COLUMBIA, Mo. - With the 2014 Mizzou gymnastics season in the books, the Tigers gymnasts have begun their off-season conditioning and practice. Each week, Mizzou Athletics will check-in with current members of the gymnastics roster, and look into their personal workouts and reflections of the past season.

In the third edition, we sat down with sophomore Miranda Eubank. In 2013, the Louisville, Kentucky native made an immediate impact in her first year with Mizzou gymnastics. Beginning with the team's road trip to Air Force, Eubank would make the Tigers vault, bars and floor lineups in every meet.

On Feb. 15, 2013 against Kentucky, she would take home her first career event win after tallying a 9.900 score on bars. Eubank's strong season on bars would culminate with All-SEC Freshmen Team honors after hitting a 9.800 score on Mar. 23, 2013 at the SEC Championships.

Over the course of the past 2014 campaign, Eubank once again showed her prowess on bars. The sophomore led the Tigers on the event on three different occasions, and surpassed a score of 9.800 or higher seven times. With the help of her outstanding season, the Mizzou bars lineup produced a 48.995 Regional Qualifying Score (RQS), which ranked 26th best in the NCAA.

This past season, the Tigers bars lineup also surpassed the event mark of 49.000 or higher three times. Eubank and her fellow bars lineup members (Rebecca Johnson, Rachel Updike, Briana Conkle, Sasha Sander, and Blair Elmore) time and time again proved to be the team's most successful event.

With a strong foundation, excellent leadership from assistant coach John Carney and incredible team chemistry; Eubank knew this year's bars lineup was destined for great things.

"Bars has always been one of my favorite events," said Eubank. "When you pair that with all the awesome and hardworking bar swingers we had on the team this year, it was easy to find the motivation to keep pushing for improvement and consistency."

From her freshmen to sophomore season at Mizzou, Eubank not only saw improvement on the competition floor but also became more comfortable in her every day student life. The ability to learn from her first-year experiences enabled the sophomore to make the next jump in her academic and athletic career.

"My classes have definitely gotten more challenging as I progress through my biological sciences coursework, but I can officially say I survived sophomore year!" said Eubank. "It was great living in an apartment this past school year, but I do miss the dorms and being so close to campus. As far as competition, it was nice knowing what to expect this time around. I remember being terrified for my first meet as a freshman, but this year I was even more excited to be back out on the competition floor!"

Next winter, Eubank will begin her junior season for Mizzou gymnastics. While she worked through a couple injuries this past year, the ability to enter 2015 at full-strength will prove detrimental for a successful season.

"In 2015, I would love to be back out on the floor," said Eubank. "An ankle injury right before the season kept me off of that event this year, but it is such a fun event to train and compete for. I am excited that my transition from underclassman to upperclassman will bring about more opportunities to have a leadership-type role on this team!"

For the latest information on all things Mizzou gymnastics, check-in to MUTigers.com. You can also follow the Tigers on social media, by liking us on Facebook and following us on Twitter (@TigerGymnastics) and Instagram (@Mizzou_Gymnastics).

COLUMBIA, Mo. - With the 2014 Mizzou gymnastics season in the books, the Tigers gymnasts have begun their off-season conditioning and practice. Each week, Mizzou Athletics will check-in with current members of the gymnastics roster, and look into their personal workouts and reflections of the past season.

In the second edition, we sat down with freshman Angie Kern. The Columbia, Missouri native was one of five freshmen to join the Mizzou gymnastics program last season. Kern evolved into one of the top contributors among the freshmen class of 2014, and culminated in an individual NCAA Regional bid for her performance on floor.

For any freshmen student-athlete, the transition from high school to collegiate athletics can be challenging. With the help of her upperclassmen teammates, Kern quickly transitioned into her new surroundings at the University of Columbia.

On the competition floor, Kern and her fellow freshmen gymnasts joined an already young Mizzou program. The ability to immediately step in and compete as a freshman allowed for invaluable learning experiences.

"I think we definitely took away a lot of experience, because we were in lineups and competing," said Kern. "I think we will have a better understanding of what competition is all about in college, and what the team aspect is all about. Also, we now understand what a freshman year is all about, and we can help out the freshmen class of 2015 coming in!"

