University of Missouri
#2 Oklahoma
No. 7 Gymnastics Prepares for NCAA Championship Semifinal
4/16/2025 12:45:00 PM | Gymnastics
Mizzou will compete in the Elite Eight for the third time in program history on Thursday.
COLUMBIA, Mo. — No. 7 University of Missouri gymnastics competes in its NCAA Championship Semifinal meet on Thursday, April 17 at 3:30 p.m. at Dickies Arena in Fort Worth, Texas, against No. 2 Oklahoma, No. 3 Florida and No. 12 Alabama.
The semifinal meet will be called by John Roethelisberger, Samantha Peszek, and Aly Raisman with Taylor Davis serving as the sideline reporter. Thursday's Elite Eight contest will be televised on ESPN2.
The top two teams from each session advance to the NCAA Championship Final on Saturday, April 19 at 3:30 p.m., which will be nationally broadcast on ABC. The second quad consists of No. 1 LSU, No. 4 Utah, No. 5 UCLA and No. 8 Michigan State.
THE MATCHUP
-In their regional meets, the squads received the following scores in the Second Round and Regional Final: Oklahoma earned 198.025 and 198.450, Florida scored 198.225 and 197.700, Alabama advanced with marks of 197.275 and 197.675 and Mizzou tallied 197.650 and 197.425.
-Oklahoma leads the way in total number of gymnasts in the top 25 of individual events in national qualifying score (NQS) with 20, including five on bars and beam. They are followed by Florida with 11, Mizzou with eight and Alabama with seven.
NCAA CHAMPIONSHIP HISTORY
-The Tigers advanced to the NCAA Championship Semifinal for the third time in program history, since the format was first adopted in 1993, also doing so in 2010 and 2022.
-Mizzou is seeking its first appearance in an NCAA Championship Final in school history (MU also advanced to the 1981 AIAW Championship Final).
-The Tigers' previous best finish to a season is fifth in 2022.
-The program set its highest postseason score in its history during the NCAA Championship Second Round win on April 4, scoring 197.650 to beat out No. 10 Georgia, No. 21 Arizona and No. 26 Arizona State.
-The Tigers' score marked the fifth-highest of any team in the NCAA Championship Second Round.
-Mizzou is one of seven programs to reach a regional final in each of the last six seasons.
-Helen Hu's (Chicago, Ill.) 10 in the NCAA Championship Second Round on Friday, April 4 was the first perfect score in an NCAA meet in program history. She was one of five to receive a 10 over the first two rounds.
FAMILIAR FOES
-This marks the fourth time in 2025 Mizzou and Oklahoma will compete. MU averages 197.192 in the previous three meets, while OU's median in the contests is 198.050.
-In comparison, the Tigers have squared off against Alabama and Florida twice each. MU averaged 197.275 against UA's 196.888, and 197.563 versus UF's 197.975.
-In its regular season meet at Florida, Mizzou scored 197.725, marking the fourth-best team score in program history.
SEC SQUADS IN SEMIS
-For the first time since the NCAA Championship format changed in 2019, session one will feature all four teams from the same conference in a semifinal meet.
-The top two teams from the NCAA Championship Semifinal session one will advance to the final and compete against the top two teams from the second session for the national title.
THRILLER IN THE REGIONAL FINAL
-In the NCAA Seattle Regional Final, Mizzou and Auburn were neck-and-neck the entirety of the meet for second place with a spot in the semifinal on the line.
-Hu's 9.925 outscored Auburn's Sophia Groth (who scored 9.850 on floor) to send the Tigers to their third NCAA Championship Semifinal in school history.
HISTORIC SEASON FOR THE TIGERS
-Missouri gymnastics is in the midst of one of its best seasons in program history, breaking numerous records throughout 2025.
-The most notable include setting its highest team score (198.100 vs Auburn), beam score (49.575 at Arkansas) and floor score in program history (49.725 at Zou to the Lou), while also ending the year with its best NQS of 197.510.
-Missouri's No. 7 national ranking is the best in the history of the program. The team's two seed in the NCAA Seattle Regional is also its best NCAA Championship seed ever.
-The bars and floor squads slotted in at fourth in NQS nationally to cap off the year, the best of any final event ranking in program history.
-With a 5-0 record in Columbia, Mizzou went undefeated at home for the first time in program history.
