Even a day-plus removed, I feel a wide range of emotions about Mizzou’s meet in Athens, from joy to irritation to anxiety. With just one meet left in the regular season, I don’t know what to expect, but I hope like hell it involves healthy athletes, sticky feet and equitable judging.
Judging has been an absolute crapshoot this season, and after talking with some people privately offline, one has to start to wonder if at some point it takes a toll on the team. I know they can only control how they perform
and rely on their training, but it has to be hard to see what’s happening at times.
As Shannon has said previously and I agree, I’d rather see tight judging applied fairly throughout then whatever [stops to gesture dramatically in air] this is. At least then you know what to expect. You know that if you wobble here, or don’t stick a landing that it’s going to cost you. IT IS FINE IF THAT COSTS YOU. That’s great. But when it’s selectively applied to one team and not another, or when both teams are performing to the best of their potential and one team is being rewarded with 9.925s or higher, for instance, while the other one gets a 9.85 or 9.875, it makes me want to throw my computer through the damn tv. When both routines are great and have solid, controlled landings, full extension of leaps, and great showmanship, they should be equally awarded.
But a balance check on beam wasn’t treated the same for Mizzou as it was for the home team, and a near-perfect floor routine was judged one way for Mizzou and another way for the home team. You cannot tell me that Hannah Horton’s 9.95 wasn’t deserving of the 9.975 that CaMarah Williams scored. You cannot tell me that Harley Tomlin and Nyla Aquino’s 9.925s, or even Eryn Williams and Ady Wahl’s 9.90s, were better than the 9.875 that Railey Jackson scored in leadoff. Or the 9.90s by Elise Tisler in the second slot or Kaia Tanskanen in the fourth spot; both could have gone 9.925 easily. Or the blasphemous 9.85 that Ayla Acevedo scored in the third spot. These routines were awesome. Not a flippin’ foot slide to be found. Not an imprecise leap to be found. They performed magnificently, in my non-expert opinion, and deserved to be credited as such. Or, at the very least, given the same scoring courtesy that the home team was. Both teams were — full stop — incredible on floor.
I promise this isn’t to knock what Georgia’s performance did, by the way. I am fine with them winning, and they were due a W against the Tigers, honestly, as it’d been a while for them. Without superstar Lily Smith, which was announced pre-meet that her season was done after suffering a broken foot, they came out fighting, and their final two rotations were very good. Like, really good. They fought back from so-so vault and bars rotations with very impressive beam and floor rotations. Were they score not one, not two, but THREE 9.975 score good? No, I don’t think so. One 9.975 good? Yeah, I’ll allow that. Shout out freshman CaMarah Williams, you are so impressive.
Anyway, all this aside, let’s get down to the nitty-gritty. After you watch this highlight reel, of course.
ROTATION 1: MIZ BARS | UGA VAULT
For the second week in a row, the Tigers put up a super solid bars rotation which featured SEVEN OF EIGHT sticks. You guys, it was getting reallllllly sticky at Stegeman Coliseum. Utilizing the same rotation as last week, Makayla got things started off with what I thought looked like a really great routine, aside from the step back on her landing. A 9.775 seemed low, to be honest. LMac followed with a fantastic routine, earning a 9.875. Her Tkatchev looked super clean and her handstands were great. Even better was the full twisting double tuck that was stuck cold, which started the stick parade. Olivia was up next with a huge Church and overall, just a gorgeous routine, earning a season high 9.90, and Maiya followed with gorgeous lines and a career-high tying 9.925. H2 wrapped up the counting scores with a breathtaking 9.95 routine that tied a career high. Her handstands were crisp and her double layout was sky-high. Unfortunately, Kimarra fell on her Khorkina release, though she did an admirable job of performing a clean routine, along with a stick, from that point forward to finish it off. The commentators, who I found to be exhausting for most of this meet, did point out that she had fallen on the skill in warmups as well.
With the meet being on SEC+, the teams each got two exhibitions, and the Tigers used that to get additional looks at Addi, who was a bit late on her pirouette, scoring a 9.75, as well as Rayna, who had a bit of a wonky handstand, earning a 9.725.
