Well, Friday was fun as hell, wasn’t it?!? OMG, I feel like I’ve been waiting forever to see this team perform like this. A week after — let’s face it — not a great meet in Lexington, THIS is what we wanted to see. There was so much good here! The vibes were immaculate.
“I thought we were very steady across the first three events,” Shannon said post-meet. “And then we really kind of picked it up there at the end and took advantage of a great ending rotation right there on the floor. We were 50% on sticks
tonight, so that was great… That was definitely some progress, our best stick percentage of the year. So yeah, really excited. You know, that score will definitely help us in the rankings as well.”
“I think we all just went out there and do what we usually do in the gym. I’ve seen it from everyone every single day, and we just translated that to the competition floor,” Railey Jackson said post-meet.
By the Numbers
2: season high rotation scores
2: season debuts on events
3: events, titles (or shares of titles), 9.90+ scores achieved by sophomore Railey Jackson
3: career-high tying scores
7: season-high scores
7: individual event titles
8: scores of 9.90 or higher
9.875: the score DROPPED on floor
10: sticks, the most of the season (counting an exh stick, too)
14: scores that achieved at least one 9.9 score from a judge
197.550: season-high score
Rotation Review
Rotation 1: MIZ VLT | ILL UB | BSU BB | AIR FX
Hellllllooooooooo, season high on vault! What a way to start a meet for Mizzou, and I’d like to point out, it was just like I predicted (a 49.3-49.4)! Railey, leading off for the second consecutive meet — I think she’s sticking here in this spot, you guys — started off with a stick and an unbelievably solid 9.925. Kaia followed with her second highest score of the season, a 9.85, on her Pike Front Half. Kennedy followed with a small hop on her Yurchenko Full, earning a 9.825, also just off her season high. Kimarra had a bit too much juice on her Full and took a pretty sizable step back, earning what I would call a generous 9.85 (it wasn’t better than KG’s, in my non-expert opinion). In the fifth spot, Elise had a great vault for the second week in a row, notching a 9.875 with just a small hop, and Hannah closed it out with a 9.775 that would be dropped— she had a pretty uncontrolled landing. With the meet on SEC+, teams were able to have an exhibition routine, and Dakota used this as a perfect spot to work her way into the vault rotation. Her 9.875 was her highest exhibition score by a sizable amount, besting a previous 9.725, and is getting close to her career-high 9.90 achieved while at Arkansas.
“I knew she had it in her,” Shannon said, referencing Dakota’s performance. “She just needed some confidence. And you know, even though she’s a junior in school, new team. It’s a new environment. And so I was really please with her… I’m excited that she was ready to go tonight, and did such a great job, right? So that’s clearly a vault that can help that vault line up, you know, be competitive. I’m hoping to see that more often, as are probably a lot of our fans.”
As for the other teams, I won’t bore you with a ton of results as that’s not why you’re here. Air Force was led on floor by a trio of 9.875 scores by Kylee Greene, Maggie Slife and Alyssa Bigler on floor. The Illini were led on bars by Chloe Cho’s 9.85, and a 9.825 by Ashley Szymanski for Ball State.
After One: MIZ 49.325 | AIR 49.150 | ILL 48.800 | BALL 48.400
Rotation 2: MIZ UB | ILL BB | BSU FX | AIR VLT
The Tigers looked more like themselves on bars on Friday with three sticks and their second highest rotation score of the season, matching the 49.350 from the January 30 LSU meet. I was close to my pre-meet prediction on this one too as I said they’d get a 49.4 — am I a Mizzou Gym Nostradamus of sorts?! I kid — Makayla led off with a stuck landing and a season best 9.875. That was followed by a season high-tying 9.875 by Olivia, also with a stick. In the third spot, Kaia earned a season best-tying 9.825, showcasing some really great handstands; if only she would have stuck the landing! In the fourth spot, Maiya had just a tiny step forward, earning her second highest score of the season, a 9.85. Hannah followed with her first of two 9.925 scores on the day, and in the anchor spot, Kimarra had a bit of squatty landing and a step forward, earning a 9.775 that would be dropped. Rayna got in on her second bars action of the season in the exhibition slot, earning a season-best 9.75 with a stuck landing.
Reflecting on the last couple of days on Sunday, Shannon said, “They’ve been doing it in practice… You just got to get better at competing. So those dismounts have been great practice, but you got to transfer those things into game time on there. And Friday, I think we were three of six on bars. So that was good today. I think we were maybe five of six.”
As for the other teams, Illinois earned a 48.825 on beam, led by Cho’s 9.90. Air Force earned a 48.825 on vault, led by Slife’s 9.85, while Ball State earned a 49.100 on floor, led by Zoe Middleton’s 9.90.