RECORD SETTING CONFERENCE SLATE
-The Tigers totaled five conference wins, the most single-season victories since becoming a member of the Southeastern Conference, and finished in fourth in the conference standings, their highest regular season finish since joining the SEC.
-Mizzou's 197.400 at the 2025 SEC Championship on March 22 marked its highest score in a conference championship meet.
-Between Kennedy Griffin (Strongsville, Ohio) and Hu, the two combine for six SEC Specialist of the Week awards, the first time in conference history that one school has earned six such honors in the same season.
-Hu's five are the most by a single gymnast in a season in the award's history.
CHASING PERFECTION
-Three Missouri gymnasts totaled four 10s in 2025 (Griffin, Hu three times and Mara Titarsolej) (Zutphen, Netherlands), the most in school history.
-This ranks as the third-most of any team in the 2025 regular season.
TIGERS DOMINATE INDIVIDUAL ACCOLADES
-With successful seasons come national awards and Mizzou gymnasts have received plenty.
-Mizzou saw a total of six All-America recognitions: Amari Celestine (Wildomar, Calif.) (Floor, All-Around Second Team All-American, Griffin (Floor Second Team All-American), Hu (Beam First Team All-American), Jocelyn Moore (Hillsborough, N.J.) (Floor Second Team All-American) and Titarsolej (Bars First Team All-American).
-Celestine was named the Women's Collegiate Gymnastics Association South Central Region Co-Gymnast of the Year along with Oklahoma's Faith Torrez.
-Head coach Shannon Welker was named the 2025 SEC Coach of the Year for the second time in his career (2022) and the WCGA South Central Regional Coach of the Year. This marked the fifth time that a Mizzou gymnastics head coach has earned a conference Coach of the Year accolade.
-In addition, Welker's award is the ninth time a Missouri coach received SEC Coach of the Year and just the third coach to earn it twice in their career.
-Hu won the SEC Specialist of the Year award, marking the third time in the last four years the recognition was given to a Mizzou gymnast.
-Four Tigers earned All-SEC honors: Celestine, Hu, Moore and Titarsolej. This is now the third-straight season that Mizzou's had at least four gymnasts receive a spot on the All-SEC team.
-Hu and Titarsolej won the SEC Beam Championship and SEC Bars Championship, respectively.
HU DID THAT? SHE DID
-Hu earned her first score of 10 while on balance beam at Oklahoma on Jan. 17, marking the first routine nationally to achieve perfection in the 2025 season.
-The redshirt senior clinched the team's trip to the NCAA Championship Semifinal, trailing Auburn by 0.825 heading into her routine, scoring a 9.925 to edge out AU by a tenth.
-She earned another 10 on beam during the team's meet against Arkansas, helping lead the Tigers to their best score in program history (49.575).
-Hu did so for staggering a third time in the final routine of the team's NCAA Championship Second Round meet, becoming the first Mizzou gymnast to score three 10s in a season.
-The Chicago, native made the national spotlight since then, even being featured at No. 5 on the SportsCenter Top-10 the day after the team's meet against OU.
-Hu spent the past year backpacking in Japan, South Korea, Singapore, Malaysia, Vietnam, Thailand, India, Mexico, Guatemala, El Salvador, Nicaragua, Colombia, Ecuador, Italy and Finland with her sister Elaine.
TITARSOLEJ DEFINES PERFECTION – AND CONSISTENCY
-Titarsolej earned the third perfect 10 of her career at the SEC Championship, claiming a share of the SEC Bars title in back-to-back years.
-The graduate student has scored at least 9.900 on bars in nine meets this season, the most in a single event by a Mizzou gymnast this season.
-She is the only gymnast in program history to score a 10 on bars, doing so twice (Zou to the Lou, Feb. 16, 2024, and SEC Championship, March 22, 2025).
-Titarsolej has scored 9.950 or better on bars in five of the last meets.
-She has anchored the bars lineup in every meet this season.
THE CELESTANDARD
-In her final season of competition, Celestine has continued to impress in each meet of the year.
-She set a new personal-best all-around score of 39.650 against Auburn on March 9, which is the sixth-best score in program history.
-She was named the NCAA Seattle Regional Vault Champion after scoring 9.950 for her routine at the NCAA Championship Second Round.
In the all-around, Celestine's NQS of 39.515 ranks 15th. She holds the 17th-highest score nationally at 39.650.