The rotation’s 49.425 was the third highest of the season, and got the Tigers started on the right foot.
As for Georgia, they got started on vault with a 49.250, with just one stick, from the leadoff, Ja’Free Scott, who earned a 9.875 on her Yurchenko Full. Otherwise, their high scorer was freshman phenom CaMarah Williams, who scored a 9.90 (step forward), and they counted 9.825 scores from Avery Moll (small controlled hop on YF), Nyla Aquino (small shuffle on Tsuk Full) and Ady Wahl (step back on Y1.5). They dropped Csenge Bacskay’s 9.775 (short on landing on Y1.5).
After One: Mizzou held a slim 0.175 lead, 49.425 to 49.250.
ROTATION 2: MIZ VAULT | UGA BARS
Another week of some landings issues, despite the announcers saying that they were hitting them in warmups. My worry is if they don’t get this figured out like.. now … that it will ultimately keep them from their potential. Ken stepped back into the leadoff role again this week, but tried a bit too hard for the stick. landing a little squatty and with hop forward on her YF, earning just a 9.65 that would be dropped. RJ’s Y1.5 looked great in the air, with a very controlled hop forward, earning a 9.825. Kaia followed with a 9.75 on her PFH, with a bigger hop, likely resulting in that larger deduction. ET, who nailed it in warmups, had great height but just a teeny tiny top on her Y 1.5, earning a 9.875 for the fourth time this season. H2’s large hop on her Y1.5 resulted in a 9.80, before Ki rebounded nicely from the bars issue with a really great YF. She had just the tiniest shuffle of her feet, earning a 9.875 for the second week in a row. The team’s 49.125 matched last week’s season low, so yeah… not the direction we’d like to be going.
In exhibition, Ayla nailed her YF, but didn’t have a lot of distance despite a really clean landing, tying her season high 9.80. I was happy to see Dak get back to good looking vaults, and her 9.85 could definitely make a lineup moving forward.
Meanwhile, the GymDogs headed to bars where they earned a 49.225, led by a team-high 9.90 by Ja’Free Scott. They also counted 9.875s by Holly Snyder (stuck her FTDT) and Autumn Reingold (shuffle of feet— did the judges not see it?), a 9.825 by Brooke Pierson and a perhaps overscored 9.75 (one judge gave her a 9.80!) by Csenge Bacskay, who had an overly aggressive handstand and a step back on her landing. They dropped Kelise Woolford’s 9.175, who was off on her pak salto.
Through 2: Mizzou’s lead is down to 0.075, 98.55 to 98.475.
ROTATION 3: MIZ FLOOR | UGA BEAM
What a rotation for the Tigers, though in retrospect it was underscored based on what Georgia was awarded in the final rotation. Mizzou’s 49.550 was their second highest of the season. Railey got started with a beautiful routine, full of great landings and not a foot slide in sight. Her double pike was super high as well, and she earned a 9.875. Elise’s leaps were great as were her landings, and I can’t believe we won’t get to watch her exuberance that much longer. She earned a 9.90. Ayla followed with incredible heigh on her double pike, and I was honestly stunned by her 9.85 score. The announcers were far too busy talking about a Georgia beam routine to bother talking about Ayla’s routine, which was super annoying. Kaia followed with a masterful routine, earning “just” a 9.90, taking her 9.90+ scoring streak to six of the last seven. H2 NAILED her routine with the biggest double layout that I swear you could have walked under, tying her career-high 9.95. And to wrap it up, Ken earned a 9.925. Honestly, this was a fantastic rotation. Ayla’s 9.85 was dropped. The team’s 148.100 through three was their highest of the season.
In the exhibition slots, Kimarra had a bit too much juice on her first pass, going out of bounds, leading to a 9.700, and Maiya, a week after earning a 9.90 in exhibition, earned a 9.80. I honestly missed her routine, guys; I’m sorry.
Georgia looked really good on beam after the leadoff fall by Holly Snyder (9.100), earning a 49.450, though my trusted gym watchers thought they were a bit overscored. TWO GymDogs, freshmen Kelise Woolford and CaMarah Williams, earned 9.975s, and they also counted a 9.90 by Jaydah Battle, and a 9.875 by Harley Tomlin. Ja’Free Scott’s 9.725— she missed her connection— was challenged and changed to a 9.775.
