University of Missouri
#6 Kentucky
No. 11 Mizzou Gymnastics Hosts No. 6 Kentucky in SEC Home Opener
1/25/2025 3:00:00 PM | Gymnastics
The Missouri Tigers open competition in Hearnes Center for season with SEC home opener.
COLUMBIA, Mo. — No. 11 University of Missouri gymnastics returns to Hearnes Center for the first time in 2025 with its Southeastern Conference home opener against No. 6 Kentucky on Sunday at 5 p.m. The meet will be televised by SEC Network.
MEET PROMOTIONS
-The Retro Cat Classic, a historic Missouri gymnastics meet that dates back to the 1981 season, returns after a 16-season hiatus.
-The original renditions of the meet used to feature each Division-I gymnastics program which had a mascot that is part of the feline family.
-The first 500 fans will receive a replica leotard t-shirt, which is designed after the ones the Mizzou gymnastics team will wear in the meet.
-The meet is a black out - fans are encouraged to wear their black Missouri gear.
THE MATCHUP
-No. 11 University of Missouri gymnastics competes against No. 6 Kentucky in its Southeastern Conference home opener and the team's first meet inside Hearnes Center this year.
-Mizzou is 16-21 all-time against Kentucky. The Tigers are looking to win its first meet against the Wildcats since 2019, where they won inside Hearnes Center by a 196.250-196.000 margin.
-The Wildcats return 11 of its 15 gymnasts from the 2024 season, when they finished 19-9 overall and third in the NCAA Fayetteville Regional Final.
-Through its first two meets, Kentucky has earned an average score of 196.900 and holds wins over No. 8 Arkansas and No. 16 Ohio State at the Sprouts Farmers Market Invitational and won its SEC Opener against No. 3 Alabama last week.
-UK's 197.300 against the Crimson Tide serves as the sixth-highest team score through week three of the season.
-The Tigers hold a slight edge over the Wildcats in bars, with MU holding a 49.217 average compared to Kentucky's 49.175. The teams are tied for sixth nationally on floor at a 49.250 average.
HU DID THAT? SHE DID
-Redshirt senior Helen Hu made history in the team's meet against No. 1 Oklahoma, recording the first perfect 10.000 of the 2025 NCAA Division-I women's gymnastics season and of her career during her routine on balance beam.
-The Chicago, Illinois native made the national spotlight since then, even being featured at No. 5 on the SportsCenter Top-10 the next day.
-Hu's performance is the fourth time a Mizzou gymnast finished with a 10 on beam, most recently done by Sienna Schreiber on March 3, 2024, against Arkansas.
-Before last season, the feat had not been accomplished by a Tiger since Lauren Schwartzman did so twice in the 2004 campaign.
-Five of the seven 10s in Mizzou gymnastics history has come since 2023.
-Hu previously scored at least 9.950 on 15 different occasions prior to her first perfect 10 on Friday evening.
-The only other time a Mizzou gymnast recorded a 10 on beam on the road was by Schwartzman on March 12, 2004, at the Texas Women's University Invitational.
-Hu spent the past year backpacking in European, South American and Asian countries.
-In her most recent season of competition, the 2023 campaign, Hu competed in all 13 meets and posted a 9.900 or better on beam in 10 of them.
-She earned second team All-America status in the event and was on the end-of-season All-SEC team.
OKLAHOMA SHOW STOPPERS
-Jocelyn Moore captured the meet's highest score on vault with a 9.975 for the event title on beam.
-On bars, Mara Titarsolej anchored the team's rotation and posted a 9.900 for the second consecutive contest.
-Freshman Railey Jackson had the best night of her young collegiate career, setting two personal bests on beam and floor, each with scores of 9.875.
RECORD-BREAKING SEC OPENER
-Three Missouri gymnasts showed out in the team's first conference competition of the 2025 season - Titarsolej on bars, Moore on vault and Hu on beam.
-Mizzou's 49.300 during its second rotation on vault marked the team's highest score on the event this season.
-The Tigers earned a score of 196.750 in the contest, marking its highest team total of the season through three meets.
WANT SOME MO'(ORE)
-Moore, a senior, has had a fantastic start to her 2025 campaign, earning a 9.900 or better in two of the team's three meets this season.
-The Hillsborough, New Jersey native set the best vault score of the season thus far against No. 1 Oklahoma on Jan. 17, recording a 9.975.
-Moore's 9.975 is the fourth time in her career to reach or exceed the threshold. She holds the program's lone perfect 10 on vault and two additional scores of 9.975.
-She has reached the 9.900 threshold on vault 20 times.
