COLUMBIA, Mo. – The No. 16 Mizzou gymnastics team scored a 195.600 in the season opener to finish second in a home tri-meet on Saturday afternoon at the Hearnes Center. Illinois placed first with a 195.850 and Southeast Missouri took third with 191.275 points.
Seniors Aspen Tucker (Lehigh Acres, Fla.) and Morgan Porter (Overland, Mo.) and freshman Helen Hu (Chicago, Ill.) all earned event titles on the day. Tucker won vault and tied for the bars crown, while Hu tied for first on beam and Porter tied for first on floor.
VAULT
The Tigers opened the meet with a 48.900 on vault, led by three scores of 9.8 or better. Tucker led the way with a 9.825 to take top honors on the event, while junior Gabrielle Gottula (Spring, Texas) and freshman Kambrie Brandt (Adkins, Texas) both earned 9.8s. Porter went 9.75 and freshman Sienna Schreiber (Cumming, Ga.) added a 9.725.
BARS
Tucker again posted a team-best score with a 9.825 on bars in the second rotation. Porter and junior Chelsey Christensen (Rapid City, S.D.) both tallied 9.75s and Hu scored a 9.725. Overall, Mizzou totaled a 48.150 as a team on the apparatus.
BEAM
Mizzou got back on track with a 49.200 on beam in the third rotation thanks to four scores of 9.8 or better. Hu anchored the Tiger lineup with a 9.9, just ahead of Gottula's 9.875. Schreiber set the tone early with a 9.85 in the leadoff position, and Porter scored a 9.8. Sophomore Alisa Sheremeta (Circleville, N.Y.) also added a 9.775.
FLOOR
Five Tigers tallied at least a 9.825 as the squad concluded the meet with a 49.350 on floor in the final rotation. A 9.9 from Porter paced the Tigers, while Tucker and Hannah McCrary (Murfreesboro, Tenn.) earned 9.875s, a career-high for McCrary. Gottula and Sheremeta both posted 9.85s and senior Mary Nicholson earned a 9.775.
QUOTABLES
Mizzou Head Coach Shannon Welker
"We did a decent job on vault to start off. We debuted a couple 10.0 vaults, and we did a decent job with those, and they'll only get better. Obviously, we had some issues on bars, that was by no means a display of how talented we are on that event. We picked up where we left off last year on both beam and floor and finished really strong on those two events. I was really pleased how we rebounded from making a mistake. We have a lot of new routines out there and today is a good place to build from. Certainly we'll get better as the season goes on."
UP NEXT
Mizzou travels to Lexington, Ky., to face No. 12 Kentucky on Friday, Jan. 10 at 5 p.m. CT in a meet televised live on SEC Network.
MIZZOU EVENT WINNERS
Vault
1. Aspen Tucker (9.825)
Bars
T1. Aspen Tucker (9.825)
Beam
T1. Helen Hu (9.900)
Floor
T1. Morgan Porter (9.900)
