No. 15 @MizzouGym Set for Double Weekend at Mardi Gras Invitational and LSU

Friday, February 15

St. Charles, Mo. (Family Arena)

6:30 p.m.

University of Missouri

#5 LSU

No. 15 @MizzouGym Set for Double Weekend at Mardi Gras Invitational and LSU

2/14/2019 9:58:00 AM | Gymnastics

MEETS 7 & 8: MARDI GRAS INVITATIONAL // LSU
OPPONENT	LOCATION	DATE	TIME	WATCH	STATS
No. 4 Utah, No. 5 LSU, Stanford	St. Charles, Mo. (The Family Arena)	Friday, Feb. 15	6:15 p.m.	FloGymnastics	N/A
at No. 5 LSU	Baton Rouge, La.	Sunday, Feb. 17	2:30 p.m.	SEC Network +	StatBroadcast
Meet Notes: Mizzou

STORYLINES

The No. 15 Mizzou gymnastics team makes the short trip to St. Charles, Mo., to compete at the 2019 Mardi Gras Invitational on Friday, Feb. 15 at 6:30 p.m. The Tigers will take on No. 4 Utah, No. 5 LSU and Stanford at the meet, held at The Family Arena.
The Tigers then travel to Baton Rouge, La., on Sunday, Feb. 17 to take on No. 5 LSU for the second time in three days at 2:30 p.m.
The Tigers fell two spots to No. 15 in this week's national rankings.
Mizzou also ranks 11th nationally on floor, 15th on vault, 18th on beam and 20th on bars.
Last time out, Missouri suffered a 196.300-195.900 loss to No. 6 Georgia on Feb. 8.
The Tigers posted season-high scores of 49.275 on floor and 49.150 on bars against the GymDogs.
Senior Madeleine Huber and junior Aspen Tucker both won event titles against Georgia. Tucker won floor with a 9.925 and Huber tied for bars with a 9.900
Against Alabama on Feb. 1, the Tigers scored at least 49.100 on all four events for the first time this season and the fourth time under Head Coach Shannon Welker's tenure at Mizzou.
The previous times Missouri went 49.100 on all events under Welker was at the State of Missouri Meet on March 16, 2018, against Auburn on March 3, 2017 and at Florida on Feb. 24, 2017.
Redshirt senior Becca Schugel has returned to the lineup after missing most of the 2018 season with a season-ending Achilles injury.
Five different Tigers have made their competitive debuts so far this season: sophomores Lauren Clevenger, Chelsey Christensen and Paige Kovnesky, and freshmen Frances Bidwill and Hannah McCrary. McCrary has made the vault and floor lineups, Christensen and Kovnesky the vault and bars lineups, Clevenger made her debut on beam, and Bidwill competed on vault.
Head Coach Shannon Welker is in his sixth year at the helm of the Tiger program. Last season, Welker and the Tigers earned three top 10 wins, including a victory over No. 5 Florida.

LAST TIME OUT

Senior Madeleine Huber and junior Aspen Tucker claimed event titles in the Mizzou gymnastics team's 196.300-195.900 loss to No. 6 Georgia on Feb. 8 at the Hearnes Center.
Missouri opened the meet on vault with a 48.875. Tucker led the way with a team-best 9.85, while Huber scored a 9.825 and sophomore Gabrielle Gottula went 9.8. Making her collegiate debut was freshman Frances Bidwill, who notched a score of 9.75.
Huber tied for the bars title after a career-high-tying 9.9 in the anchor position, helping Missouri to a season-best 49.150 on the event. Posting 9.85s were senior Becca Schugel and redshirt junior Morgan
Porter, which were season-highs for both. Additionally, sophomore Chelsey Christensen matched her personal-best with a 9.8 on the apparatus.
A career-high 9.875 from Gottula highlighted the Tigers' beam rotation, where the squad went 48.600. Tucker went a 9.8, which was a season-best, as did senior Brooke Kelly in the fifth spot in the lineup.
The Tigers concluded the night with its best floor rotation of the season, tallying a 49.275, which bested the previous high of 49.200. Tucker went a career-best 9.925 to nab the floor title, her second win on floor, and third overall, this season. Huber and senior Allison Bower both earned scores of 9.875, which tied Huber's career-high and matched Bower's season-best. Senior Michaelee Turner closed the night with a 9.825 on the event, her highest score of the year.

