Friday, January 10
Lexington, Ky.
5 p.m. CT
University of Missouri
at
#10 Kentucky
No. 8 Gymnastics Opens SEC Competition Friday at No. 10 Kentucky
1/9/2020 3:25:00 PM | Gymnastics
| No. 8 Mizzou at No. 10 Kentucky | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| OPPONENT | DAY | TIME | LOCATION | TV | STATS | GAME NOTES | |
| No. 10 Kentucky | Friday, Jan. 10 | 5 p.m. CT | Lexington, Ky. | SEC Network | Stats | Mizzou | |
COLUMBIA, Mo. - The No. 8 Mizzou gymnastics team travels to Lexington, Ky., to face No. 10 Kentucky on Friday, Jan. 10 at 5 p.m. CT. The meet will be televised live on SEC Network with Sam Gore and Bridget Sloan on the call.
TIGER TIDBITS
- Mizzou moved up to No. 8 in the first in-season rankings of the regular season, up eight spots from the team's preseason ranking of No. 16.
- The Tigers also rank third on floor (49.350), tied for third on beam (49.200), tied for eighth on vault (48.900) and 20th on bars (48.150).
- Mizzou owns a 16-11 edge in the all-time series against Kentucky, including a 13-6 mark in the regular season.
- Missouri opened 2020 with a second-place showing in a tri-meet against Illinois and Southeast Missouri on Jan. 4. The Tigers scored a 195.600, just behind the Fighting Illini's 195.850 and ahead of SEMO's 191.275.
- Seniors Aspen Tucker and Morgan Porter and freshman Helen Hu all earned event titles in the season opener. Tucker won vault and tied for the bars crown, while Hu tied for first on beam and Porter tied for first on floor.
- Tucker and freshman Hu both received weekly honors from the Southeastern Conference for their performances in the season opener. Tucker took home SEC Specialist of the Week honors after winning the vault and bars titles and posting scores of 9.875 on floor and 9.825 on vault and bars. Hu was named the SEC Freshman of the Week after competing on three events and claiming top honors on beam with a 9.9.
- Mizzou's event scores of 49.350 on floor and 49.200 on beam on Jan. 4 mark the highest-ever for the team on the events in a season opener. Missouri's previous best season-opening floor score was 49.325 against Iowa State on Jan. 11, 2004, while the previous high on beam was 49.175 against Illinois and Ball State on Jan. 6, 2017.
- Mizzou is in the midst of a 15-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.
- Mizzou returns seven gymnasts from last year's team and welcomes eight newcomers to the roster.
- 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
- Missouri scored a 195.600 in the season opener to finish second in a home tri-meet on Jan. 4 at the Hearnes Center. Illinois placed first with a 195.850 and Southeast Missouri took third with 191.275 points.
- Seniors Aspen Tucker and Morgan Porter and freshman Helen Hu all earned event titles on the day. Tucker won vault and tied for the bars crown, while Hu tied for first on beam and Porter tied for first on floor.
- The Tigers opened the meet with a 48.900 on vault, led by three scores of 9.8 or better. Tucker led the way with a 9.825 to take top honors on the event, while junior Gabrielle Gottula and freshman Kambrie Brandt both earned 9.8s. Porter went 9.75 and freshman Sienna Schreiber added a 9.725.
- Tucker again posted a team-best score with a 9.825 on bars in the second rotation. Porter and junior Chelsey Christensen both tallied 9.75s and Hu scored a 9.725. Overall, Mizzou totaled a 48.150 as a team on the apparatus.
- Mizzou got back on track with a 49.200 on beam in the third rotation thanks to four scores of 9.8 or better. Hu anchored the Tiger lineup with a 9.9, just ahead of Gottula's 9.875. Schreiber set the tone early with a 9.85 in the leadoff position, and Porter scored a 9.8. Sophomore Alisa Sheremeta also added a 9.775.
- Five Tigers tallied at least a 9.825 as the squad concluded the meet with a 49.350 on floor in the final rotation. A 9.9 from Porter paced the Tigers, while Tucker and Hannah McCrary earned 9.875s, a career-high for McCrary. Gottula and Sheremeta both posted 9.85s and senior Mary Nicholson earned a 9.775.
UP NEXT
- Mizzou hosts Florida on Friday, Jan. 17 at 6 p.m. CT at the Hearnes Center. The meet will be televised live on SEC Network.
MIZZOU IN THE NATIONAL RANKINGS
- Mizzou jumped eight spots to No. 8 in the first in-season rankings of 2020.
- The team was chosed No. 16 in the preseason rankings
- The Tiger also rank third nationally on floor, tied for third on beam, tied for eighth on vault and 20th on bars.
TUCKER, HU EARN SEC WEEKLY HONORS
- Senior Aspen Tucker and freshman Helen Hu earned weekly honors from the Southeastern Conference, the league announced on Tuesday. Tucker claimed Specialist of the Week accolades, while Hu was named Freshman of the Week following the Tigers' season opener on Jan. 4.
- The honor marked the second time Tucker claimed weekly honors from the SEC, as she was named Freshman of the Week on March 7, 2017. Hu became the fourth Tiger to earn SEC Freshman of the Week honors and the first since Tucker.
- Tucker won two event titles in Mizzou's opener against Illinois and Southeast Missouri on Jan. 4. The senior won the vault crown outright and tied for the bars title after identical scores of 9.825. She also scored a 9.875 on floor in the final rotation to help the Tigers post a 49.350 team total on the apparatus. Dating back to last season, Tucker is in the midst of four-consecutive meets with a 9.875 or better on floor.
- Hu, who competed on three events in her collegiate debut, highlighted the meet with a 9.900 on beam to tie for the event win. Her beam score was the highest-ever recorded by a Mizzou freshman in a season opener and ranks her tied for seventh nationally on the event.
MIZZOU'S 2020 SCHEDULE RATED NATION'S FIFTH-TOUGHEST
- Heading into the season, the Tigers' schedule was rated the fifth-toughest in the nation by RoadtoNationals.com, behind only Arizona, Arkansas, Arizona State and LSU.
- 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.
TIGERS POST BEST-EVER BEAM AND FLOOR SCORES IN A SEASON OPENER
- Mizzou closed the season opener with strong rotations on both floor and beam, posting scores of 49.350 and 49.200, respectively.
- Those scores stand the team's highest ever on those events in a season opener.
- The 49.350 on floor surpasses the old high of 49.325, recorded against Iowa State on Jan. 11, 2004.
- Mizzou's beam total of 49.200 bested the old event high of 49.175 against Illinois and Ball State on Jan. 6, 2017.
- Additionally, both scores were better than all but two floor and three beam scores from the entire 2019 season.
MIZZOU IN PROGRAM-RECORD FLOOR STRETCH
- The Tigers are also in the midst of a program-record 15 meet stretch with scores of 49 or higher on the floor exercise.
- Missouri's floor span dates back to the NCAA Regional on April 7, 2018, and includes every meet of 2019 and the first meet of 2020.
- The 15-meet span is a program-long for the Tigers, surpassing the previous high of seven set from Feb. 19, 2010 until April 10, 2010.
Players Mentioned
AA
/ Gymnastics
AA
/ Gymnastics
AA
/ Gymnastics
AA
/ Gymnastics
AA
/ Gymnastics
AA
/ Gymnastics
AA
/ Gymnastics
AA
/ Gymnastics
AA
/ Gymnastics
AA
/ GymnasticsInside 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
