Friday, January 20
Columbia, Mo.
7:30 p.m. CT
University of Missouri
vs
Alabama
No. 8 @MizzouGym Hosts No. 4 Alabama Friday in Annual Pink Out
1/19/2017 1:20:00 PM | Gymnastics
| No. 8 Missouri (5-0) MEET DAY - Friday, Jan. 20 | ||||
| OPPONENT | LOCATION | DATE | TIME | MEDIA |
| No. 4 Alabama | Hearnes Center | Jan. 20 | 7:30 p.m. | SEC Network Live Stats |
COLUMBIA, Mo. - The No. 8 Missouri gymnastics team returns home to host No. 4 Alabama on Friday, Jan. 20 at 7:30 p.m. CT in the annual Pink Out meet. The first 500 fans will receive pink t-shirts and the first 250 fans will receive the first set of Mizzou gymnastics trading cards. The meet will be televised live on SEC Network with Holly Rowe, Courtney Kupets Carter and Lauren Sisler calling the action.
- Mizzou is ranked No. 8 in this week's RoadToNational's rankings after two meets last weekend
- The Tigers also rank sixth nationally on vault, ninth on floor, 11th on bars and 14th on beam
- Missouri earned three victories in two meets last weekend, as the Tigers defeated No. 12 Arkansas, 195.850-193.950, on Jan. 13 and scored a 196.225 on Jan. 15 to defeat Lindenwood (193.400) and Southeast Missouri (190.650) in the State of Missouri Meet
- The Tigers' win over the Razorbacks marked the team's first SEC road victory in program history
- Missouri's 195.850 at Arkansas also stands as the second-highest opening road score in program history, trailing only the 196.050 recorded at New Hampshire in 2004.
- Mizzou broke the program vault record against Lindenwood and Southeast Missouri with a team total of 49.425, besting the old high of 49.375 set in 2004
- The Tigers opened the 2017 season with a score of 196.225 and wins over then-No. 24 Illinois (194.200) and Ball State (193.625) on Jan. 6. Missouri's score stands as the highest opening-meet score in Tiger history, besting the old high of 195.350 set in 2016 and 2004
- For only the second time in program history, Missouri has two scores of 196 or higher in its first three meets of the season. The 2004 squad was the only other team to accomplish the feat
- The Tigers posted a total of five scores of 9.900 or high in their two meets last weekend after only one such score in the season opener
- Mizzou's 2017 slate is ranked the fourth-toughest in the country entering the season, behind only SEC foes Georgia, Auburn and Alabama
- The 2017 regular season schedule features 12 matchups with 10 teams ranked in the top 25, Additionally, every single home meet will feature at least one opponent ranked in the preseason top 25
- Missouri returned every single routine from the 2016 season. Last year, the freshman class led the way with 181 total routines, followed by the sophomore class with 108 and the junior class with 23.
- Head Coach Shannon Welker enters his fourth season at the helm of the Tiger program. In his first three years in Columbia, Welker has Mizzou back in the national spotlight. In 2016, the Tigers posted their highest NCAA Regional finish (third) since 2010 and finished the season ranked 19th nationally, ahead of Southeastern Conference foes Arkansas and Kentucky. Additionally, Missouri recorded three scores of at least 196.625 or higher during the year in 2016, only the second time Mizzou accomplished that in the 37 year history of the program.
