Friday Night Heights Comes to CoMo for Tiger vs. Tiger Battle

IT’S SHOWTIME, BABYYYYYYYY. On Friday night, under the lights of Mizzou Arena, the no. 7 Missouri Tigers will welcome in no. 2 Louisiana State for a battle of jungle cats. It’s an opportunity for the black & gold Tigers to get their first signature win of the season, after close losses to both Oklahoma in Week 2 and at Alabama in Week 3.

“The cool thing is, I feel like we’ve had an opportunity in both of those last SEC competitions to win those competitions,” Shannon told the media on Tuesday afternoon.

“I was pleased with the progress we made between the meet vs. Oklahoma to the meet vs. Alabama. I thought we competed pretty well, just a little stronger if we get off there right off the bat, I think we’re in a real good position there… We just had a little bit of some tough competition, which is fine. That’s going to help us down the road that leads into the next one.”

And on to the next one we go!

“I want our attendance to go above 5,000 this weekend, at the minimum,” head coach Shannon Welker said on Tuesday. “I think it’s a great opportunity for Mizzou fans to really show like, ‘Hey, we are a gymnastics school in addition to some other sports, right?’”

It’s new leotard time!!!! The Tigers will debut their first of four new leos this season, “Star Wars,“ and she’s a beaut. If you’d like some more hints, please revisit my magnum opus, The Art of the Leo, which I republished on Wednesday with a couple of updates.

Alexa, play Eye of the Tiger.

It’s the eye of the tiger, it’s the thrill of the fight

Risin’ up to the challenge of our rival

And the last known survivor stalks his prey in the night

And he’s watching us all with the eye of the tiger

That’s right, Tiger fans, we’re getting set for a Battle Royale between the Tigers of Columbia and the Tigers of Baton Rouge. It’s a #2 vs. #7 matchup based on RTN rankings, and Inside Gymnastics Magazine dubbed this their Meet of the Week. So get out the popcorn and crack open your favorite drink of choice. It’s time for A SHOW. CGN’s Pick Em crew had five picks for LSU and one for Mizzou— Thank you, Rebecca S, who went 6-0 last week.

Meet Info: Night at The Zou & LMac’s Birthday

When: Friday, January 30, 2026

Where: Mizzou Arena | Columbia, Mo.

Time: 6:45 pm

TV: SEC Network

Live Stats: Virtius— https://virti.us/session?s=5j0yATMveQ

Tickets: Tickets are available for $10+ to Friday’s meet! Purchase here: MUTigers.com/2026GymTix

Giveaway: $1.99 beer night seems like a pretty good reason! For the last WBB game, they offered Busch Light (ew, but it’s $1.99) and Boulevard Space Camper IPA (amazing) | Night at The Zou youth t-shirt for the first 300 fans

2026 Mizzou Gym Schedule (updated)

Week 6 (2/6): vs. Florida, 8pm

Week 7 (2/13): at Kentucky, 6pm

Week 8 (2/20): vs. Illinois | Ball State | Air Force, 6pm

Week 9 (3/1): vs. Arkansas, 2pm (Hearnes Center)

Week 10 (3/6): at Georgia, 6pm

Week 11 (3/13): at Auburn, 7pm

Week 12 (3/21): SEC Championships (Tulsa, OK)

Week 13 (4/2, 4/4): NCAA Regionals (tbd site)

Week 14 (4/16-20): NCAA Championships (Fort Worth, TX)

History: In the all-time series against LSU, the Tigers are 12-46, including 5-22 under Shannon Welker. HOWEVER, they have had some success recently, taking the last three home contests against the Bayou Bengals. Most notably, in their 2024 contest, then-freshman Kennedy Griffin scored a 9.975 on floor, and former Tiger Jocelyn Moore tied up the win by earning a needed 9.85. You can read the recap here.

Last Time On The Mats: Week 4 Rewind

When we last saw our Tigers, they were in Tuscaloosa for their first SEC road meet of the 2026 season. They earned 11 season-best scores and put together four complete rotations, though you’d argue it should have been higher if not for some odd judging at times. You can read my in-depth recap here. Here’s the highlights:

First rotation (bars): 49.250— Judges were a bit… judgy… on the bars squad, IMHO. LMac struggled in her first rotation as the no. 1, and her score was dropped. Four- 4!!!- 9.825 scores followed from Liv, Mak, Maiya (collegiate debut), and H². Friends, they did not all earn a 9.825; that’s absurd. Kimarra followed with an incredible 9.95 in her first anchor spot. Alabama earned a 49.375 on vault (4/6 season highs). Tide led by 0.125.

Second rotation (vault): 49.200— KG’s leadoff YF was solid, though earning just a 9.775 (dropped). Ayla (collegiate vault debut) earned a 9.80 on her stuck YF. RJ also earned a 9.775, but on a Y 1.5 with some directionality, Ki killed her YF, earning a season-high 9.90. Elise and HH closed it out, going 9.85 & 9.875, respectively. The Tide earned a 49.450 on bars with 4/6 season high scores. Tide builds lead to 0.375.

