Hu Becomes Third Gymnast to Win Four SEC Specialist of the Week Awards
2/25/2025 12:17:00 PM | Gymnastics
A Mizzou gymnast has now won the Specialist of the Week award in five of the past six weeks.
COLUMBIA, Mo. – University of Missouri gymnast Helen Hu (Chicago) was named the SEC Specialist of the Week, becoming just the second individual in Southeastern Conference history to earn the honor four times in a season, the league office announced on Tuesday afternoon.
Hu split the honors with Georgia's Anya Turner. Both scored 9.975 on balance beam when the teams met on Friday. The Tigers were victorious over the Bulldogs, 197.425-197.350.
This marks the third time a school has earned an SEC Specialist of the Week award five times in a season, as Mizzou joins 2013 LSU and 2022 Florida. Hu joins the Gators' Trinity Thomas as the only other gymnast to receive the honors five times in a season.
A redshirt senior, Hu's final season of collegiate gymnastics has been nothing but a storybook since announcing her return to the roster. She achieved the first 10 of the 2025 season in the team's meet against top-ranked Oklahoma during her beam routine and followed it up with a pair of 9.975s.
Hu ranks third in the country in balance beam national qualifying score (NQS) with a 9.935, which is the second-highest ranked individual NQS Mizzou has ever had in an event. She has helped lead the Tigers to eighth nationally in the event with an NQS of 49.295. Mizzou's No. 8 ranking is the highest it's had on the event since March 7, 2022.
She is one of two to score perfection, plus one of 11 to reach 9.975 on beam. Hu is also one of just two gymnasts to record four scores of at least 9.975 on beam this season as well as one of three to earn the score at least twice this season.
Missouri heads to Gainesville to compete against fifth-ranked Florida on Friday, Feb. 28 at 5 p.m. CT at Exectech Arena on SEC Network's Friday Night Heights.
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