No. 19 @MizzouGym Takes Eighth at SECs With a 195.900

Saturday, March 23

New Orleans, La.

3 p.m. CT

University of Missouri

SEC Championship

No. 19 @MizzouGym Takes Eighth at SECs With a 195.900

3/23/2019 8:44:00 PM | Gymnastics

NEW ORLEANS. – The No. 19 Mizzou gymnastics team scored a 195.900 to finish eighth at the 2019 Southeastern Conference Championships, held on Saturday afternoon at the Smoothie King Center in New Orleans, La.

LSU won the Championship with a score of 197.900, followed by Florida (197.750) in second, Alabama (197.350) in third and Georgia (197.000) in fourth. Arkansas (196.475) placed fifth, Auburn (196.375) sixth and Kentucky (196.225) seventh.

KEY PERFORMANCES

Missouri opened strong in the first rotation, notching a 49.125 on beam. Sophomore Gabrielle Gottula (Spring, Texas) led three Tigers with scores of 9.85 or better, as she earned a 9.875. Senior Brooke Kelly (Birmingham, Ala.) and junior Mary Nicholson (North Richland Hills, Texas) both tallied 9.85s, which tied a season-best for Kelly. Additionally, senior Allison Bower (Mesa, Ariz.) and redshirt junior Morgan Porter (Overland, Mo.) added 9.775s.

All six Tigers reached the 9.8 mark on floor to boost the squad to a 49.250 on the event in the second rotation. Gottula and junior Aspen Tucker (Lehigh Acres, Fla.) posted identical scores of 9.875 to pace the squad. Missouri used 9.85s from Nicholson and senior Michaelee Turner (Parkville, Mo.), and Bower and Porter bookended the lineup with 9.8s.

In the third rotation, Mizzou totaled a 48.675 on vault. Porter had the top score of the apparatus, with a 9.8, while Tucker earned a 9.775. A 9.75 for Gottula and a 9.7 from freshman Frances Bidwell (Phoenix, Ariz.) rounded out Mizzou's rotation.

The Tigers closed the session with a 48.850 on bars in the fourth rotation. A 9.825 from Porter paced lineup, while Bidwell earned a career-best 9.8 in the anchor position. Redshirt senior Becca Schugel (Eagan, Minn.) notched a 9.775, sophomore Chelsey Christensen (Rapid City, S.D.) went 9.75 and Kelly earned a 9.7.

QUOTABLES

Mizzou Head Coach Shannon Welker
"We started out nice and strong on the first two rotations, which very good. On vault we didn't open the way we planned and we needed to clean up some landings. So we're going to work on that as we move to NCAA Regionals. Bars wasn't too bad as well, but again, we have to do a better job on landings in order for us to perform at the level that we're capable of. Overall there were a lot of good things but we need to put a meet together if we're going to take ourselves deeper into postseason."