Third rotation (floor): 49.375— Again, a bit underscored here (especially when looking at how the home team was scored), but good overall and the leaps were LEAPING!!!! Elise had a solid 9.85 (9.8!—9.9 split), 9.85 season-best for RJ’s Waterbender routine, 9.825 for the GG, Ayla, a career-best 9.925 for Kaia & her Hamilton routine, and season-best tying 9.925 for KG. HH anchored with a 9.80, which was dropped.

Final rotation (beam): 49.400— Finally, a season-high tying score for the Beam Dream Team ^TM — I’m going to make this happen, you guys — Amy got started with a (too low) 9.825, and was followed by a (dropped) 9.625 from LMac — just a couple fixable balance checks — and 9.775 from KG in her second beam appearance of the year. Liv tied her career-high 9.90 for the sixth time, before RJ smashed her previous career-high with a 9.95. Addi anchored with her “usual” gusto, coming in with a 9.95. Bama ended the meet with a 49.375 on floor, with two season-highs. The lead decreases, but the Tide survives, winning 197.500 to 197.225.

Closing Thoughts: “I really feel like the judging is fine,” Shannon told us on Tuesday. “You know, we’re never going to complain about that. I just want it to be even across the board. I think that’s all we ask for. It’s like, let’s just judge all the teams. Even I’m fine with tight judging. Quite honestly, I think it’s great and we’ve and actually, if people go back and look at last year… Last year, we were average ranked of ninth in the country this week. This year, we’re seven if you average it out over the first four weeks. In addition, our score is actually almost 4/10 higher than our average versus last year. So metrics-wise, we’re actually doing better right there.”

MVGs (as voted on by me): Though I didn’t really do one last meet, after the fact I’m going with Kimarra Echols (bars, vault), Ayla Acevedo (vault), the Beam Dream Team, Kennedy Griffin (floor) and Kaia Tanskanen (floor)

Quick Comparisons

Opponent Outlook: LSU

KEY ADDITIONS:

KEY LOSSES:

LINEUP LOOKSIES:

NOTES:

Preseason Rankings: In the 2026 College Gym News’ preseason power rankings, the Bayou Bengals were ranked no. 2: In addition to continuing its strong recruiting tradition, the Tigers added a trio of wins via the transfer portal in the offseason, headlined by Madison Ulrich—a former five-star recruit and top-30 all-arounder for Denver over the past two seasons. After losing two key all-arounders, Ulrich’s addition is impactful, as she should slot in immediately as the second steady four-eventer behind Kailin Chio, who finished top five in NQS in her rookie season. Giving them one of the deepest rosters of the title contenders, the Tigers also add four former five-star recruits to the mix, setting LSU up to contend for its second NCAA championship just two seasons removed from its first title.
In Week 4: LSU put up a school record performance in their home opener, notching the country’s second 198 score of the season with a 198.050, earned in front of 13,516 adoring fans in the PMAC. It was the third largest crowd for a gym meet in program history. Per LSUSports: The Tigers swept all five event titles on the night; Sophomore Kailin Chio took home three with her perfect 10.00 on beam, 9.950 on vault and a 39.775 in the all-around to take home those titles while graduate student Courtney Blackson claimed the bars title with her 9.950 and sophomore Kaliya Lincoln took home the floor title with her 9.950.
Kailin Chio: Chio’s perfect 10 on balance beam was highlighted as College Gym News’ Week 4 Performance of the Meet: Since being limited to bars at Open Mike Night, Chio has been back and better than ever all January, with this beam routine serving as the cherry on top. It was the second of Chio’s career, and her first on beam. She’s left no doubt as to her status as the heir apparent to Haleigh Bryant, now her assistant coach who was the first to congratulate her after finishing the routine.
CGN Power Rankings—2026 returners: Courtney Blackson comes in at no. 4: Ranked in the top seven on bars to open her first season since 2024, Blackson’s return from retirement gives LSU a sturdy centerpiece for its bars lineup. She’s hit for a pair of 9.950s in just three appearances so far, and the former NCAA vault runner-up can still provide more as Blackson can expand upon her opening meet 9.825 on vault. The former Boise State Bronco and sneaky steal from the transfer portal projects to be a significant factor in the Tigers’ title hopes.
This Season: LSU has competed in three meets thus far in 2026, opening their season at the neutral site Sprouts Farmers Market Collegiate Quad in Week 2, where they scored a 197.500, before struggling in their first true road contest, being upset by Georgia in Week 3, scoring just 196.85 (49.075 VLT, 48.95 FX notably)

Missouri Lineup Preview

Disclaimer: Just like Jon Snow, I know nothing, really. If Kaia’s lower leg issue is improved, expect to see her in more events. As always, the spreadsheet includes high scores, average scores, scores from the B&G meet (if that is higher than the current score only), and the 2025 top score (if applicable.) As the meet is going to be SEC Network’s Friday Night Heights, there will be no exhibitions.

LINEUP LOOKSIES:

Vault Analysis: Assuming Kaia is back in the lineup, this is going to look just like it has for the first few weeks of the season. If they can stick a couple of vaults over there, they’re going 49.4-49.5, which is a pretty big score.

