio State, which earned her Big 12 Gymnast of the Week. While Shire finishes out her impressive career in the next month, Burke is the sign of great things to come for Missouri gymnastics.
Shire six-time Gymnast of the Week
Sarah Shire won an impressive six Big 12 Gymnast of the Weeks honors this season that matched the amount she won throughout last season. Her six awards for the 2010 season leaves her with the most Gymnast of the Week honors in conference history with 13. Shire finished just short of the conference record for the most honors in one season that stands at seven. Nevertheless, Shire has not only stamped her name in Missouri history, but also in Big 12 Conference history, as one of the best ever.
Season Highlights
Vault
The Tigers highest vault score of the season came just last week against Centenary. The rotation started off with Becky Scholle tallying a 9.800 and the scores just went up from there culminating with a 9.900 from Sarah Shire. During the rotation, Alex Gold matched her season-high 9.850, while Missouri totaled 49.225 on the event. Vault is where Missouri holds its highest RQS (49.110) and its highest average (49.036).
Bars
Missouri's highest bars score came on the most exciting rotation of the season for the Tigers. It was the last event for Mizzou at the Lady Luck Invitational and the team trailed LSU by four tenths of a point, 146.825-146.425, going into the last rotation. The event started with Lauren Swankoski posting a 9.675, which was followed by strong scores from Danielle Guider and Allie Heizelman. The rotation picked up when Becky Scholle scored her season-high 9.825 that allowed for career highs from Mary Burke (9.925) and Sarah Shire (9.950). The team total of 49.200 tied the Missouri record as the 10th best score on the event in program history, while Shire's 9.950 tied the individual school record.
Beam
It took until the middle of the season for the Tigers to hit their stride on beam, but once they did the scores kept going up. The high came on Feb. 26 against Illinois State when Brooke Boehmer started the team off with a 9.725 that was followed with a 9.750 from Alex Gold. Those two gymnasts set the pace for three career highs from Danielle Guider, Mary Burke and Sarah Shire. Guider's 9.850 made it the second week in a row that she had set a new career high and Burke matched her career high with a 9.875. But of course it was Shire who performed a fantastic beam routine that gave her a career-high 9.950 that even scored a perfect 10 from one of the judges. The team score on the event totaled a 49.150, which tied the Missouri record books for the 12th best team beam score in history.
Floor
The floor rotation against Illinois State was one of Missouri's best rotations on any event the past few seasons. The Tigers had already previously set a season high at 49.400 on the event but had the capability to improve upon that mark. Alex Gold started the rotation earning a 9.825 that was followed by the same mark from Danielle Guider. Brittany Bendoff, who had only competed in the lineup once before, impressed the crowd with a 9.800. But it was the last three in the lineup that really impressed the judges and absolutely wowed the crowd. Lauren Swankoski scored a new career-high 9.900 that was followed by two almost flawless routines by Mary Burke and Sarah Shire. The two both scored 9.975 and were a perfect 10 in one judge's opinion. The team score of 49.500 on the event went into the record book as the fourth best floor score and the best ever in a dual-meet for the Tigers.
Team Total
After scoring their season high on beam (49.150) and floor (49.500), it was hard to not expect the team score to reflect that as well. The Feb. 26 team score of 196.875 was not just the team's highest score of the season but also the highest score Missouri has earned since 2004. The Tigers also earned 49+ on vault (49.150) and bars (49.075) to go along with the 13 new career highs that were set by six different gymnasts that night.