It’s time for some honest reflection here, friends. Raise your hand if you thought Mizzou’s first SEC win of the season would come against no. 2 Florida (who now is #5, by the way).
Yeah…. that’s what I thought. And that’s okay; I didn’t think it would happen either and just wanted a good score!! But yes, that is EXACTLY what happened as the no. 7 Missouri Tigers mauled those Florida Gators and sent them packing back to The Swamp for the second time in back-to-back meetings.
This was the Tigers’ first
dual meet win over the Gators since March 2, 2018. Was Florida at their best? Absolutely not. They imploded in their very first rotation, bars, and had to spend the rest of the meet trying to claw back into it to no avail. Meanwhile, the Tigers were pretty steady eddy all meet long, and while they didn’t notch a season best rotation score until the final rotation, they, as my colleague Matthew Gustafson pointed out, pretty much matched their season average on the other three events.
“It was, it was a kind of a chaotic vibe out there, a little bit, but, but really proud of our team,” head coach Shannon Welker said post-meet. “They managed it well. I think sometimes when the other team makes a mistake early, you can kind of get to relax. And I felt like we did a nice job of just kind of plugging along and managing it. And we finished super strong, obviously, on the floor, but a lot of a lot of people stepped up tonight in some different spots, and so yeah, exciting to see a good, good step for us tonight.”
Chaotic is certainly one way to put it! Balance Beam Situation perhaps said it best, “Florida kind of competing like everyone went out for shots last night.” I had to laugh at that, and I’m really not a Gator hater and actually tremendously enjoy watching so many members of that team compete; they have a star-studded team.
When asked if seeing Florida falter in that first event and if it had any impact on them as athletes, Addi Lawrence was quick to point out, “I can speak for the team when we say that we are in our bubble over there, and so we focus on our team, and we are looking at the next person that’s going on vault… Yes, we can hear the whole crowd and stuff like that, but we’re not paying attention to score or what’s going on so that doesn’t affect our gymnastics. There’s no defense in gymnastics. It’s only what we can do, so we just stay locked in.”
Her teammate Kaia Tanskanen agreed. “Yeah, I’d have to agree with Addi. I think being in the vault lineup at the end of the vault running away, we’re a little bit closer to the bars, obviously, so I think it’s a little bit easier for us to look that way. But I think honestly, the whole vault lineup did a really good job honing in on our event and what we were doing in each of our vaults.”
So basically, it went like this: Florida faltered and Mizzou did their part to keep it out of reach. And actually, it could have been a much bigger scoring differential had the Tigers just HIT THOSE LANDINGS CONSISTENTLY [shakes fist in air].
Let’s get the review.
Rotation Review
Rotation 1: Mizzou Vault | LSU Bars
It wasn’t the best vault rotation for the Tigers — it was technically their lowest of the season, a 49.150 — but keep in mind it was just 0.15 of their highest score of the season, so it wasn’t anything to really be that concerned about. I’m just hoping those sticks come together in one meet soon! For Friday, they settled for two sticks, with the first coming from leadoff Kennedy Griffin, who stuck the landing and earned a 9.80, but perhaps didn’t get the most distance and did have a little arm swing at the end. Railey Jackson followed with a 9.80 (9.75/9.85 split)— she ended a little squatty, taking a step back, which indicates some under-rotation. Kaia was next, and she got a stick! Her pike front half was so good, earning her a career-high 9.9875.
“I was just really happy with the stick myself,” Kaia said post-meet. “That was like the main focus. Just keep improving those vaults, week by week, day by day. And I really feel like I have gotten better with those vaults. I’m super proud of myself for going out there and then obviously getting the stick on top of that. Bur still going to improve next week.”
After Kaia, Kimarra Echols’ Yurchenko Full earned a 9.825, and while she looked amazing in the air with her signature sky-high height and distance, she did have a medium hop back. Elise Tisler followed her, earning a solid 9.85 (9.9/9.8 split) on her Yurchenko 1.5 that had a small hop. To wrap up the rotation, Hannah Horton had a very powerful Y 1.5 with a bit too much juice, leading to a rather sizable hop and a 9.775 score.