After Two: MIZ 98.675 (highest score through two of season) | AIR 98.000 | ILL 97.625 | BALL 97.500
Rotation 3: MIZ BB | ILL FX | BSU VLT | AIR UB
With two good rotations already completed, it was time to see how the Beam Dream Team/Bad Ass Beam Queens would do. Their 49.300 wasn’t quite the prediction I had put out (a wishful 49.5), but it was their third highest of the season and their best since the LSU meet at the end of January. Additionally, it featured 5/7 sticks! Amy got the team started out splendidly, earning her first 9.90 since Week 1, which also tied her career high for the fourth time. Olivia followed, struggling a bit on the landing of her side aerial for the second straight week, but still earned a 9.825, and Lauren followed with a gorgeously performed 9.875. Kaia’s 9.775 was dropped — she had a little wobble after her back handspring series — but still had a stuck landing. My colleague Nate Salsman keenly noticed that they changed up her routine a bit, switching from a front toss that sometimes gave her some connection issues to a front aerial. In the five spot, Railey earned a 9.90 with yet another stick — that was five in a row at this point — and Addi closed it down with a 9.85 after a little wobble and a step forward on her dismount.
In the exhibition slot, I was thrilled to see freshman Hayli Westerlind get a go, and I loved her unique front toss to beat jump combination. She took a small step on her dismount, earning a 9.700.
“It was nice to see Hayli get out there,” Shannon said. Her score, it will be get better. She’s a good beam worker… I’m sure she was nervous, so that was good.”
As for the other teams, the Falcons headed to bars, earning a 48.775, led by Slife’s 9.90, while the Cardinals earned a 48.825 on vault, led by Middleton’s 9.825. The Illini earned a 48.95 on floor, led by Cho’s 9.925 and a 9.90 by Eden King.
After Three: MIZ 147.975| AIR 146.775 | ILL 146.575 | BALL 146.325
Rotation 4: MIZ FX| ILL VLT | BSU UB | AIR BB
The most fabulous Fab Floor team came to play in the final rotation, and it was just like one 9.90+ after another. Even the dropped score, a 9.875 by Kimarra, received one 9.90 score from a judge! Railey led things off for the Tigers for the third week in a row, and her routine was gorgeous, tying her career-high 9.925 set her freshman year. Elise followed with an equally amazing 9.925, which ties her highest score in a Mizzou uniform. Kaia was inserted into the rotation for Ayla during the touch period, earning a super solid 9.90, her second highest score of her career. Hannah followed with yet another 9.90+ score, making it something like six times in eight weeks that she’s scored a 9.925 or higher. This was her fifth 9.925 of the season! And finally, Kennedy came in to anchor the rotation, and while she didn’t earn her sixth 9.925 of 2026, she did earn yet another 9.90, which means that she also has earned 9.90 or higher in six of eight routines. The team’s 49.575 was a season high and as of this writing, the eighth highest score in the country. It also means that the team’s active streak of 49+ floor routines is still alive and well, and now sits at 74.
When talking with Shannon about the team’s success on floor on Friday, he said, “We’ve been training really consistently, and I feel like that’s a that’s an event we have a lot of experience on. You know, some nights, different events just are going to kind of flow a little bit easier… I think we went over there and we’re really assured that we were going to do well there.”
As for the other teams, the Falcons wrapped up their meet on beam, earning a 48.900, led by Bigler’s 9.85. Illinois ended their meet on vault, earning on a 48.875, led in scoring by Summer Clancy’s 9.85. Ball State finished up on bars, earning a 48.95, led in scoring by Mary Rose Bellan.
After Three: MIZ 147.975| AIR 146.775 | ILL 146.575 | BALL 146.325
Most Valuable Gymnast
Railey Jackson: Triple Crown
RJ continues to have just an incredible sophomore season and now has won an incredible six individual titles, including the three she picked up on Friday on vault (solo title), beam (co-title) and floor (co-title).
When I asked Railey to put into words what it was like for her to get three event titles on her three events with three scores of 9.90 or better, she said, “It feels amazing, actually. You know, I was just really focused on just going out there, doing my normal, what I usually do in the gym, and not trying too hard to be perfect, but just casual gymnastics.”
“It was impressive that this young lady [gesturing to Railey sitting next to him] won two events in the lead off. I mean, that’s tough to do, right? First vault of the evening, and she wins that event, and then leads off on floor and ties over there as well.”
Amy Wier: Solid as a Rock
Amy Wier continues to be one of the best leadoff beamers in the NCAA, and Friday was no exception, as she took her first individual co-title and earned yet another 9.90 — the fourth of her career — as the one who sets the tone for the Badass Beam Queens.
