Saturday, January 4
Columbia, Mo.
4 p.m. CT
University of Missouri
vs
Illinois
No. 16 Gymnastics Opens 2020 Campaign Saturday
1/2/2020 3:29:00 PM | Gymnastics
| No. 16 Mizzou vs. Illinois, SEMO | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| OPPONENT | DAY | TIME | LOCATION | TV | STATS | GAME NOTES | |
| Illinois, SEMO | Saturday, Jan. 4 | 4 p.m. CT | Hearnes Center | SEC Network + | Stats | Mizzou | |
MIZZOU STORYLINES
- The No. 16 Mizzou gymnastics team opens the 2020 campaign on Saturday, Jan. 4 as the team hosts Illinois and Southeast Missouri State at 4 p.m. CT at the Hearnes Center. The meet will be broadcast live on SEC Network + with Ben Arnet and former Tiger Briana Stephens on the call.
- Mizzou enters the season ranked 16th in the Women's Collegiate Gymnastics Association (WGCA) preseason poll. It is the highest preseason ranking for the Tigers since the 2011 season, when they were chosen 13th, and the fourth-consecutive year the squad was selected in the top 20.
- The Tigers concluded the 2019 season ranked No. 17 in the nation, which tied the program's best finish since 2010.
- The 2019 season saw the Tigers record four wins over top 25 opponents, including a home victory over No. 10 Kentucky.
- Missouri ended the 2019 campaign with a 196.625 in the second round of the NCAA Athens Regional. The 196.625 bettered Mizzou's previous regional record of 196.500, set at the 2010 NCAA Columbia Regional. The team closed the meet with a 49.200 on beam, a program best as well.
- Mizzou is in the midst of a 14-meet stretch with a team score of 49 or higher on floor. The span dates back to the 2018 NCAA Regional and is a program record, double the old mark of seven-straight meets from Feb. 19-April 10, 2010.
- The 2020 regular season features 12 matchups with 13 teams ranked in the top 25, including five meets against top 10 opponents. Overall, Mizzou faces off against No. 2 LSU, No. 3 Florida, No. 8 Georgia, No. 10 Alabama, No. 12 Kentucky, No. 13 Auburn, No. 14 Minnesota, No. 15 Nebraska, No. 19 Arkansas, No. 20 Iowa State and No. 24 Ohio State. The Tigers actually take on LSU twice during the regular season.
- Mizzou returns seven gymnasts from last year's team and welcomes eight newcomers to the roster.
- The Tigers are 21-11 all-time against Illinois, including an 18-7 edge in the regular season, and own a 33-6 regular season record against Southeast Missouri State.
- Head Coach Shannon Welker is in his seventh season at the helm of the Tigers. Last season, Mizzou knocked off four top 25 teams, including a win over No. 10 Kentucky and a tie with No. 7 Michigan. The Tigers also recorded the second-highest beam score in program history (49.425), the sixth (49.425) and seventh (49.400) best floor scores and the ninth-best vault total (49.275) over the course of the campaign.
LAST TIME OUT
- The Mizzou gymnastics team gave fans a glimpse of the 2020 season at the Black & Gold meet on Dec. 1.
- The Tigers opened the exhibition strong on vault. Senior Aspen Tucker and freshman Helen Hu both nailed their Yurchenko fulls for 9.85s, while redshirt senior Morgan Porter debuted her Yurchenko 1.5 and earned a 9.8. Freshman Sienna Schreiber added a 9.75.
- Hu led the way for Mizzou on bars, as she scored a team-best 9.875 to anchor the event. Sophomore Alisa Sheremeta went 9.775, and Porter and junior Chelsey Christensen both posted tallies of 9.75.
- On beam in the third rotation, junior Gabrielle Gottula hit her set for a 9.875 to pace the Tigers. Porter, Schreiber and senior Mary Nicholson all scored 9.8s, sophomore Hannah McCrary posted a 9.775 and Tucker added a 9.725.