As for Florida, well… it was bad, y’all. After eMjae Frazier got started with a great 9.90, Anya Pilgrim had to pivot mid-routine and add a kip, and then also took a step back on her dismount, resulting in just a 9.8 start value and a 9.45 score. Riley McCusker followed and she had trouble as well, putting a knee down and stepping forward on her landing, earning just a 9.40 (which meant the 9.45 would now count). Kayla DiCello and Skye Blakely got the Gators back on track, albeit temporarily, earning 9.90 and 9.825 scores, respectively, before Selena Harris-Miranda was too far from the bar on her Tkatchev and falls, earning just a 9.100. The 9.100 was dropped, of course, but that meant that both 9.4-range scores counted, resulting in a devastating 48.475, the lowest Florida bars score since 2010(!!!!!!!!).
After One: Mizzou holds a massive lead, 0.675— MIZ 49.15 | UF 48.475
Rotation 2: Mizzou Bars| Florida Vault
With the Tigers firmly in the lead, they headed to bars, where they earned a 49.250, which is a middle score for them. Lauren Macpherson was a little short on her first handstand and had a small hop back on her dismount, earning a 9.80 before Olivia Kelly followed with a season-high tying 9.85, taking what I would describe as a baby hop. Kaia, in her first collegiate bars routine, earned what I felt like a lower scored 9.825. Maiya Terry followed, earning a career-high 9.90 in just her third time in the lineup as a freshman. It was marvelous; her Gienger was HUGE and the stuck landing was so needed. Hannah followed with a 9.800, and she took both a hop forward and a step back, weirdly enough, but otherwise, her routine was great— her legs were GLUED together. In the anchor spot, Kimarra earned a solid 9.875 with just a tiny hop back.
As for Florida, they rebounded pretty well on vault, earning a 49.250, led by Harris-Miranda’s season best-tying 9.95 in the anchor spot — a wonderful sight to see after the bars fall, and a 9.90 from Danie Ferris. They also counted a 9.85 from Skylar Draser, a 9.80 from DiCello, and a 9.75 from Amelia Disidore. Frazier’s 9.65 on her Yurchenko Double was dropped (a shame, because it’s a cool vault).
After Two: Mizzou maintains its massive lead, 0.675— MIZ 98.400 | UF 97.725
Rotation 3: Mizzou Beam| Florida Floor
With both Florida and Missouri earning the same scores in rotation two, the Tigers entered the back half — their best half — still firmly in the lead. Their 49.275 was their second lowest of the season, but again, there were just minor errors here and there. Amy Wier earned a 9.80 in the leadoff, redoing her connection after a slight wobble, and was followed by LMac, who earned a very strange 9.85/9.75 split to get a 9.80. Her triple series was gorgeous, and she stuck the landing, albeit with a little arm swing, so I’m honestly not sure why it was so low. Liv followed with — you guessed it — another 9.90, which tied her career-high for the millionth time. Notable this time was the judge’s split as one gave her a 9.85 (huh?) and the other gave her a 9.95 (love). Kaia returned to the beam for the first time since week 3, earning a 9.775 that would be dropped. She did redo her connection between her cat jump and front toss, but the second time through was really well done. She took just a small step on the landing. RJ followed with a 9.825, which I also felt was a little underscored, as she took just a step back on her landing. Addi wrapped up the rotation with yet another 9.95 — her favorite score this season, apparently — and her fifth in six performances on what appeared to be a perfect routine.
As for Florida, they had a solid floor rotation, earning a 49.325, led in scoring by 9.90 scores by Ferris (season best) and Harris-Miranda. I actually was surprised at Ferris’ score, as her double layout was very low, to the point we were surprised she got it around. The Gators also counted a 9.875 from Frazier, a 9.85 (should have been higher, honestly) by Disidore, and two 9.80 scores by Taylor Clark — her first pass landing was wild — and Blakely — her SV was bumped down to 9.90 (one was dropped).