When asked about what it feels like to know that her teammates can just follow her, she said, “I think it’s just like, mostly I think about the best that I can do for my team when I go up there because sometimes I am super nervous, obviously, but when I think about, like, hey, I want to be able to set the tone for the rest of the team as best as I can so that I don’t stress them out in anyway…. Obviously, like, they’re not stressed in any way, they got it, but just trying to do the best I can and kind of take my time and take those deep breaths, [that] really helps me.”
“I can’t say enough about Amy and just the consistency and calmness and improvement, too,” Shannon chimed in. “And I thought that was really impressive on her end tonight, and as it is most nights, quite honestly.”
Elise Tisler: Movin on Up
What a great last two weeks for E.T.! Last week, Elise earned her first vault title on the road at Kentucky with a Mizzou-best 9.90, and this week she shared a floor title, earning another season high and Mizzou-best 9.925. Her vault was excellent as well, earning a 9.875.
“It feels really good to just be building each week and really putting those corrections into practice at competitions,” Elise said on Sunday after the team’s intrasquad. “I feel like we talk so much as a team about applying those corrections, applying our keywords in competition, so it feels good to finally be getting that going and just kind of building on each move.”
The Virginia native has been a delightful addition to this team the past two seasons and is looking to finish her final season in the black & gold strong.
“I think it’s just taking every moment and being in the present moment and being where your feet are and being confident in where your feet are, something that we really talk about often in here, and so just kind of taking it one step at a time and just building off every single routine.”
Hannah Horton: Twice as Nice
Friday meant another set of individual wins for our favorite Minnesotan, Hannah Horton. By my count, this was her 9th and 10th wins of the season, taking the sole title on bars and a co-winner on floor, alongside RJ, Elise, and Illinois’ Chloe Cho. By my count, she’s had a dozen scores of 9.90 or above this season, including two on vault, four on bars and six on floor.
Part 2: Sunday Intrasquad
To get into the postseason frame of mind and to better get acclimated to a meet-rest day-meet formula the team will see in regionals and nationals, they held a public intrasquad meet on Sunday where fans got a chance to see the team for a SECOND time in three days! WHAT A TREAT!!!!
“We just created our own double meet weekend,” Shannon said, as he welcomed the crowd on hand.
“It’s tough. It’s physically exhausting, it’s mentally exhausting,” Shannon said, when asked to describe double performances. “And I think it’s almost harder when you’re not actually at an actual competition on there. And so I felt like they would have done a good job anyways, but I really wanted to see how they would respond with people in here on day two as well. Plus, I think our young ladies rise to the occasion, especially when we have fans then so, so we kind of used it for two purposes.”
And rose to the occasion they did. Everywhere we looked seemed like another stuck dismount.
“I was first hoping to see a stronger day today than I thought I saw on Friday,” Shannon said. “And I actually thought we were equally strong, if not stronger, in a couple of areas. I mean, our bar dismounts were on fire back there, and so that was good. And I actually even though the first two vaults weren’t quite what we wanted today. But I thought the rest of them, there were some improvement in other areas. So, so I think we did as I’ll have to check the scores and the video and stuff. But I think today, we actually did as well, if maybe not a little bit better than we did on Friday night.”
When asked about how the team is feeling after two meets in three days, Elise said, “I think we’re feeling pretty good. I think it’s always a confidence booster. When you’re able to go double weekend and hit the way we did in here, it’s always really exciting. And I just think just making sure that we’re taking care of ourselves inside the gym and outside, I feel like it’s just making sure that’s a priority.”
She continued, “[Having the fans here] helps just like, elevate the energy, because we can only do so much. I feel like when we’re in here doing an intersquad and everything like that. So having the fans, having energy, having some media around (😍), I think always kind of puts us a little bit extra, elevates the state and kind of replicates that adrenaline we already have.”
And because the team has no real control over what apparatus it starts on during the postseason, Shannon mentioned how important it was to get a feel of starting a meet on another apparatus.
“As we rotate through the year, we typically start on either vault at home or bars when we’re on the road, and when we hit postseason, sometimes you get beam, sometimes you get floor [they got floor alllll last postseason and I HATED it], and those are events we haven’t typically practice. So today we’re going to practice starting on beam first.
Lineup-wise, the beam rotation stayed the same as it was on Friday, meaning the beam lineup was Amy | Olivia | LMac | Kaia | RJ | Addi, with additional performances by GAD as alternate, and Hayli, Kennedy, Lisa, Bryce, and Rayna as extras. I thought Addi, despite being a bit under the weather, looked great and just as good as she did on Friday, and Kennedy looked quite good from my purview as well.
On Floor, we saw RJ | ET | Ayla | Kaia | H2| Ken, with additional performances by Ki and Rayna as alternates, as well as Sara & Maiya in warmup slots. To rest bodies a little bit, not all athletes did full out routines, there were a few passes going across instead of diagonal, but we got the gist, and overall, the team looked great.