- Six different Tigers scored 9.8 or better on floor to close out the meet, including a 9.925 from Porter. McCrary and Sheremeta were stellar as well with identical scores of 9.875, while Hu and Tucker both posted 9.85s. Schreiber earned a 9.8 and Nicholson rounded out the floor rotation with a 9.75 in the leadoff position.
UP NEXT
- Mizzou travels to Lexington, Ky., to face No. 12 Kentucky on Friday, Jan. 10 at 5 p.m. CT. The meet will be televised live on SEC Network.
MISSOURI RANKED 16TH IN WCGA PRESEASON POLL
- The Mizzou gymnastics team enters the 2020 season ranked No. 16 in the Women's Collegiate Gymnastics Association 2020 preseason poll.
- It is the highest preseason ranking for the Tigers since the 2011 season, when they were chosen 13th.
- 2020 also marks the fourth-consecutive year the squad was selected in the top 20.
- Missouri concluded the 2019 campaign ranked 17th in the final poll
MIZZOU'S 2020 SCHEDULE RANKED NATION'S FIFTH-TOUGHEST
- Heading into the season, the Tigers' schedule is rated fifth-toughest in the nation by RoadtoNationals.com
- The strength of schedule was calculated by reverse assigning points to each team based on their final 2019 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.
- The 2020 regular season features 12 matchups with 13 teams ranked in the top 25, including five meets against top 10 opponents.
- Overall, Mizzou faces off against No. 2 LSU, No. 3 Florida, No. 8 Georgia, No. 10 Alabama, No. 12 Kentucky, No. 13 Auburn, No. 14 Minnesota, No. 15 Nebraska, No. 19
- Arkansas, No. 20 Iowa State and No. 24 Ohio State.
- The Tigers actually take on LSU twice during the regular season.
- Missouri's schedule ranks behind only Arizona, Arkansas, Arizona State and LSU
2019 AT A GLANCE
- The Tigers concluded the 2019 season ranked 17th in the nation, which tied the team's highest final ranking since 2010
- The squad scored a program-record regional score of 196.625 in the NCAA Athens Regional second round to close out the season
- 2019 senior Brooke Kelly earned an individual bid on beam to the NCAA Championships to become only the 10th Tiger to earn a individual berth.
- Mizzou knocked off four top 25 teams, including a win over No. 10 Kentucky and a tie with No. 7 Michigan.
- The Tigers also recorded the second-highest beam score in program history (49.425), the sixth (49.425) and seventh (49.400) best floor scores and the ninth-best vault total (49.275) over the course of the campaign.
- Mizzou also recorded two wins in Southeastern Conference action, against No. 10 Arkansas and No. 21 Arkansas.
FLOOR A STRONG POINT IN 2019
- The Tigers were one of only five teams to score at least 49 on floor in every meet in 2019.
- Mizzou joined UCLA, Florida, Utah and Oregon State as the only programs to reach the 49 mark on floor in every meet
- Mizzou had a season-best 49.425 in a home quad meet against No. 7 Michigan, No. 9 Minnesota and Centenary on March 15.
- The squad also put up a 49.400 in a win over No. 10 Kentucky on March 1.
MIZZOU IN PROGRAM-RECORD FLOOR STRETCH
- The Tigers are also in the midst of a program-record 14 meet stretch with scores of 49 or higher.
- Missouri's floor span dates back to the NCAA Regional on April 7, 2018 and includes every meet of 2019.
- The 14-meet span is a program-long for the Tigers, surpassing the previous high of seven set from Feb. 19, 2010 until April 10, 2010.
TIGERS WITH FIVE NATIONALLY TELEVISED MEETS IN 2020
- Mizzou has five nationally televised meets in 2020.
- The lineup features four regular season meets and the 2020 SEC Championship.
- Mizzou's first televised meet of the season will be a road matchup at Kentucky on Friday, Jan. 10 at 5 p.m. CT on the SEC Network. The Tigers return to the SEC Network the following week when they host Florida on Friday, Jan. 17 at 6 p.m. CT.