“We’ve added some quality depth,” he said. As Luisa Blanco mentioned week, this is a good vaulting team. Just need those sticks!!!

Bars Analysis: After three weeks of the same bars lineup, the Tigers switched out Addi for Maiya and shifted LMac to the leadoff spot. Whitney said after the open practice this week that Makayla, who took over the leadoff duties is competitive, and to me it sounds like she’s going to stick there.

“We were trying to play around with the lineup a little bit, just trying to figure out the order there. I think that actually was a really good lineup order for us,” Shannon said. “I think we just need to prep that a little better this week and I think we’ll be in good share there. Lauren’s really a competitor, and she wants to step in there and do the job we need her for.”

Additionally, Shannon pointed out that they were scoring 9.825-9.85 without a stick last weekend. “That’s 2/3 of your deductions right there. So really, that’s about it.”

Beam Analysis: My colleague Nate Salsman and I have gone back and forth on this one, as we think 5/6 of the rotation is locked up (AW-LM-OK-RJ-AL), which just leaves the final spot. I think Kaia is in if her foot’s okay, and he thinks Kimarra gets another go as she has been looking so good on every event. Also, we must consider Grace Anne, as she got a 9.85 in exhibition this week as she works her way back from a foot injury (side note: why is everyone’s foot hurt?!) This rotation is just so good, you guys. Truly a Beam Dream Team. Remember last year when Amari called the 2024 rotation, “something?” Yeah, this is not that team.

“[Assistant coach Lacey Rubin] has really done a nice job over there, and obviously we’re firing on pretty high all cylinders right now,” Shannon said at Wednesday’s Tiger Talk.

The lineup has been pretty much the same the past three weeks, with just the aforementioned three spot changing between Kaia and KG.

Floor Analysis: The Fab Floor, who I feel was underscored in Week 4, seems pretty set to me, though the lineup order itself has seen the most switcharoos. The floor lineup has had the most lineup switcharoos, with only Elise staying firm at leadoff through four meets. I’ll be interested to see if KG is back in the anchor spot this week (she’s done it three times), or if it’s H², who anchored last week. As for if we see Ki back in the lineup, perhaps not just yet. Eagle-eye Nate noticed that she’s doing a different floor pass. “It just takes a little bit of time,” Shannon said.

Other Notes & Quotes:

Title Town: The Tigers have taken 14 event titles this season, led by Hannah Horton (6), Addi Lawrence (3), Railey Jackson & Kimarra Echols (2), and Kennedy Griffin (1).
The team’s motto this year is “G.U.A.C.”: which is gratitude, unity, adaptability and communication. At Tiger Talk on January 28, Shannon said against Alabama, the team’s focus was on unity and communication with it being the first SEC road meet. “It really keeps us grounded as a group,” he said.
On lineup progressions: “We’ve been pleased with where we’re at,” Shannon said at Tiger Talk. “But overall, you kind of take January to figure out what you have and how to put it in the right order of competitors right there. And then I feel like in February, you kind of slide into that second phase where you’re like, alright, you’re starting to warm up those cylinders and get going on a little bit of a higher level…. We try to practice that [order] as much as we can in training. You’re looking at, how do they do in competition. How are they warming up at that event as well? Sometimes we’ll make last minute changes and switch some people in and out, depending on what you see on that end.”
On Ayla’s progression: “That was a young lady that didn’t get very — I don’t know if she got any competition time last year in the lineups — and I really think it didn’t sit well with her, and she took it heart, and took the whole offseason and said, ‘You know, I’m going to do better next year’ and really just worked hard. It takes different challenges to pull it out of them, you know. I’m really excited to see her having the success that she’s having, and she’s very deserving of that.”

Records Watch

Balance Beam: 49.575, broken three times in 2025 (at ARK in March 2025, SEC Champs in March 2025, Seattle Regionals Rd 2, April 2025)
Uneven Bars: 49.600, scored at Mizzou Quad, March 10, 2024
Vault: 49.500, scored at Illinois Quad, March 17, 2024
Floor Exercise: 49.725, scored at Zou to the Lou, February 14, 2025
Overall Score: 198.100, scored vs. Auburn, March 9, 2025
Best Attendance of the 2000s: 1/26/24 vs. LSU— 7,336

Finishing Touches

Time to STAND ON BUSINESS, as Coach Drink likes to say. They are ready for this. The crowd will be loud and I’d love to see Mizzou benefit from a little bit of home-cooking scoring for once. Stick the landings— at least 50% and four solid routines. To be the best, you gotta beat the best.

“I feel like we’re getting better as a team,” Shannon told us on Tuesday. “Regardless of our opponent, you know, obviously we love competing against any SEC team, including LSU, right? They’re a great team. But again, it’s going to be a great opportunity for us to gauge our improvement and our ability to compete against another really good team.” He continued. “I think we are getting better. I saw today [at practice] was actually a really good day for us the last few days, so I’m excited to see what they’re where we make some improvements this weekend.”