On Vault, we saw a different sort of lineup, with RJ | Kaia | Ken | Ayla | Dak | Elise to start, and H2 & Kimarra in alternate slots. Olivia and Bryce also competed. The sticks from Kennedy, Dakota and Kimarra stick out most in my mind. Just wow.
“What’s really cool now is that we can pick and choose a little bit and really consistency is what we’re looking for and [Dakota] ‘s been doing a good job over there, especially the last two weeks,” Shannon said. “And I wanted to see how she did again today. We actually put her in that first six [of] our lineup today. You know, I moved some people around today just based on how I felt like things were going. And she did a great job.”
Ending the meet on Bars, we saw a bit of a different lineup as well, going with Mak | Liv | LMac | Maiya | H2 | Ki, with Kaia in the alternate spot. Rayna, Sara, Dak & Lisa also competed additional routines.
“We went to bars and I said, ‘Hey, show me how champions finish on day two.’ And they showed me what we needed to see, because I think that’ll help push through to NCAAs,” Shannon said.
Below is my (very) long thread of videos for your viewing pleasure.
Around the SEC
After eight weeks, in the second week of national qualifying scores (NQS), Mizzou moves up to no. 7 nationally — sidestepping Arkansas, their next opponent — with a 197.163 NQS and 197.169 average. They stayed put at no. 8 on Vault (49.246 NQS, 49.244 avg), moved down one spot to no. 9 on Bars (49.275 NQS, 49.241 avg), moved down one spot to no. 8 on Beam (49.296 NQS, 49.241 avg), and stayed at no. 5 on Floor (49.438 NQS, 49.444 avg). This puts them 6th in the SEC currently, with plenty of opportunity to grow ahead in the last three weeks of the regular season.
Looking back at Week 8 going back to the 2025 season, this is the exact same spot they were in, but with a slightly lower NQS (197.095). At this point last year, they also were no. 5 on FX (49.445 NQS), no. 8 on BB (49.295 NQS), no. 4 on UB (49.340 NQS), and no. 17 on VLT (49.090 NQS).
Below are the scores from this weekend, along with their new rankings.
- #1 Oklahoma at #2 LSU— 198.125 — home
- VLT: 49.575| UB: 49.600 | BB: 49.500 | FX: 49.450
- #2 LSU vs. #1 Oklahoma — 197.925 — away
- VLT: 49.475 | UB: 49.425 | BB: 49.550 | FX: 49.475
- #3 Alabama at #15 Auburn — 197.950 — away
- VLT: 49.375 | UB: 49.525 | BB: 49.525 | FX: 49.525
- #4 Florida at #6 Georgia — 197.575 — away
- VLT: 49.425 | UB: 49.425 | BB: 49.425 | FX: 49.300
- #6 Georgia at #4 Florida — 197.325 — home
- VLT: 49.375 | UB: 49.475 | BB: 49.025 | FX: 49.450
- #7 Missouri at #35 Air Force, #41 Illinois, #37 Ball State— 197.550— home
- VLT: 49.300 | UB: 49.350 | BB: 49.300 | FX: 49.575
- #8 Arkansas vs. #23 Kentucky — 197.125 — home
- VLT: 49.400 | UB: 48.800 | BB: 49.325 | 49.600
- #15 Auburn vs. #3 Alabama— 197.250— home
- VLT: 49.350 | UB: 49.225 | BB: 49.350 | FX: 49.325
- #23 Kentucky at. #8 Arkansas — 197.125 — away
- VLT: 49.175 | UB: 49.275 | BB: 49.350 | FX: 49.325
Up Next
In the regular season home finale, the team moves (temporarily) back to Hearnes for Senior Night against #8 Arkansas, who they JUST surpassed in the RTN rankings this week. The meet is just one of many Mizzou Athletics events going on that weekend, but you should support the best team at the school, y’all!!!!!
1pm. Hearnes Center. BE THERE.
When asked about the final goal of having that last experience of the season here in Columbia, Shannon was succinct. “Yeah, we need to blow that thing up. Listen, we have a lot of great teams on campus. This is our highest ranked team on campus.”
“This really sets us up well for moving into next week. You know, at this point you just got to get better at competing, right? The training is there, so it’s really just competing. So actually, I think this was really helpful today with that.”
Training-wise, here’s the plan: “Tomorrow [Monday], they’re off totally. They just take the day off and maybe see our athletic trainer for anything they need,” Shannon said. “And then Tuesday, we’ll do some conditioning and stretching, and then that’s it. And then we’ll get back out on Wednesday, so we’ll kind of get to it. And that’s kind of how we set it up last year, too. So, we had kind of almost like two full days off on there, so we could just recover and be ready for the next week.”
