Helen Hu Named SEC Event Specialist of the Year
4/28/2020 11:00:00 AM | Gymnastics
Hu and Sienna Schreiber also claim All-SEC honors
COLUMBIA, Mo. – Mizzou gymnastics freshman Helen Hu (Chicago, Ill.) was named the 2020 Southeastern Conference Event Specialist of the Year in a vote by the league coaches, the conference announced on Tuesday. Additionally, Hu and fellow freshman Sienna Schreiber (Cumming, Ga.) claimed All-SEC honors. Hu earned spots on the All-SEC and All-Freshman teams on both bars and beam, while Schreiber was named to the All-Freshman Team in the all-around.
Hu is the first freshman to receive the award since the SEC introduced it in 2014. Additionally, she is the only Tiger in program history to earn conference specialist of the year accolades and only the third to claim a major award from the SEC, joining Morgan Porter, the 2016 Freshman of the Year, and Katelyn Trevino, the 2015 Scholar-Athlete of the Year.
In a decorated freshman campaign, Hu became the second Tiger to earn WCGA Regular Season All-America honors, as she claimed first team honors on beam and second team accolades on bars. She concluded the year ranked fifth nationally on beam with a national qualifying score (NQS) of 9.955, and tied for 11th on bars with a 9.910 NQS. She won 15 event titles, the most for a Mizzou gymnast since 2014, in only 10 meets during the year, with six on beam, four on bars and two in the all-around.
A six-time SEC weekly award honoree during the 2020 season, Hu earned four Freshman of the Week accolades and two Specialist of the Week honors. The six total awards were the second-most for an SEC gymnast this year and tied Mizzou's single-season mark of most conference weekly honors in one season.
Over the course of the shortened season, Hu tallied 14 total scores of 9.9 or better on the season, the highest individual total for a Tiger since 2010. Additionally, she went 9.9 or higher on beam in nine of 10 meets, with six scores of 9.95 or better. Her nine 9.9s on the apparatus tied Mizzou's individual single-season record for most 9.9s on one event in a season.
Overall, she tallied career-best scores of 9.975 on beam (twice), 9.95 on bars (twice), 9.875 on both vault and floor, and 39.525 in the all-around. Her two 9.95s on bars tie her atop Mizzou's record book in the event, while her two 9.975s on beam tie for third all-time. Additionally, her all-around total of 39.525 ranks third among Tiger freshmen.
Schreiber, who competed as an all-arounder in eight of 10 meets in 2020, earned a spot on the All-Freshman team with an NQS of 39.225. She scored 39.000 or better in the all-around seven times and reached the 39.200 mark six times. Schreiber made the bars and beam lineups in every meet of the season and competed on vault and floor all but two meets. She finished the shortened season with NQSs of 9.860 on floor, 9.830 on vault, 9.810 on beam and 9.795 on bars.
As Mizzou's leadoff competitor on three different events, she posted career-best scores of 9.95 on bars, which tied the Tigers' individual event record, 9.9 on vault, 9.85 on beam and 39.375 in the all-around. Schreiber went 9.8 or higher on floor seven times in eight routines, with a career-best 9.9 on the apparatus at Alabama. Overall, she took home two titles on the season, the all-around crown at Florida and the bars title at the Mardi Gras Invitational.
The All-SEC Team is comprised of the student-athletes with the top two final national qualifying scores (including ties) on each event and in the all-around competition in the projected first session and second session of the SEC Championship. The All-Freshman Team is comprised of the freshman student-athlete with the top score (including ties) on each event in the projected first session of the SEC Championship and the student-athlete with the top score (including ties) on each event in the projected second session of the SEC Championship. The All-Freshman Team will also include the freshmen student-athletes with the top two all-around scores (including ties) in each projected session of the SEC Championship.
2020 SEC Gymnastics Awards
Gymnast of the Year: Trinity Thomas, Florida
Event Specialist of the Year: Helen Hu, Missouri
Freshman of the Year: Kiya Johnson, LSU
Coach of the Year: Jenny Rowland, Florida
All-SEC
Sophia Carter, Arkansas
Kennedy Hambrick, Arkansas
Derrian Gobourne, Auburn
Drew Watson, Auburn
Rachel Gowey, Florida
Savannah Schoenherr, Florida
Trinity Thomas, Florida
Josie Angeny, Kentucky
Mollie Korth, Kentucy
Kennedi Edney, LSU
Kiya Johnson, LSU
Helen Hu, Missouri
All-Freshman
Luisa Blanco, Alabama
Makarri Doggette, Alabama
Bailey Lovett, Arkansas
Cassie Stevens, Auburn
Raena Worley, Kentucky
Kiya Johnson, LSU
Helen Hu, Missouri
Sienna Schreiber, Missouri