- On Friday, Jan. 31, Mizzou hosts Arkansas for 6 p.m. CT meet broadcast live on SEC Network. Missouri's last regular season meet scheduled for the SEC Network is an 8 p.m. CT home contest against LSU on Friday, Feb. 28.
- For the fifth consecutive year, the SEC Gymnastics Championship will be telecast live, with the 2020 edition airing exclusively on SEC Network. Coverage of the afternoon session starts at 2:30 p.m. CT with the evening session beginning at 7 p.m. CT.
MIZZOU ADDS TRANSFER ALISA SHEREMETA
- Sophomore Alisa Sheremeta, a 2019 USA Gymnastics All-American, transfered to Missouri from Illinois-Chicago in the offseason.
- Sheremeta earned USAG All-America first team honors on floor at the 2019 USA Gymnastics Women's Collegiate National Championships. She recorded a 9.875 in the floor event finals after identical scores of 9.9 on the event in both the USAG team semifinal and final.
- Overall as a freshman at UIC in 2019, Sheremeta competed 16 times on floor, 15 times on beam and 13 times on bars as she helped UIC place second in the USAG Team Finals and finish 37th in the final RoadtoNationals ranking, missing an NCAA Regional by a hundredth of a point. She qualified for NCAA Regionals as an individual on floor thanks to a 9.880 National Qualifying Score (NQS) in the regular season.
- Sheremeta claimed four event titles in 2019, with three on floor and one on beam. She also earned Midwest Independent Conference Newcomer of the Week honors four times in 2019.
- She scored 9.8 or better in 13 of 16 floor routines for UIC, including nine routines of 9.85 or higher. She went a career-best 9.9 on the event five times, including twice in the postseason. She also notched personal-highs of 9.85 on beam and 9.825 on bars in 2019.
THE 2020 SCHEDULE
- Mizzou's 2020 schedule includes five home meets and competitions against 11 teams that finished in the top 25 in 2019
- Additionally, the Tigers will have five matchups with programs that finished in the top 10 last season
- Mizzou's home schedule features meets with Southeastern Conference foes Arkansas, Florida and LSU and non-conference opponents Illinois, Michigan, Ohio State, Lindenwood and Southeast Missouri State.
EIGHT NEWCOMERS SET TO MAKE MIZZOU DEBUTS
- The Mizzou squad features eight newcomers, including seven freshmen, for the 2020 season.
- The newcomers include freshmen Kambrie Brandt (Adkins, Texas), Helen Hu (Chicago, Ill.), Adalayna Hufendiek (Columbia, Mo.), Grace Kaiding (Clarkston, Mich.), Anna McGee (Athens, Ga.), Hollyn Patrick (Lafayette, Colo.) and Sienna Schreiber (Cumming, Ga.).
- Hu is a four-time beam and two-time bars champion at J.O. Nationals
- Brandt just joined the Tigers this semester, as she signed with Missouri in November and enrolled early.
- In addition to the seven freshmen, Mizzou added Illinois-Chicago transfer Alisa Sheremeta, a sophomore.
SCOUTING THE OPPONENT...ILLINOIS
- The Fighting Illini enter 2020 ranked No. 27 in the Women's Collegiate Gymnastics Association preseason poll.
- Illinois concluded the 2019 season ranked 23rd with an NQS of 391.980 (196.175 regional score + 195.805 RQS)
- Last year, the Fighting Illini had average scores of 195.511 overall, 48.765 on vault, 48.904 on bars, 48.752 on beam and 48.973 on floor.
SCOUTING THE OPPONENT...SOUTHEAST MISSOURI STATE
- The Redhawks return 10 gymnasts from their 2019 squad, and add eight freshman and one transfer for this season.
- Last year, Southest Missouri State tallied a season-best 190.275 at the Midwest Independent Conference Championship.
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