Hu Earns Second-Straight SEC Specialist of the Week Recognition
1/28/2025 12:00:00 PM | Gymnastics
Helen Hu scores a 9.975 on balance beam to win her second-straight weekly SEC award.
COLUMBIA, Mo. – For the second consecutive week, University of Missouri gymnast Helen Hu (Chicago, Illinois) was awarded the Southeastern Conference Specialist of the Week award, the league office announced on Tuesday afternoon.
Hu shares the Co-Specialist of the Week honors with Auburn's Marissa Neal. She scored a 9.975 on the balance beam in her return to Hearnes Center against No. 6 Kentucky, helping the Tigers win over the Wildcats by a 197.200-196.800 margin.
This marks the fourth time Hu has won the award. She won the award twice in 2020 and was named the SEC Specialist of the Year that season. MU earned the SEC Specialist of the Week honors four times in 2024.
With the result on Sunday, Hu is one of five gymnasts nationally with a 9.975 on beam this year, one of two reaching the mark twice and is still the lone individual with a perfect score on beam. Her score, the fourth time she's received a 9.975, notched the event title for the second consecutive meet. A Tiger has earned a 9.900 on the beam four times this season, with Hu accounting for two.
Hu made history by posting the first career perfect 10.000 and the first of the 2025 NCAA Division I women's collegiate gymnastics season during her balance beam routine on Friday at No. 1 Oklahoma. She ranks 11th nationally in average beam score through three weeks.
The redshirt senior scored at least 9.950 on 15 occasions before her first perfect 10 at Oklahoma on Friday, January 17. The only other time a Mizzou gymnast recorded a 10 on beam on the road was by Lauren Schwartzman on March 12, 2004, at the Texas Women's University Invitational.
Mizzou travels to Baton Rouge, Louisiana to compete against second-ranked LSU on Friday, January 31 at 7:30 p.m. on the SEC Network's Friday Night Heights.
In the 2024 season, Mizzou earned its highest-ranked program win in history while hosting LSU, which was ranked number three in the country and went on to win the 2024 National Championship. MU will look to earn its third regular-season victory in four years over LSU.
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