Huber, Ward Claim Event Titles in Tri-Meet at Iowa State

Friday, March 9

Ames, Iowa

6:30 p.m. CT

University of Missouri

196.050

196.700

#25 Iowa State

Huber, Ward Claim Event Titles in Tri-Meet at Iowa State

3/9/2018 10:07:00 PM | Gymnastics

AMES, Iowa. – Juniors Madeleine Huber (St. Louis, Mo.) and Britney Ward (Ozark, Mo.) each won event titles as the No. 19 Missouri gymnastics team scored a 196.050 to finish second in a tri-meet against Iowa State and Iowa on Friday evening in Ames, Iowa. The Cyclones claimed the win with a total of 196.700, while the Hawkeyes took third with 195.600 points.

Huber took home the bars win, her first of the season and second of her Tiger career, with a personal-best-tying 9.925. Ward earned top honors on beam with a 9.875. The win was her team-leading 26th of her career, including the 14th on beam.

KEY TIGERS

The Tigers opened the meet with a 48.925 on beam, led by Ward's 9.875. Senior Tia Allbritten (Garland, Texas) and redshirt sophomore Morgan Porter (Overland, Mo.) each added 9.800s on the apparatus.

A 49.200 on floor, the team's highest event total of the meet, got the squad on track in the second rotation. Five of six Tigers tallied a 9.800 or higher on the event, including team-high 9.875 from sophomore Aspen Tucker (Lehigh Acres, Fla.). Both Porter and junior Allison Bower (Mesa, Ariz.) recorded 9.850s in what was Porter's first floor routine since last January before she suffered a season-ending injury that cut short her sophomore campaign. Additionally, senior Kennedi Harris (Atlanta, Ga.) went 9.825 and junior Michaele Turner (Parkville, Mo.) scored a 9.800.

Tucker led the way again on vault in the third rotation, where she earned a team-best 9.850, as Missouri totaled 48.750 as a team.

Huber punctuated Mizzou's night with her career-best 9.925 in the anchor spot on bars to take the win on the event. Her score helped the Tigers go 49.175 on the apparatus to push the team total to 196.050. In addition to Huber's performance, Tucker went a career-high 9.875 and Bower and Porter each scored 9.800s.

Tucker finished second in the all-around competition with a 39.300 and Porter went 39.175 in her first all-around performance since the beginning of last season.

QUOTABLES

Mizzou Head Coach Shannon Welker
"We had some good events and good performances but unlike last weekend we needed the whole group to be better. It was nice to see Morgan Porter back in the all-around tonight, and she did a good job on floor. I thought Aspen had a pretty good night and I thought that was her best floor performance of the year. Madeleine Huber did a nice job on bars and Britney Ward did well on beam. There was a lot of good stuff, we just have to put it together as a team more consistently."