After three, Mizzou slightly builds their lead back to 0.175, 148.100 to 147.975.
ROTATION 4: MIZ BEAM | UGA FLOOR
With the Tigers still in front with a small lead going into beam, it was interesting to see how they would do. It wasn’t perfect, but you know what, it wasn’t bad, either. My main concern is the health of senior leadoff queen Amy Wier, who was pulled out of the meet between initial lineup release and the start of the meet, and is battling a bit of an injury, I’m told. AMY, GET BETTER!!!! WE LOVE YOU!!!!
In her place, RJ stepped into the leadoff spot, a familiar rotation spot for her on other apparatuses, so if anyone could easily step in, it would be her. She had a lil’ balance check after her front aerial to back handspring, but stuck the landing, and I was happy with a 9.85. Ideally, that would have been the dropped score on a normal day. Kaia had a lil’ balance check of her own after her first series, to go along with a small step back, earning just a 9.775. LMac followed with an absolutely gorgeous 9.925, complete an iconic death drop to chalk angel celly.
GAD, back in the lineup for the first time this season (I think?), I thought did a really nice job and I’m so proud of her. She had just a small step back on her gainer full, earning a 9.775. Liv stuck her landing, earning a confusing 9.65 after a long wait, as one judge gave her a 9.7 start value, and the other a 10. After an inquiry, this was changed to a 9.80. When I asked Nate about the weird scoring, he thought perhaps her leap series might have been broken? The announcers, of course, were of NO help during this, as they were too busy fangirling over Georgia’s floor routines. Addi also had a little balance check in the anchor spot, earning a 9.85. Mizzou’s 49.200 was their third lowest of the season. In exhibition, while I missed it completely — I’m the worst! — Hayli earned a career-high 9.80, and I’m excited for her future as a Tiger.
Georgia took to floor and had a really good rotation, but I will contend it was NO BETTER than Mizzou’s really good floor rotation, yet they earned a 49.625, a full 0.075 higher than the Tigers. They were led by CaMarah Williams’ second 9.975 of the night, along with season best 9.925 by Nyla Aquino (great landings) and Harley Tomlin, who does a double arabian, which I LOVE. However, Harley did shuffle her front foot on the last pass and did not receive a score reminiscent of that. They also counted two 9.90 scores by Ady Wahl (I had no notes written down for her) and Eryn Williams, who earned her highest score since freshman year (I thought her final pass landing was a little low in height. They dropped Nicole King’s 9.75, which featured a very underrotated first pass.
After Four: With the Tigers’ s0-so last rotation and the GymDogs’ superior floor rotation, they overtook the lead, winning in a season high 197.600. The Tigers’ 197.300 was their highest road score of the season.
MVGs (Most Valuable Gymnasts)
Hannah Horton: The Queen of Consistency
I might as well just leave the junior permanently on this list at this point. Hannah was the lone event winner this week for the Tigers with her 9.95 on bars, which ties her career high. She also tied her career high on floor with another 9.95. The Queen of Consistency ranks 10th nationally on floor with a 9.930 NQS with one of the most fun routines in the entire NCAA and 15th on bars with a 9.915 NQS. SOO GOOD.
Lauren Macpherson: Perseverance Personified
That’s two weeks in a row of being in my MVG listing for the super senior! LMac’s 9.875 on bars was the second highest of the season (and should have been higher), and her 9.925 on beam was the second highest of her career. Lauren’s really come on strong the last few weeks, and I can’t wait to see what celebration is next!
Elise Tisler: Finishing Strong
ET continues to do super well these past few weeks, with three 9.875+ scores on vault in the last four weeks, and her second 9.90+ in the last four weeks (and her fourth 9.875+ in the last four weeks). Great, great stuff.