Not only did Kern compete in every 2014 meet (12 appearances on vault and 11 appearances on floor), but the hometown product continued to show incredible improvement on her two events. On Feb. 21, 2014 against George Washington, Kern earned her first career event title with a score of 9.875 on floor.

The event win against the Colonials was a sign of things to come, as the Tiger gymnast would later earn an individual alternate nomination to the 2014 Fayetteville NCAA Regional. Kern's 9.795 regional qualifying score (RQS) on floor was one of the top marks inside the South Central Region.

To be honored by her peers with an NCAA individual nomination was something Kern would never forget.

"It meant the world to me, because it showed that hard work and loving what you do really pays off," said Kern. "As much as I would have loved to get it (NCAA bid) along with my team, it is still a big honor for any freshman to be nominated like this."

The 2014 Mizzou gymnastics campaign brought an array of exciting accolades and challenging adversity for not only Kern, but the entire Tigers roster. At the end of the day however, Kern would not trade her first year in Columbia, Missouri for anything.

"I would summarize my first season as something very memorable," said Kern. "Every moment spent with my team and competing was everything I hoped for. I cannot wait for next year already, because it will be just as amazing!"

For the latest information on all things Mizzou gymnastics, check-in to MUTigers.com. You can also follow the Tigers on social media, by liking us on Facebook and following us on Twitter (@TigerGymnastics) and Instagram (@Mizzou_Gymnastics).

COLUMBIA, Mo. - With the 2014 Mizzou gymnastics season in the books, the Tigers gymnasts have begun their off-season conditioning and practice. Each week, Mizzou Athletics will check-in with current members of the gymnastics roster and look into their personal workouts.

In the inaugural edition, we sat down with sophomore Rachel Henderson. The Oklahoma City, Oklahoma native sat out this past year, after suffering a season-ending injury at the Black and Gold preseason meet on Dec. 8.

Throughout virtually the entire 2014 competition season, Henderson was limited to cheering on her teammates on the sidelines. The slow and long recovery from her knee surgery involved a lot of time spent on crutches and limited gymnastics activities.

Following the 2014 SEC Championships in Birmingham, Alabama, Henderson began conducting physical rehabilitation. In time, she has even got back into the groove of normal gymnastics activities.

"I am running and sprinting now, and I just started small lateral movements such as side lunges," said Henderson. "I also started practicing again on bars, as that is the most stress free gymnastics activity on my knee at this point."

Last season in her Tigers freshmen campaign, Henderson competed in all but one meet. As the 2013 season moved along, she became a mainstay on the Mizzou beam lineup which included a career-high score of 9.775 at Arizona.

The 2013 season saw an array of devastating injuries for many Tigers gymnasts. While Henderson enjoyed a healthy freshmen year, she was able to observe how injured teammates such as Katelyn Trevino, Rebecca Johnson and Briana Conkle handled their tough circumstances.

Little did Henderson know, the following year she would be thrown into the same situation that so many of her teammates had to deal with in the past. The ability to see how her teammates handled an injury riddled season helped her contribute on the sidelines for the Tigers in 2014.

"I played more of an energy and support role this past year," said Henderson. "I tried to bring as much energy as I could at both meets and practices. Being there every day for my teammates when they needed my support was big as well."

Henderson and her teammates are all just weeks away from completing their 2013-14 school year at the University of Missouri. While the academics side of being a student-athlete will conclude shortly, the Tigers gymnasts will continue their athletics preparation for the 2015 campaign.

"We are doing a lot of new things, as far as conditioning and 'Challenge Fridays' at the Tiger Performance Complex," said Henderson. "For me personally, getting back into the shape I was in before my injury is key. Proper nutrition and fitness is at the front of my mind right now, along with putting together new and clean gymnastics routines for next season!"

Stay tuned to MUTigers.com for more Mizzou Gymnastics off-season updates. You can also follow the Tigers on social media, by liking us on Facebook and following us on Twitter (@TigerGymnastics) and Instagram (@Mizzou_Gymnastics).