UP NEXT

The Tigers are idle until they host No. 13 Kentucky on Friday, March 1 at 5 p.m. CT at the Hearnes Center.

MISSOURI CLOCKS IN AT NO. 15 IN THE NATIONAL RANKINGS

Mizzou dropped twp spots to No. 15 in this week's national rankings with an average score of 195.921.
The Tigers also rank 11th on floor, 15th on vault, 18th on beam and 20th on bars.
Missouri has been in the top 16 in all five in-season rankings so far this year.

MIZZOU POSTS SEASON-HIGHS ON BARS AND FLOOR AGAINST GEORGIA

The Tigers scored season-best scores on both floor and bars in the Feb. 8 meet against Georgia
Missouri closed the meet with a 49.275 on floor, which was the highest score for the team since it went 49.375 against Florida March 3, 2018
Mizzou also recorded a team total of 49.150 on bars against the GymDogs.
The totals bested previous season-highs of 49.200 on floor (set at Florida and the Metroplex Challenge) and 49.125 on bars (recorded at Florida).

HUBER, TUCKER CLAIM EVENT WINS AGAINST GEORGIA

Senior Madeleine Huber and junior Aspen Tucker both secured event wins in Mizzou's meet against Georgia on Feb. 8.
Tucker put up a career-best 9.925 on floor to win the event, her second floor title of the 2019 season.
Huber tied for the bars crown with a 9.9, which tied her season-best on the event.
Tucker now owns 13 titles in her Tiger career, with three coming this season.
It was Huber's fourth career event win, all on bars.

TIGERS POST SEASON-HIGH VAULT SCORE AT METROPLEX CHALLENGE

The Tigers went at least 49.100 on all four events against Alabama on Feb. 1, marking the first time this season the team accomplished the feat.
The team posted scores of 49.200 on floor, 49.125 on vault and beam and 49.100 on bars.
Mizzou last went 49.100 on all events at the State of Missouri Meet on March 16, 2018, when the squad notched scores of 49.275 on beam, 49.200 on floor, 49.175 on vault and 49.150 on bars.
In fact, the Alabama meet marked the fourth time under Head Coach Shannon Welker Missouri reached that mark, as it also did it against Auburn on March 3, 2017 and at Florida on Feb. 24, 2017.

WARD, TUCKER TIE FOR VAULT TITLE AGAINST CRIMSON TIDE

Senior Britney Ward and junior Aspen Tucker won their third and second, respectively, event titles of the season as they tied a pair of Alabama gymnasts for the vault title on Feb. 1.
Both Tigers tallied scores of 9.875 to share the crown.
The score tied a season-high for Ward, while it was just off Tucker's high of 9.9.
Ward's other two titles from this year came on beam, while Tucker's came on floor.

TIGERS POST SEASON-HIGH VAULT SCORE AT METROPLEX CHALLENGE

Missouri tallied a season-best vault score of 49.275 at the Metroplex Challenge on Jan. 26 despite only putting five up on the event.
The score, the highest for the Tigers on any event so far this season, tied for the ninth-best total on the event in program history.
Additionally, it was Mizzou's highest vault score in over two years, when the team broke the school record with a 49.425 at Lindenwood on Jan. 15, 2017.
All five Tiger gymnasts scored a 9.825 or higher in the rotation, led by a season-high 9.9 from Aspen Tucker. Other scores included a 9.875 from Britney Ward, 9.85 from Morgan Porter and 9.825s from Madeleine Huber and Gabrielle Gottula. The 9.825 was a career-best for Gottula.

TIGERS NOTCH SEC WIN WITH VICTORY OVER ARKANSAS

The Mizzou-Arkansas matchup at the Metroplex Challenge counted as the Southeastern Conference matchup between the Tigers and Razorbacks, with Mizzou improving to 1-2 in league action with the win.
Missouri's win marked the third-consecutive regular season victory over Arkansas, as the Tigers also defeated the Razorbacks twice during the 2018 season.
Additionally, Mizzou improved to 5-1 against Arkansas in the last six matchups (postseason included).