The Bars Squad (Makayla, Lauren, Olivia, Maiya, Hannah, Kimarra, Addi, Rayna): On the Up-and-Up
The STICK QUEENS!!! What a rotation for the Bars Beauties (workshopping a nickname here— open to suggestions). 7/8 sticks from the bars squad, which is an improvement from the week before. Per Virtius, the team’s average score was 9.885, which is really, really good! 4/6 of the rotation received a 9.875 or higher, which means that at least one judge awarded them a 9.90. The rotation also featured three season best scores (either beating or tying) from Olivia Kelly, Maiya Terry and Hannah Horton, with the latter two tying a career best. For rotation that basically included… [counting]… two of these participants last year (Liv, H2) this is phenomenal work. I’d also like to point out that all eight of these gymnasts have career scores of 9.85 at minimum or higher, and 7/8 have career scores of 9.90 or higher.
The Fab Floor (Railey, Elise, Ayla, Kaia, Hannah, Kennedy, Kimarra, Maiya): The Fiercest
This week’s floor was even better than last week — no feet moved!!!!! — despite being lower scoring [eye roll], with an average score of 9.910. The Fab Floor was truly the most fabulous. 5/6 received at least one 9.90 from the judges, and the sixth, Ayla, was robbed.
The lowest career score of any of these eight? 9.875. Let’s examine this further, shall we?
- RJ (so): 9/9 scores of 9.825-plus | 5x 9.875-plus | career-high (2026)— 9.925
- ET (sr): 5/9 scores of 9.875-plus | 3x 9.9-plus | career-high at Mizzou (2025, 2026)— 9.925
- AA (so): 5/8 scores of 9.875-plus | 3x 9.9-plus | career-high (2026)— 9.925
- KT (so): 6/10 scores of 9.90-plus | 3x 9.925 | career-high (2026)— 9.925
- HH (jr): 8/10 scores of 9.925-plus | 2x 9.95 | career-high (2024, 2026)— 9.95
- KG (jr): 10/10 score of 9.875-plus | 6x 9.925 | career-high (2025)- 10.0
- KE (fr): 2/4 scores of 9.875
- MT (fr): 2 exhibition routines— 9.90 / 9.80
Conclusion
Back to my chat offline earlier to wrap this up, the Tigers need to get their landings in order, because it is very obvious no judge is doing them even a modicum of favors (even at home, they fail to get that patented “SEC Homerism”). They don’t seem to know what they’re doing and when the last thing they do see is a landing, those have to be ON POINT. This team has shown they really will truly have to be UNDENIABLE in all areas to reach their goals this season. They can do it, and I believe they can do it, but the time to act is NOW.
Side Note: Georgia, Mizzou wants its slogan back. They had it first.
Where Things Stand in the SEC
Mizzou is the sixth ranked team in the SEC with a 197.213 NQS, behind Oklahoma (197.967), LSU (197.897), Florida (197.593), Alabama (197.508) and Georgia (197.369) with one regular season meet to go. This means they are locked into the earlier session of the SEC Championships. Why? Even if they score a 198 next week, the highest score is dropped, so they can’t overtake Alabama or Florida at this point.**
Apparatus-wise, all events remain ranked in the top 10, which is super cool. The Tigers have moved up one spot nationally to no. 8 on beam, and down one spot nationally to no. 9 on vault. They are holding steady on bars and floor from a week ago.
- 2025 Comparisons: Looking at Week 10 in 2026, the Tigers’ averages are up in overall score (197.155 to 197.208), floor (49.450 to 49.458), beam (49.235 to 49.248) and vault (49.133 to 49.220). Bars is down from 49.338 to 49.283. Across the board, however, their NQS is down, meaning their higher scores were higher last year than this year. Otherwise, the NQS scores from this time last year are pretty on-par, which you can see below.
- Overall: #7, 197.345 (‘25) v. #7, 197.213 (‘26)
- Floor: #3, 49.545 (‘25) v. #5, 49.456 (‘26)
- Beam: #10, 49.340 (‘25) v. #8, 49.291 (‘26)
- Bars: #5, 49.415 (’25) v. #9, 49.316 (‘26)
- Vault: #11, 49.235 (’25) v. #9, 49.219 (‘26)
**The gymternet has informed me that once RTN actually takes into account that the Tigers’ 197.55 home score needs to disappear, that it would potentially move Arkansas ahead of them.
