University of Missouri
#29 Illinois
No. 9 Gymnastics Tops Illinois, Ties Season-Best Score
2/9/2025 4:00:00 PM | Gymnastics
CHAMPAIGN, Ill. – University of Missouri gymnastics posted season-best scores on both bars and floor as the ninth-ranked Tigers defeated 29th-ranked Illinois, 197.200-196.675, Sunday at Huff Hall.
Mizzou (7-3, 1-2 SEC) had five routines earn at least a 9.900 en route to its fourth-straight win over Illinois (4-4, 2-2 Big Ten). The Tigers' 197.200 ties its best team score of the season and marks the third-straight meet to reach 197.000.
SHOW STOPPERS
Senior Amari Celestine (Wildomar, Calif.) earned a career-best in the all-around, scoring 39.500. Her title marks the first Mizzou gymnast to win the all-around on the road since Sienna Schreiber did so in the team's previous visit to Champaign for the Illinois Quad on March 17, 2024. Celestine scored a pair of 9.925s on bars and floor, setting a season-best on the apparatus in the former.
Redshirt junior Amy Wier (St. Louis) posted a personal best on beam with a 9.900. Wier claimed a share of the event title for the first time in her career, beautifully executing her routine for Mizzou's highest score in its final rotation.
On floor, Jocelyn Moore (Hillsborough, N.J.) recorded a season-best 9.950 to anchor the rotation. She is now one of three student-athletes to hold season-best scores of at least 9.950 on both floor and vault in 2025. Moore has reached the 9.900 threshold 32 times in her career and four times this season. The floor title was the fourth of the season for Moore.
Graduate student Mara Titarsolej (Zutphen, Netherlands) scored 9.925 on bars for the second-straight meet. She shared the event title with Celestine and has reached or exceeded 9.900 on the event 33 times with the result. Titarsolej has reached the threshold in four of the team's six meets this season.
RECAP
Uneven Bars
-Mizzou started the rotation on the right foot on bars, posting 49.475 on the apparatus and topping its previous season-best score set during the team's first meet of the year.
-Titarsolej entered the meet ranked 18th nationally in bars scoring average and matched her season-best result of 9.925 from the anchor spot.
-Celestine also set a new season-best score of 9.925 in the event. Four of her six career scores of at least 9.900 have come in 2025.
-Celestine and Titarsolej's result ties a Mizzou gymnast's best score in the event this year.
-Sophomore Hannah Horton (Brooklyn Park, Minn.) scored a 9.900, marking the second time this season she's scored at least a 9.900 in consecutive meets.
-The Tigers ranked eighth nationally in the event heading into Sunday and upped its bars average to 49.283 following the win.
-Moore's 9.875 is the third time this season she's reached the mark on bars this season.
Vault
-Horton scored the highest score for Mizzou on vault with a 9.850.
-Anchoring the rotation, Celestine scored 9.800 to add to her new personal best in the all-around.
-Freshman Railey Jackson (Park Forest, Ill.) competed on vault for the first time as a Tiger in an exhibition routine.
Floor
-In Mizzou's third rotation, the Tigers scored 49.475 on the apparatus for a new season best. MU's previous high came at the Denver Quad on Jan. 12.
-Missouri has reached at least 49.425 on floor in three of its six meets this year.
-Moore's 9.950 is the highest score in the event for the team in 2025.
-Celestine's 9.925 is tied for the second-best individual floor result by a Tiger this season. It marked the 25th time she's scored at least a 9.900.
-Sophomore Kennedy Griffin (Strongsville, Ohio) notched a 9.875 for the second-straight meet.
-Four MU gymnasts earned 9.875 or higher on their routines.
Beam
-In the Tigers' final rotation, the team closed out the day on beam, recording a 49.275.
-Wier's 9.900 on balance beam claimed a share of the event title and was the highest score by a Mizzou gymnast at the meet Sunday.
-Mizzou has earned at least 49.250 on beam in four meets this year.
-Celestine, freshman Olivia Kelly (Bronx, N.Y.) and Jackson all scored 9.850 in their routines.
-Jackson's result was the second-best result on beam in her collegiate career.
UP NEXT
Missouri gymnastics next heads to Family Arena in St. Louis, Missouri for the Zou to the Lou Quad on Valentine's Day, competing against No. 14 Alabama, No. 29 Illinois and No. 27 Iowa. During the 2024 rendition of the meet, the Tigers defeated Illinois and Lindenwood but fell to No. 3 Florida.
This marks the second-straight contest the Tigers and Fighting Illini will compete in. Mizzou and Illinois met in a pair of quad meets in 2024, with the Black & Gold standing victorious in both.
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Players Mentioned