After Three: Mizzou maintains a sizable lead, .600— MIZ 147.675 | UF 147.050
Rotation 4: Mizzou Floor| Florida Beam
To wrap up the meet and secure the win, the Tigers wouldn’t need to do too much and needed just a 49.325 to secure a 197 score. They surpassed that, bringing in a season-high 49.525 score in just a delightful rotation. With Elise sidelined with a bit of a sore back, RJ stepped into the leadoff role, earning a very solid 9.875 with controlled landings and a very high double pike. It was marvelous. Ayla Acevedo returned to the lineup after a week off in the second slot, and methinks she should be staying put, as she KILLED it, earning a career high 9.925. My jaw was firmly on the floor the entire routine, you guys. It was RIDICULOUS. Kaia also was amazing, tying her career-high 9.925 with some excellent tumbling, great height, and fun dance elements.
Ki returned to the lineup for the second consecutive week, and she did quick well, earning a career-high 9.875 — she reined in the juice this time around and stayed in bounds — before Kennedy tied her season-best with yet another awesome 9.925 score. Sadly the judges’ scores didn’t reflect the crowd’s incessant “10!” chants. Finally, to wrap up the meet with the win already secured, was H2, who I thought looked great, but only one judge agreed, and she earned a 9.85 to close things out.
When talking with Shannon after the meet, he had this to say about Ayla and Ki: “We kind of popped her [Ayla] out last weekend, not because she was doing a bad job; we just needed to get some other people in the lineup,” he said. “And actually, that worked out in our favor a little bit. You know, we kind of slid Kimarra in there last weekend and popped Ayla out. And I know Kimarra had an error last weekend, but she popped back in and we were resting Elise… so it really almost worked out the way we needed it to, where she was getting some experience in a big meet, and I think that paid itself forward. She obviously made some improvements tonight.”
Florida ended the meet on one of its best events, beam, where they ranked third nationally coming in. The Gators’ 49.45 was a very solid score for them, counting a massive 9.95 from DiCello in the anchor spot, as well as a 9.90 from Harris-Miranda, two 9.875 scores from Frazier and Alyssa Arana, and a 9.85 from Pilgrim. They dropped Blakely’s 9.825, a score that we will address later on.
After Four: Mizzou wins by a whopping 0.700— MIZ 197.200 | UF 196.500. The 197.200 is Tigers’ fourth highest of the season. As for the Gators, that’s their lowest score in more than five years (I didn’t look past 2021).
MVG (Most Valuable Gymnasts)
Kaia Tanskanen: All-Around Debut
I was elated to see sophomore Kaia Tanskanen in all four events, and she did not disappoint, taking the AA title in her very first collegiate entrance into the event and tied for top billing on FX as well. Her 9.875 STUCK pike front half was a career-high 9.875, and she followed up that with her collegiate bars debut, scoring a 9.825, then an underscored 9.775 on beam, and finally, a career-high tying 9.925 on floor.
When asked about what it felt like to compete in the AA, she said, “It was really exciting. I put a lo tof work into the gym, I feel like, and this was my goal coming into the season to get into that all-around position. I’m really proud of myself that I got there tonight.”
Ayla Acevedo: The Glasses Goddess Returns
She’s baaaaaaaaaaaack, and the gymternet rejoiced. After a week off to get other teammates some much-needed reps, the Glasses Goddess returned with a vengeance with even higher tumbling. At one point, Matthew and I turned to each other at the media table and just went “WOW,” with our jaws on the floor.
Shannon was asked about the height in the press conference, and he said, “That’s pretty accurate. I sometimes watch her and I’m like, ‘That’s pretty impressive.‘ So you know, she’s just so quick and athletic. I was excited for her… But yeah, really proud of Ayla. She’s doing a great job over there, and you know, just enjoying it, and she probably gets the most hype on floor on our team. It’s pretty impressive.”
Addi Lawrence, Olivia Kelly & Kennedy Griffin: The Repeat Score Queens
The day these scores actually go above a 9.95, 9.90 and 9.925, respectively, I may shed a tear.
On Friday, Liv earned YET another 9.90 score on beam, approximately the five millionth of her collegiate career (it was the 7th), and her third this season. Annoyingly so was that one judge threw a 9.95 (YESSSSSSSSS!!!!) and another threw a 9.85 (huh?).
As for Addi, they just REFUSE to give her above a 9.95 on beam, and our favorite celly queen earned yet ANOTHER 9.95, her fifth of the season… in six meets. And to celebrate yet another stick, she added on to last week’s celly of prying the feet off the floor with some help from KG, who helped her unstick from the mat. Genius.