-Moore also notched a score of 9.925 on floor for the Tigers at the Denver Quad, marking her first score of 9.900 or better on the apparatus for the 2025 season and the 29th time in her collegiate career, which leads the team.
NOT OFF TO A ROCKY START
-Jackson has continued to improve in each meet during her freshman season, most recently setting career-bests on beam and floor at No. 1 Oklahoma, recording a 9.875 on both events.
-She was one of two freshmen at the Denver Quad to place in the top 10 of both beam and floor.
-Her 9.825 on floor matched her first routine score during Mizzou's season-opening meet at Beauty and the Beast on Jan. 3.
RETRO CAT CLASSIC
-Mizzou returns to Hearnes Center for the first time of the 2025 season with its Southeastern Conference home opener against Kentucky.
-One of Missouri's 33 scores of 197 or better in program history came at home in 2017 against the Wildcats.
-Since joining the SEC, MU has scored an average of 195.681 in its dual meets against UK.
-The team has also averaged a score of 195.713 at home in those meets.
WARMED UP AND READY TO GO
-The Tigers already appear to be in midseason form through its third meet of the season.
-A total of seven different gymnasts have earn a score of 9.900 or better thus far.
-Titarsolej, Moore and Hannah Horton each have reached the mark twice this season.
-Horton and Moore have earned their scores on two different apparatuses - Horton on bars and beam and Moore on vault and floor.
IT JUST MEANS MORE
-The Tigers moved to 11th in the country on the week three RoadToNationals poll with a 196.525 scoring average.
-All nine of the SEC gymnastics programs are in the top 17 of the rankings, with every program holding an average of 196 or better.
-Mizzou's No. 9 preseason ranking by the WCGA ties the program's highest in the last 10 years and is the second time in the last three years the Tigers have cracked the top 10, also starting the year ninth in the nation in 2023.
SIGNED, SEALED, DELIVERED
-Director of Athletics Laird Veatch announced on Thursday, Jan. 2 that gymnastics head coach Shannon Welker has signed a contract extension to remain at the helm of the program through 2029.
-Since taking over Mizzou's program in May of 2013, Welker has transformed the Tigers into a consistent contender on the national stage.
-He has led the program to historic milestones, including multiple NCAA Championship appearances, record-breaking team scores, home attendance records along and the development of numerous All-Americans and conference honorees.
STAR-STUDDED TIGERS JOIN THE AMBUSH
-After a historic 2024 season, Welker signed the sixth-ranked freshman class and top-ranked transfer class, according to CollegeGymNews.com.
-The freshman class was comprised of three-star Ayla Acevedo, four-stars Kaia Tanskanen and Lisa Szeibert and five-stars Jackson and Olivia Kelly. Jackson and Tanskanen were the lone two first-year student-athletes to compete in the first week, with Jackson earning scores of 9.800 on beam and 9.825 on floor while Tanskanen notched a 9.750 on vault.
-The nation's leading transfer class featured Lauren Macpherson, Abby Mueller, Elise Tisler and Amy Wier.
-Welker has announced the program's 2025 recruiting class of four signees consisting of CollegeGymNews.com five-star Kimarra Echols, Bryce Kupbens, three-star Maiya Terry and four-star Hayli Westerlind.
-The Tigers' class ranks 11th nationally and fifth in the SEC, according to CollegeGymNews.com. This marks the third time since 2021 that MU has welcomed a top-11 class nationally.
2024 WRAPPED – A RECORD-BREAKING YEAR
-The Mizzou gymnastics program set its team-high score on all four events during the 2024 season.
-Seven Tigers earned All-SEC selections, the most of any team in the conference, and three were named WCGA All-Americans.
-Missouri set a new dual meet attendance record during its Jan. 26, 2024, win over No. 3 LSU with 7,336 spectators as the program earned its highest-ranked win in history.
-The Tigers had their best season ever on vault, earning a score of at least 49.000 in every meet for the first time ever.
-The team also set its highest-ever NQS score of 197.420. In addition, Missouri also broke its best NQS score on floor (49.575), bars (49.420) and vault (49.340). Its ranking of eighth on floor and 11th on bars is its highest end-of-year ranking.
UP NEXT
-Mizzou will be on the road again for its next meet as they travel to Baton Rouge, Louisiana to take on second-ranked LSU.
-Missouri scored its highest-ranked win in program history in 2024 when it hosted eventual national champion LSU, who was the No. 3 team in the country at the time. MU is seeking its third regular-season win over LSU in four years.
FOLLOW THE TIGERS
For all the latest on Mizzou gymnastics, stay tuned to MUTigers.com and follow the team on Facebook, X, Instagramand TikTok.
Players Mentioned
