Saturday, March 18
Jacksonville, Fla.
2 p.m. ET
University of Missouri
vs
SEC Championship
No. 14 @MizzouGym Heads to Jacksonville for SEC Championship
3/17/2017 8:21:00 AM | Gymnastics
| 2017 SEC GYMNASTICS CHAMPIONSHIP | |
| Date/Time | Saturday, March 18 | 2 p.m. ET |
| Location | Jacksonville, Fla. | Veteran's Memorial Arena |
| TV/Live Video | ESPNU | Mizzou-Only Stream |
| Live Results | SECSports.com |
| Meet Information | Championship Central | Mizzou Meet Notes |
COLUMBIA, Mo. - No. 14 Missouri gymnastics team opens postseason competition at the 2017 Southeastern Conference Gymnastics Championship on Saturday, March 18 at the Veteran's Memorial Arena in Jacksonville, Florida. The Tigers will compete in the afternoon session at 2 p.m. ET with No. 12 Kentucky, No. 21 Auburn and Arkansas, while No. 2 LSU, No. 4 Florida, No. 6 Alabama and No. 8 Georgia go in the evening session at 6 p.m. ET. The afternoon session will be televised live on ESPNU and the evening session on SEC Network.
TIGER TIDBITS
- The Tigers held moved up one spot to No. 14 in the national rankings this week
- Sophomore Britney Ward is tied for seventh nationally on beam (9.925 RQS) and tied for eighth on vault (9.915 RQS)
- Junior Kennedi Harris ranks tied for 15th nationally on floor with an RQS of 9.910
- Missouri picked up its third SEC dual meet win of the year on March 10 with a come-from-behind 197.150-196.925 win over No. 12 Kentucky
- The Tigers' 197.150 against the Wildcats marked the fourth-highest score in school history and the second meet in a row the team hit the 197 mark
- Mizzou erupted for a 49.500 on beam in the meet against Kentucky to break the program record on the event, besting the old mark of 49.325. Ward led the way for the Tigers on beam with a career-high 9.975, which tied the third-best individual score on the event in Mizzou history
- On March 3, Mizzou tallied the third-highest score in program history in a 197.200-195.350 win over No. 18 Auburn
- The 197.200 trails only the team record of 197.475 set at the Texas Women's Invite on March 12, 2004 and the 197.350 from the Cat Classic on Feb. 6, 2004
- Missouri went 49.375 on floor and 49.350 on bars to record scores of at least 49.325 on three events for only the second time in school history, joining the 2004 team which went 49.550 on floor, 49.400 on bars and 49.375 on vault at the Texas Women's Invite on March 12
- Aspen Tucker claimed SEC Freshman of the Week honors on March 7 after notching a career-best 39.450 in the all-around to take that title and tie for the vault title against Auburn
- On Feb. 24, the Tigers scored a 196.750, which stands as the second-best road tally in school history
- The Tigers scored a 49.175 or higher on all four events against the Gators to accomplish that feat for only the second time in program history. The squad also did in on Feb. 6, 2004 at the Cat Classic against BYU, Kentucky and Penn State
- 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
- Head Coach Shannon Welker is in his fourth season at the helm of the Tiger program. In his first three years, 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.
