Friday, February 24
Gainesville, Fla.
6 p.m. CT
University of Missouri
at
Florida
No. 13 @MizzouGym Set For Road Test at No. 3 Florida
2/23/2017 9:59:00 AM | Gymnastics
| No. 13 Missouri (8-6) MEET DAY - Friday, Feb. 24 | ||||
| OPPONENT | LOCATION | DATE | TIME | MEDIA |
| No. 3 Florida | Gainesville, Fla. | Feb. 24 | 7 p.m. ET (6 p.m. CT) | SEC Network Live Stats |
COLUMBIA, Mo. - The No. 13 Missouri returns hits the road this weekend as the Tigers travel to Gainesville, Florida, to face No. 3 Florida on Friday, Feb. 24 at 7 p.m. ET (6 p.m. CT). The meet will be televised live on SEC Network with John Roethlisberger, Courtney Kupets Carter and Lauren Sisler on the call.
- Mizzou is ranked No. 13 in this week's RoadToNational's rankings, the first based on regional qualifying score
- Missouri also ranks seventh nationally on vault, tied for 12th on floor, 17th on beam and 20th on bars
- Sophomore Britney Ward ranks in the top 10 nationally on two different events. She is tied for ninth on vault with an RQS of 9.895 and tied for 10th on beam with an RQS of 9.880
- Junior Kennedi Harris also ranks in the top 10 on floor, as she's tied for 10th on floor with an RQS of 9.895
- Additionally, freshman Aspen Tucker is tied for 21st on vault (9.850) and tied for 24th in the all-around (39.000)
- The Tigers tallied a season-high 196.350 at the QymQuarters Mardi Gras Invitational on Feb. 17
- At the Mardi Gras Invitational, Missouri placed fourth behind No. 1 Oklahoma (198.350), No. 2 LSU (197.700) and No. 10 Georgia (196.975)
- Missouri had three scores of 196 or higher in its first five meets of the season for only the second time in program history. The 2004 squad is the only other team to accomplish the feat
- Mizzou earned a 195.850-193.950 win over then-No. 12 Arkansas on Jan. 13 and scored a 196.225 in wins over Lindenwood and Southeast Missouri on Jan. 15
- The Tigers' win over the Razorbacks marked the team's first SEC road victory in program history
- 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
- Mizzou's 2017 slate was ranked the fourth-toughest in the country entering the season, behind only SEC foes Georgia, Auburn and Alabama
- 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 scored a season-high 196.350 in the GymQuarters Mardi Gras Invitational on Feb. 17
- The Tigers finished fourth in the team standings behind No. 1 Oklahoma (198.350), No. 2 LSU (197.700) and No. 10 Georgia (196.975)
- Missouri went 49.200 on vault to record the seventh-consecutive vault tally of at least 49.050
- The 196.350 marked the fourth time this season the Tigers posted a team score or 196.075 or higher.
- Freshman Aspen Tucker tallied a career-best 9.925 on vault to post Mizzou's top individual score of the meet
UP NEXT
- The Tigers host No. 14 Auburn on Friday, March 3 at the Hearnes Center
MISSOURI RANKED 13TH NATIONALLY
- Missouri is ranked 13th in this week's RoadToNational's national rankings, released on Monday
- This week's rankings are the first based on regional qualifying score
- The Tigers have stayed in the top 15 in all sseven in-season rankings, as they checked in at sixth (Jan. 9), eighth (Jan. 16), 11th (Jan. 23 and Jan. 30), 13th (Feb. 6 and Feb. 20) and 15th (Feb. 13)
- Mizzou entered the season at No. 19 in the preseason rankings
- In addition to its total team ranking, Missouri also ranks seventh nationally on vault, tied for 12th on floor, 17th on beam and 20th on bars
TIGERS IN THE NATIONAL RANKINGS
- Three different Tigers find themselves ranked in the top 10 individually, including three in the top 10
- Sophomore Britney Ward is ranked on two events, as she checks in at tied for ninth nationally on vault (9.895 RQS) and tied for 10th on beam (9.880)
- Junior Kennedi Harris is tied for 10th on floor (9.895)
- Additionally, freshman Aspen Tucker is tied for 21st on vault (9.850) and tied for 24th in the all-around (39.000)
- The top eight gymnasts nationally earn NACGC/W Regular Season All-America first team honors, while the ninth-16th ranked gymnasts claim second team accolades
- Ward claimed NACGC/W Regular Season All-America second team honors on beam as a freshman in 2016
MIZZOU NOTCHES SEASON-HIGH SCORE AT MARDI GRAS INVITATIONAL
- The Tigers scored a season-best 196.350 at the GymQuarters Mardi Gras Invitational on Feb. 17 in St. Charles, Mo.
- The score marked Mizzou's fourth team total of 196 this season, as the team scored 196.225s on Jan. 6 and Jan. 15 and went 196.075 on Jan. 27
- Missouri's 196.350 was also the team's highest score since the squad scored a 196.625 at Auburn on Feb. 26, 2016
- The Tigers used event totals of 49.200 on vault, 49.100 on bars and beam and 48.950 on floor for the 196.350
WARD CONTINUES TO SHINE
- Sophomore Britney Ward continues her strong season as Mizzou's most consistent Tiger
- She leads the Tigers with seven event wins on the year, with four on vault and three on beam
- Ward owns seven of Missouri's 16 9.9 scores so far this season
- Seven of her 19 routines on the year have earned at least a 9.9, while 15 have gone 9.8 or better
- She is also tied for ninth nationally on vault with an RQS of 9.895 and tied for 10th nationally on beam with an RQS of 9.880
- In addition to her prowess on vault and beam, Ward entered the bars lineup at Georgia (Jan. 27) for the first time in her career and recently scored a career-high 9.850 at the Mardi Gras Invitational on Feb. 17
TIGERS VAULTING UP A STORM
- The Tigers rank seventh nationally on vault with an RQS of 49.180 and own an average score of 49.144
- So far this year, Missouri has scored at least a 49.050 in seven of eight meets, including the last seven in a row
- Mizzou started the trend with a 49.225 at Arkansas on Jan. 13, set a program-record 49.425 in the State of Missouri
- Meet on Jan. 15, went 49.225 against Alabama on Jan. 20, scored a 49.125 at both Georgia and LSU, had a 49.050 in their quad meet against George Washington, Iowa State and Lindenwood and went 49.200 at the Mardi Gras Invitational
- Sophomore Britney Ward leads the Tigers and is tied for ninth nationally with an RQS of 9.895
- Ward has four scores of 9.925 or better so far this season, as she went 9.950 against Alabama and posted 9.925s
- at Arkansas and LSU and against George Washington, Iowa State and Lindenwood
HARRIS STEADY AS THEY COME
- Junior Kennedi Harris has been solid as a rock so far in 2017
- In the vault and floor lineups every meet this season, 14 of her 16 routines have gone for at least a 9.8
- Additionally, Harris is second on the team with six scores of 9.9 or higher, with five such scores on floor and one on vault
- She has earned a 9.9 or better in five of the last six meets, with a 9.925 at the State of Missouri Meet and 9.9s against Alabama, Georgia, LSU and at the Mardi Gras Invitational
- The junior is tied for 10th nationally on floor with an RQS of 9.895
Players Mentioned
Inside Mizzou Athletics - High Marks with Mizzou Gym's Shannon Welker
Friday, April 04
Gymnastics Cinematic vs. Kentucky
Thursday, February 09
Amari Celestine Signing Day Highlights
Wednesday, November 11
Grace Anne Davis Signing Day Highlights
Wednesday, November 11