MCCRARY CLAIMS VAULT CROWN AT FLORIDA

Freshman Hannah McCrary claimed a share of the vault title in Mizzou's meet at Florida on Jan. 11.
It was the first event title of the freshman's Mizzou career.
McCrary earned a career-best 9.875 on her Yurchenko 1.5 at the meet, marking the first time she competed the 10.0 vault in collegiate competition.
She also went personal-best 9.850 on floor at Florida.

TIGERS FACE TOUGH 2019 SLATE

The 2019 regular season features 15 matchups with 14 teams ranked in the top 25, including 10 meets against top 10 opponents
Overall, Mizzou faces off against No. 2 Oklahoma, No. 3 Florida, No. 4 LSU, No. 5 Utah, No. 6 Alabama, No. 7 Georgia, No. 9 Michigan, No. 10 Kentucky, No. 12 Arkansas, No. 13 Denver, No. 14 Auburn, No. 20 Arizona State, No. 21 Stanford and No. 23 Minnesota. The Tigers actually take on LSU twice during the regular season.

WARD NAMED SEC SPECIALIST OF THE WEEK

Senior Britney Ward was named the Southeastern Conference Specialist of the Week, the league office announced on Jan. 8.
It marked the third SEC weekly honor of her career, as Ward also claimed Specialist and Freshman of the Week honors as a freshman in 2016.
Ward claimed the beam event title as Mizzou took first in a quad meet against No. 20 Arizona State, No. 23 Minnesota and UIC in Tempe, Ariz., on Jan. 4. She anchored the Tigers' first rotation with a 9.95, a score that held up as the highest of the night on beam. The score was good enough to rank her tied for second nationally on the event after one week of competition.
The win was the 29th event title of her Tiger career, including her 16th on beam. It also marked the sixth time in Ward's career she scored a 9.95 or better, which ranks as the second most in Mizzou history. Additionally, it was the 19th time in 40 career beam routines she posted at least a 9.9.

TUCKER, WARD CLAIM EVENT WINS IN SEASON OPENER

Senior Britney Ward and junior Aspen Tucker both took home event wins in the Tigers' quad meet against Arizona State, Minnesota and UIC on Jan. 4.
Tucker tied for first on floor with a career-high-tying 9.9. It was her 11th career event title but her first-ever win on the floor exercise.
Ward scored a 9.95 to win beam and claim the 29th event title of her career, including the 16th on beam.

SCHUGEL MAKES HER RETURN

Mizzou's meet on Jan. 4 marked the return of redshirt senior Becca Schugel, who suffered a season-ending injury in January of last season.
The fifth-year gymnast tore her Achilles tendon during practice after seeing action in only two meets during her senior season in 2018.
Schugel competed on bars at Arizona State and posted a 9.825 on the event.
Schugel is a three-time All-SEC performer over her first three-plus years with the Tigers, as she earned floor honors in 2017, beam honors in 2016 and All-Freshman Team acolades in 2015
She earned her bachelor's degree in health science in May 2018 and is currently enrolled in Mizzou's accelerated nursing program.

SCOUTING THE OPPONENT...UTAH

Utah enters Friday's meet ranked fourth nationally with an average score of 197.575
The Utes also rank second nationally on vault, fourth on floor, fifth on bars and sixth on beam.
Individually, MyKayla Skinner ranks second nationally on vault (9.933) and fourth in the all-around (39.631).

SCOUTING THE OPPONENT...LSU

LSU is ranked fifth nationally with an average score of 196.850.
The Tigers also rank fourth nationally on vault and beam, seventh on bars and eighth on floor
Senior Sarah Finnegan is the reigning SEC Gymnast of the Year and won the 2018 SEC all-around title

SCOUTING THE OPPONENT...STANFORD

Stanford comes into Friday's meet at No. 26 in the national rankings with an average score of 195.258.
The Cardinal also rank 12th nationally on floor, 27th on vault,29th on beam and 34th on bars.