LAST TIME OUT
- Missouri earned three victories in two meets last weekend, as the Tigers defeated No. 12 Arkansas, 195.850-193.950, on Jan. 13 and scored a 196.225 on Jan. 15 to defeat Lindenwood (193.400) and Southeast Missouri (190.650) in the State of Missouri Meet
- The Tigers' win over the Razorbacks marked the team's first SEC road victory in program history
- Against Arkansas, sophomore Morgan Porter claimed the all-around (39.175), bars (9.825) and floor (9.875) titles, while classmate Britney Ward earned top honors on vault with a career-best-tying 9.925
- Porter took home three more wins against Lindenwood and Southeast Missouri on Sunday, with wins in the all-around (39.250), vault (9.950) and bars (9.875)
- Ward claimed the beam title (9.925) and junior Kennedi Harris won floor (9.925) at the State of Missouri Meet as well
- Mizzou broke the program vault record against Lindenwood and Southeast Missouri with a team total of 49.425, besting the old high of 49.375 set in 2004
UP NEXT
- The Tigers travel to Athens, Georgia, to face No. 16 Georgia on Friday, Jan. 27 at 7 p.m. ET (6 p.m. CT)
MISSOURI RANKED EIGHTH NATIONALLY
- Missouri clocks in at No. 8 in the second in-season RoadToNational's national rankings, released on Monday
- The No. 8 ranking is one week after the Tigers earned the highest ranking in program history at No. 6
- The Tigers are one of only four teams (Georgia, Iowa and N.C. State) in the top-25 with three meets under their belt
- Mizzou entered the season at No. 19 in the preseason rankings
- In addition to its total team ranking, Missouri also ranks tied for sixth nationally on vault, ninth on floor, 11th on bars and 14th on beam
MIZZOU OWNS NATION'S FOURTH-TOUGHEST SCHEDULE
- Heading into the season, the Tigers' schedule was rated the fourth-toughest in the nation
- The strength of schedule was calculated by reverse assigning points to each team based on their final 2016 final ranking (example: No. 1 Oklahoma is worth 82 points, No. 2 LSU 81 points, etc.). Additionally, only the highest-ranked team at each meet is used to assign points for that particular meet
- Every single home meet features at least one opponent ranked in the preseason top 25
- Missouri's schedule ranks behind only Southeastern Conference foes Georgia, Auburn and Alabama
LOOKING AT THE OPPONENT...ALABAMA
- The Crimson Tide are ranked fourth in the national rankings for the second week in a row
- The team also ranks fourth nationally on beam and floor, fifth on bars and seventh on vault
- Alabama has scores of 197.100 and 196.700 on the young season
- Kiana Winston ranks fifth in the country in the all-around with an average of 39.550, while also ranking tied for third on bars and sixth on beam
- Head Coach Dana Duckworth is in her third season as at the helm of the Crimson Tide
MISSOURI BREAKS SCHOOL VAULT RECORD
- Missouri's State of Missouri Meet win against host Lindenwood and Southeast Missouri on Jan. 15 was highlighted by a new program record for the Tigers
- The squad closed the meet with a 49.425 on vault, the highest output on the event in program history
- Mizzou bested the old mark of 49.375, which was set at the Texas Women's Invite on March 12, 2004
- The Tigers only used five gymnasts to notch the 49.425, led by a career-best 9.950 (out of 9.950) by sophomore Morgan Porter
- Other Tiger scores included a 9.900 from junior Kennedi Harris, 9.875 from freshman Aspen Tucker and 9.850s from senior Angie Kern and sophomore Madeleine Huber
MIZZOU NOTCHES FIRST SEC ROAD WIN IN TEAM HISTORY
- Mizzou's 195.850-193.950 win over then-No. 12 Arkansas on Jan. 13 marked the program's first-ever Southeastern Conference dual meet road win
- Last season, the Tigers earned the first SEC dual win in team history when the squad defeated then-No. 9 Georgia, 195.850-195.350
- This season also marks the first time Missouri started an SEC season 1-0
TIGERS HIT 196 MARK TWICE IN FIRST THREE MEETS
- The Tigers have reached the 196 mark two times in the first three meets of the season for only the second time in program history
- The only other team to accomplish the feat was the 2004 squad, which tallied scores of 196.050 and 196.500 in the second and third meets of the year
- Missouri posted identical scores of 196.225 in the first and third meets of 2017, as the team defeated then-No. 24 Illinois and Ball State on Jan. 6 and Lindenwood and Southeast Missouri on Jan. 15
9.9 SCORES STARTING TO PILE UP
- After tallying only one score of 9.9 or higher in the first meet of the season, the Tigers responded with a total of five such scores in two meets last weekend
- Sophomore Britney Ward had two of those 9.9s, as she tied her vault career-high with a 9.925 against Arkansas and went 9.925 on beam (also a career-tying tally) in the State of Missouri Meet.
- Junior Kennedi Harris also notched two such scores, as she twice tied career-bests with a 9.925 on floor and a 9.900 on vault in the State of Missouri Meet
- Additionally, sophomore Morgan Porter notchd a career-high 9.950 on vault in the State of the Missouri Meet. Porter's score is also tied as the fourth-highest score on the event in program history
- Missouri's only 9.9 score in the opening meet of the season was a 9.925 on bars from sophomore Madeleine Huber
TIGERS OPEN SEASON IN RECORD-SETTING FASHION
- Mizzou opened the 2017 season in incredible fashion on Jan. 6 as the Tigers posted a score of 196.225 to earn wins over then-No. 24 Illinois (194.200) and Ball State (193.625)
- Missouri's score was the highest opening meet score in program history by almost a full point, as the previous best was 195.350, accomplished in both 2016 and 2004
- The Tigers were one of only six teams nationally to post a score over 196 in the first week of the season
- On individual events, Mizzou posted tallies of 49.200 on bars, 49.175 on beam, 49.075 on floor and 48.750 on vault
Players Mentioned
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