When asking Addi about that consistency every week, Addi said, “I’ve been doing gymnastics for 17 years. It’s just kind of at this point what I do and what we do at this point, we have earned that right to go out there and be consistent and have fun. So we have put in so much work in the gym, not just this season, but seasons prior. So I just get to go up there and truly have fun… And so that’s where the consistency comes from, because there’s not many nerves and tightness. It’s just going out there and doing what I can do, and then that’s getting the score that keeps going.”
And finally, for Kennedy, that 9.925 on floor is just a given at this point it seems, as she earned her fourth consecutive one of the season on Friday. On the broadcast, they actually said that KG has a remarkable hit rate of 62% of her collegiate career of 9.90+ scores.
Just epic performances from these three.
Maiya Terry: Who’s that Girl with the Gienger?
Freshman Maiya Terry has largely gone under the radar on bars this season, showing up twice in exhibition routines before making her collegiate lineup debut at Alabama on January 23. Since then, she’s been a lineup staple, and I don’t see her coming out of the lineup now, as she earned a massive 9.90 on Friday to WIN the event, and earn her highest of the season by a large margin. The gymternet went wild, asking who she was and why had they never seen her before? The real ones know, however. and are familiar with her game. (that’s a Shaq reference)
When Shannon was asked about the freshie’s performance, he said, “I mean, so pretty, right? Like, she’s got these long lines, and it’s just really impressive, right? And then she goes out, and she’s actually been struggling a little bit ot stick those dismounts, and so [it’s] great to see her stick that tonight. And yeah, it’s impressive. So you know, [I’m] not surprised. I mean, we knew she was capable of those things. You just never know how quickly people are going to be able to develop and take on those roles that you’re hoping they’ll fill. And she’s definitely done a great job.”
Nitpicks
What was with this crowd, y’all? This is NOT the crowd this team deserves, and it was emptier than empty, with just 2,976 on hand. I need the athletic department to more fully support this team and make sure they are marketing the HELL out of the best team at the damn school. FULL STOP. I also think there were potentially some other issues at play here, of which I will outline below:
- The time. 8pm is LATE to expect some college students to forgo their plans, let’s be honest. That’s cutting into party/social time.
- There weren’t any home events in the arena this week to have the team come out at timeouts and perhaps pump up the crowds and announce the meet. Men’s Hoops had only one game this week, and it was Saturday on the road, and Women’s Hoops had an away game on Thursday. Not ideal for marketing efforts.
- The giveaway was catered more towards kids, and not to beat a dead horse, but 8pm is late for parents of young children (I wouldn’t know, obviously, but I am an aunt). 8pm is also late for parents of young children. Like, that’s bedtime, guys, so it was perhaps curious to market this as the Princess + Super Hero meet when it’s going to be just too late for the kiddos.
- The students, per my discussions with them anyway, didn’t get nearly enough communication about this meet. They weren’t in their inboxes like they should be for a meet of this magnitude. As a staff member who is bombarded with constant athletic dept emails, this also felt like it was on the light side.
- I appreciate that we get such good access to the team and staff as media members — it’s incredible, honestly — but it is hard to see from our perch high in the corner, friends. Our videos look like they were taken miles away and have a grainy quality to them as we’re zooming in so much. I’ve personally mis-called a stick several times on my accounts and in my stories because from my vantage point, it looked like a stick, but I also couldn’t see their feet that well. Added to that is the commotion when others are trying to leave the arena up the stairs and behind our table when we need to go down to the floor; it’s a mess. And if fans sit right in front of our section, the view is very obstructed. I miss sitting on the floor at Hearnes every day. Are we SURE there isn’t room for the small contingent of us that actually comes to meets to sit on the floor? Are we absolutely certain? An ESPN producer friend of mine said she estimates at least half of the P5 programs have media on the floor… I miss seeing facial expressions, guys. I miss details. I miss the excitement of having the teams so close by.