LAST TIME OUT
- Missouri earned a 197-150-196.925 come-from-behind win over No. 12 Kentucky on March 10
- The Tigers trailed the Wildcats by 0.250 after the second rotation but trimmed their deficit by 0.05 heading into the final event, making the comeback possible
- The score was the fourth-highest in program history and only the sixth time the team ever reached the 197 mark
- Mizzou's score also gave the Tigers a 197 for the second week in a row for only the second time in team history
- The win also gave Missouri three SEC wins on the season after entering 2017 with only one SEC dual meet win over the first four years in the conference
- Mizzou broke its beam record with a 49.500 on the event, one week after tying the then-record of 49.325
- Sophomore Britney Ward claimed her team-leading 11th and 12th event titles of the year as she won beam (9.975) and tied for the vault crown (9.9)
- Junior Becca Schugel won her second floor crown of the year with a career-high 9.925
- The Tigers set a number of personal-bests in the meet, including two Schugel and sophomore Brooke Kelly. Schugel went 9.925 on floor and 9.900 on beam, while Kelly earned a 9.925 on beam and 9.900 on bars
- Ward tied the third-higest score in Mizzou history with a 9.975 on beam, also a career-best for the sophomore
MISSOURI RANKED 14TH NATIONALLY
- Missouri is ranked 14th in this week's RoadToNational's national rankings, released on Monday, with an regional qualifying score (RQS) of 196.540
- The Tigers have stayed in the top 15 in all eight 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), 14th (March 10) and 15th (Feb. 13, Feb. 27 and March 6)
- Mizzou entered the season at No. 19 in the preseason rankings
- In addition to its total team ranking, Missouri is 11th nationally on vault, 17th on bars and floor and 18th on beam
TIGERS IN THE NATIONAL RANKINGS
- Two Tigers find themselves ranked in the top 25 individually
- Sophomore Britney Ward is ranked on two events, as she is tied for seventh nationally on beam (9.925 RQS) and tied for eighth on floor (9.915)
- Junior Kennedi Harris is tied for 15th on floor (9.910)
- 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 BREAKS BEAM RECORD
- Mizzou erupted for a 49.500 on beam against Kentucky on March 10 to break the team's record on the event
- The 49.500 smashed the old mark of 49.325, which was set four times, including one week prior on March 3
- The Tigers used three scores of 9.900 or higher to break the record, as Ward (9.975), Kelly (9.925) and Schugel (9.9) all set personal-highs on the event
- In addition to those three scores, the Tigers also used 9.850s from sophomore Allison Bower and freshman Aspen Tucker to tally the 49.500
MISSOURI CLAIMS THREE SEC WINS IN 2017
- The Tigers posted a 3-4 SEC record in 2017, triple the number of SEC dual wins the team had entering the season
- Missouri entered the SEC for the 2013 season and went winless in league competition in 2013, 2014 and 2015
- A 195.800-195.350 win over No. 9 Georgia on Jan. 22, 2016 marked the team's first-ever conference victory
- This season, Mizzou picked up wins over Kentucky (197.150-196.925), Auburn (197.200-195.350) and Arkansas (195.850-193.950)
- The victory over Arkansas also marked Missouri's first-ever SEC road dual win
TIGERS GO 197 IN CONSECUTIVE WEEKS
- Mizzou's 197.150-196.925 win over No. 12 Kentucky on March 10 marked the second week in a row the team broke the 197 mark after a 197.200 against No. 18 Auburn on March 3
- Prior to the two meets, Missouri last scored a 197 on March 12, 2004, 15 years ago
- The 2004 team put up four scores over 197, making the Tigers' 197.200 and 197.150 only the fifth and sixth times in school history to squad scored a 197
WARD CONTINUES TO SHINE
- Sophomore Britney Ward continues her strong season as Mizzou's most consistent Tiger
- She leads the Tigers with 12 event wins on the year, with six apiece on vault and beam
- Ward owns 13 of Missouri's 34 9.9 scores so far this season
- Thirteen of her 28 routines on the year have earned at least a 9.9, while 22 have gone 9.8 or better
- She also ranks tied for seventh nationally on beam with an RQS of 9.925 and tied for eighth nationally on vault with an RQS of 9.915
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, 20 of her 22 routines have gone for at least a 9.8
- Additionally, Harris is second on the team with nine scores of 9.9 or higher, with eight such scores on floor and one on vault
- She has earned a 9.9 or better on floor in eight of the last nine meets, with a career-high 9.950 against Auburn, 9.925s at Florida and the State of Missouri Meet and 9.9s against Alabama, Georgia, LSU, at the Mardi Gras Invitational and against Kentucky
- The junior is tied for 15th nationally on floor with an RQS of 9.910
WARD ADDS TO HER EVENT TITLE HAUL
- Sophomore Britney Ward won her 11th and 12th event titles of the season on March 10
- She tallied a career-high 9.975 on beam and scored a 9.9 on vault to win those titles
- Her wins upped her season totals to six titles on vault and six on beam
- Last season, Ward won a total of 12 titles during her freshman campaign, with six apiece on vault and beam
Players Mentioned
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