-With her result against Georgia on bars, Celestine became the only Tiger since 1999 to record five-straight scores of at least 9.900 in the event. The streak went through six-straight meets after a 9.900 at Florida. Only two gymnasts have done so four times in a row - Titarsolej in 2024 and Jodie Heinicka in 2006.
GRIFFIN ETCHES NAME IN RECORD BOOKS
-Griffin's performance at Zou to the Lou is the second 10.000 on floor a Mizzou gymnast has received, joining teammate Moore who achieved the feat at the Illinois Quad on March 17, 2024.
-Her NQS of 9.920 ranks 14th nationally in the event.
-The sophomore earned SEC Specialist of the Week honors on Feb. 18, marking her second weekly conference award.
-She also won Freshman of the Week on Jan. 30, 2024, following her previous career-best of 9.975 in the team's win over No. 3 LSU.
WANT SOME MO'(ORE)
-Moore, a senior, has had a fantastic 2025 campaign, highlighted by scoring 9.975 on vault at Oklahoma, holding the highest score in the nation through week five. This marked the fourth time in her career to score or exceed a 9.975.
-She has recorded a 9.950 on floor five times this season. Her most notable came against Auburn on senior day, where she clinched the team's first-ever 198.000+.
-Moore has earned a 9.900 or better in an event in nine of the team's 12 meets this season.\
-Across her 54 collegiate meets throughout her career, Moore has scored 9.900 in one of the three events she competes in all but seven meets. She has scored 9.900 an impressive 22 times on vault and 38 times on floor.
THE BEST OF THE BEST
-Road to Nationals switched over to NQS to determine its rankings following the seventh week of meets.
-NQS is calculated by taking a team or individual's top six scores, three of which come from away meets, dropping the highest score and averaging the remaining five.
-Missouri claims a top 11 spot in all four events - fourth in the nation on bars and floor and, 11th on vault and beam.
-The Tigers' highest-ranked individual is Hu, who is second nationally on beam. Her No. 2 ranking ties the second-highest in program history, which is only surpassed by Lauren Schwartzman, who was ranked No. 1 on beam in 2006.
-In total, Mizzou is represented in the NQS top 25 of an event eight times - Hannah Horton (Brooklyn Park, Minn.) (18) on vault, Celestine (24) and Titarsolej (4) on bars, Hu (2) on beam, Celestine (11), Griffin (14) and Moore (10) on floor and Celestine (15) in the all-around.
100 CAREER WINS
-Welker captured his 100th career win in the team's victory over Arkansas on March 14, 2025.
-In his tenure, the Black & Gold have competed in 10 NCAA Regional, five NCAA Regional Final and two NCAA Championship Semifinal meets.
-Mizzou gymnastics continues to be a rising power under Welker's leadership, leading the Tigers to the highest score in program history (198.100) coming after the Black & Gold beat Auburn in March.
-Welker has spent all 12 of his seasons as a collegiate head coach at Mizzou.
-Director of Athletics Laird Veatch announced on Thursday, Jan. 2 that Welker signed a contract extension to remain at the helm of the program through 2029.
-Since taking over Mizzou's program in May of 2013, Welker transformed the Tigers into a consistent contender on the national stage.
STEPPING IN AND STEPPING UP
-Heading into the NCAA Championship meets, Kaia Tanskanen (Howell, Mich.) had competed on the floor exercise just once this season - on Feb. 21 against Georgia.
-The fourth-ranked Fab Floor needed a lineup change after back tightness forced Elise Tisler (Fairfax Station, Va.) to stick to just vault for the two meets, where Tanskanen slid in.
-The freshman scored 9.875 on the apparatus in the Second Round and Regional Final, helping the squad score 49.550 in the latter.
-Across her three appearances on floor, Tanskanen has earned scores of 9.900, 9.875 and 9.875.
HIGH-IMPACT FRESHMEN
-In addition to Tanskanen, Railey Jackson (Park Forest, Ill.) and Olivia Kelly (Bronx, N.Y.) have made ample contributions to the team's successes in 2025.
-Jackson has been a consistent contributor on balance beam, scoring 9.850 or higher in her last three routines. She holds an NQS of 9.845 on the event.
-Kelly has impressed on bars and beam, scoring 9.900 or highest twice and four times, respectively.
-Three of her four 9.900s on beam have come in three of the last five meets.
-Kelly's NQS of 9.880 on beam ranks 57th nationally.
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Players Mentioned