Couple of weird scores here, and we noticed several instances in which the judges’ scores widely differentiated each other. We are in Week 6; what are we doing here? Matthew noticed that one judge threw a 9.95 for Hannah’s floor routine while the other threw a 9.80, which required a conference. Instead of coming up to the higher level, that judge unfortunately (inexplicably?) moved down to a 9.90 so she earned just a 9.85. BOOOOOOO. Also, how the judges missed Florida’s Skye Blakely almost falling off the beam and still awarding her a 9.825 is beyond me. Luckily, the meet was completely out of hand at that point and didn’t matter.
Shannon’s Final Thoughts
On the team’s depth: I think we’re built, you know, our team has multiple people that can step up at any moment… We have multiple people that can step up on any event and do a great job. And so I think when you have that you’re not just built on one like we have to have one or two people hit, then that opens the door for consistency and helps us build in that area as well.
Vault: Vault was a little like these last two weekends, like the last weekend, I think, we started really strong, and then the back half didn’t quite finish as strong as they’re capable. And then, you know, today was, we kind of had a little bit of some ups and down right there.
On week-to-week progress: “We actually scored higher against LSU last weekend, obviously, and probably did better in a few areas. But, you know, it just depends on the other team out there. And I was really proud of our guys for being gritty and just keeping focused on what we were doing.”
Around the SEC
After six weeks, Mizzou holds steady at no. 7 nationally for the third straight week with a 197.163 average (up from 197.155). They moved down one spot to no. 7 on Vault (49.238 avg), stayed put at no. 10 on Bars (49.225 avg), held steady at no. 7 on Beam (49.267 avg), and weirdly moved down to no. 4 on Floor despite the fabulous score on Friday (49.433 avg). This puts them 6th in the SEC currently, with plenty of opportunity to grow ahead.
Looking back at Week 6 going back to the 2022 season, this is the highest the Tigers have been ranked at this point, and it’s definitely their highest average score, as last year, it was 196.858 with a high score of 197.200. GROWTH!
Below are the scores from this weekend, along with their new rankings. Both Oklahoma and Arkansas competed two meets this weekend, so they now join Mizzou and Georgia with six scores each. Kentucky, Florida, LSU, Auburn and Alabama still only have five scores.
- #1 Oklahoma vs. #3 Alabama— 198.200 — home
- VLT: 49.525| UB: 49.575 | BB: 49.525 | FX: 49.575
- #1 Oklahoma vs. 31 AZ, #9 ARK, #46 TWU (Metroplex Challenge) — 198.175 — away/neutral
- VLT: 49.725| UB: 49.250 | BB: 49.450 | FX: 49.750
- #2 LSU vs. # 16 Penn State — 197.525 — home
- VLT: 49.475 | UB: 49.275 | BB: 49.225 | FX: 49.550
- #3 Alabama at #1 Oklahoma — 197.475 — away
- VLT: 49.350 | UB: 49.375 | BB: 49.225 | FX: 49.525
- #5 Florida at #7 Missouri — 196.500 — away
- VLT: 49.250 | UB: 48.475 | BB: 49.450 | FX: 49.325
- #6 Georgia at #9 Arkansas — 197.050 — away
- VLT: 49.250 | UB: 49.400 | BB: 49.00 | FX: 49.400
- #7 Missouri vs. #5 Florida — 197.200 — home
- VLT: 49.150 | UB: 49.250 | BB: 49.275 | FX: 49.525
- #9 Arkansas vs. #6 Georgia — 197.450 — home
- VLT: 49.275 | UB: 49.450 | BB: 49.350 | FX: 49.375
- #9 Arkansas vs. 31 AZ, #1 OU, #46 TWU (Metroplex Challenge) — 197.700— away/neutral
- VLT: 49.675 | UB: 49.375 | BB: 49.250 | FX: 49.400
- #17 Auburn vs. #25 Kentucky — 196.275— home
- VLT: 49.100 | UB: 48.650 | BB: 49.125 | FX: 49.400
- #25 Kentucky at #17 Auburn — 197.325 — away
- VLT: 49.300 | UB: 49.375 | BB: 49.200 | FX: 49.450
UP NEXT: The Tigers head to Lexington to take on Kentucky, who had their first good meet of the season on Friday night (sorry, but it’s true). The meet is at 6pm and will be televised on SEC Network.
