University of Missouri
NCAA Regional
Missouri Finishes Fourth at the NCAA North Central Regional
4/6/2002 12:00:00 AM | Gymnastics
April 6, 2002
Denver, Colo.-The 2002 NCAA North Central Regional proved to be yet another obstacle the Missouri Tiger gymnastics team was prepared to conquer this season. Appearing as a team for just the second time in Head Coach Rob Drass' tenure, Missouri finished fourth just shy of an NCAA Nationals nod. No. 3 ranked Georgia and Stanford won the meet scoring a 196.125 and Denver finished third posting a 196.000. Despite falling short of the season final, the Tigers scored a 195.000 team score and tallied the sixth highest meet score in school history.
Accentuating the team performance, freshman Alisha Robinson recorded a 39.500 all-around score to become the first regional all-around champion in Missouri history, tying for top honors with Stanford's Lindsay Wing. She advances to the NCAA Championship in Tuscaloosa, Ala., April 18-20. She is also the first Missouri athlete to advance to the final rounds of the NCAA Tournament since 1993 when Kellie Copeland qualified as an all-arounder.
Similar to the regular season where Mizzou broke every team and individual record in MU program history, the Tigers kept up the standard knocking down every school team and individual regional championship record to date. In addition to her tournament advancement, Robinson set all four individual records during her first regional performance.
Missouri's newcomers ignited the Mizzou fire during the first rotation, Robinson led the Tigers scoring a 9.900 to start out the evening-the mark is Robinson's fifth 9.9+ floor routine of the season and sets a new Missouri NCAA Regional record. Also heating up MU's introductory round, freshman Ashley Asraf and junior Laura Forbes both performed 9.800 routines to help Missouri record a 48.925 team score and set another MU Regional performance record. In addition, Lindsay Davis duplicated her floor exercise score from her 2001 West Regional performance nailing a 9.700.
Robinson continued to fan the flames during the second rotation as she set another Regional high leading the Tigers with a 9.875 on the vault. Davis added a 9.775 surpassing her 9.750 regional vault mark from last season. Sophomore Andrea Nervig scored a 9.750 and junior Alina Hamm contributed a 9.725 to the Missouri 48.700 team total.
Following their vaulting rotation, the Tigers spent a bye period enabling them to prepare for their upcoming uneven bars circuit. The reprieve proved positive for Mizzou as the Tigers burst off the board throwing some of their finest routines of the season. Continuing to showcase her ability, Robinson led the Tigers and set another individual record averaging a 9.900 on the apparatus-it is the fifth 9.9+ score on the bars and her 14th of the season.
Freshman Rachael Dombart opened the uneven bars rotation scoring a career-high 9.750. She was followed by two 9.800 routines by Davis and Hamm-the score tops previous regional marks for both athletes. Nervig once again shined on the event for Missouri scoring a 9.825 and sophomore Lauren Owca rounded out the Tiger rotation scoring a 9.800 to tie her career mark and boost Mizzou to a 49.125 record team score.
Missouri finished out the meet in grand fashion throwing a 48.250 team score, despite two falls on the apparatus. Robinson once again topped the Tigers and set the MU record scoring a 9.825. Davis scored a 9.800, Dombart threw a 9.750 and Rachel Bridges put up a 9.625 to help Mizzou.
In her second NCAA Regional appearance in two years, Davis topped her previous season all-around mark of 37.075 with a stunning 39.075-her fourth highest all-around mark this season. The tally solidified a fifth-place all-around finish for Davis. Also receiving individual event awards for the Tigers, Robinson tied for second on the uneven bars, fourth on the vault and fifth on the floor exercise in addition to her first-place all-around finish.
