No. 9 Gymnastics Battles Texas Woman’s In Non-Conference Meet

COLUMBIA, Mo. — The No. 9-ranked University of Missouri gymnastics team (5-1, 2-1 SEC) takes a one-week break from SEC competition for a road trip down to Texas Woman’s University in Denton, Texas. First touch from Kitty Magee Arena is scheduled for 6 p.m. CT Saturday, and the action will be streamed on BlueFrame Technology. Streaming access costs $10.

• In front of a record-setting crowd of 7,336 spectators at Hearnes Center, the No. 9 Tigers pulled off their biggest ranked win in program history, knocking off No. 3 LSU, 197.325-197.225, last Friday.
• Missouri posted three event scores that each tied for the second-best score in program history with a 49.425 vault performance, 49.400 bars score and an outstanding 49.600 floor total.
• The host Tigers entered the final rotation trailing by .150, but thanks to five floor routines of 9.9 or higher, Mizzou prevailed to win back-to-back SEC dual meets. The triumph also constitutes Missouri’s fifth victory in its last six dual meets.

• One week after scoring her first collegiate 9.9, freshman Kennedy Griffin continued her breakout campaign by earning SEC Freshman of the Week honors on Tuesday.
• The Strongsville, Ohio, native wowed the Hearnes Center crowd with a 9.975 in the fifth spot on the floor rotation, earning chants of “10!” from the home faithful.
• Her result tied the Missouri school record most recently set by Jocelyn Moore at the Mizzou Invitational on Jan. 6, 2024. It is Missouri’s first SEC Freshman of the Week nod since March 15, 2022, when Amari Celestine claimed the accolade.

• For the second consecutive week and the third time this season, Missouri is ranked among the top-10 teams in the nation at No. 9 with a 197.088 average.
• In the event rankings, Missouri’s vault lineup jumped a spot from last week, checking in at No. 5 with a 49.331 average.
• Thanks to a 49.600 floor showing, the Tigers boosted their average to 49.456 and their standing by three positions to No. 6 in the event.
• On beam, the Tigers maintained their spot among the top-20, checking in at No. 15 with a 49.106 score.
• The bars group also improved its position by three spots, moving up to No. 16 with a 49.194 average.

• As one of the most accomplished gymnasts in Mizzou gymnastics history, graduate student Sienna Schreiber can cement her spot in the program record books this weekend at Texas Woman’s.
• Over the course of her collegiate career, the all-arounder from Cumming, Georgia, has totaled 1963.275 points across all of her collegiate routines, marking the third-most in program history.
• Currently, Schreiber sits just 3.975 points shy of Adrianne Perry (2006-09) at second place and 25.3 points behind Mary Burke (2009-12) for the most in program history.
• By completing three routines at TWU, the four-time All-American would become the highest-scoring gymnast in program history.

• Freshman Hannah Horton has been all business through her first month of collegiate action for the Tigers.
• In Friday’s showdown against LSU, Horton won the vault title with a career-best 9.950 Yurchenko layout with a 1 ½ twist to help the Tigers post a 49.425 on the event.
• Through four meets, Horton ranks third on the team with four 9.9 routines this season (two vault and two floor). The Brooklyn Park, Minnesota, standout has also won a pair of vault titles this year.

• Junior Jocelyn Moore has maintained her spot as one of the top event specialists in the country this season with her recent run on vault and floor.
• The star from Hillsborough, New Jersey, played a pivotal role in the Tigers knocking off LSU, posting a 9.900 on vault in the night’s opening rotation, notching a season-best 9.875 on bars and closing out the victory with a 9.925 on floor.
• Across Missouri’s trio of SEC meets against Alabama, Georgia and LSU, the two-time WCGA Regular-Season All-American has scored 9.9 or higher on both vault and floor at all three meets.
• With both her vault and floor scores ranking among the top 10 in the country on Road To Nationals, Moore is one of just seven gymnasts and the only event specialist to be currently ranked in the top 10 on multiple events.

• After just three collegiate meets, freshman Rayna Light was tapped to serve as an all-arounder against LSU and made the most of her opportunity.
• Light led the Tigers in all-around with a 39.375, hitting all four routines of 9.8 or higher while notching her first career 9.9 routine with a 9.900 performance on floor in Missouri’s second position.
• The first-year starter from Brandon, Florida, had competed on all four events at least once in the buildup to her all-around debut. She earned the start on vault in all three prior lineups, competed on floor at the Mizzou Invitational and started on bars and beam at Georgia.

• In her return from an injury that kept her out for all of 2023, senior Amaya Marshall‘s patience for her first 9.9 routine since 2022 was worth the wait.
• After not competing in bars the prior meet, Marshall stepped up big in the number three spot on the apparatus, tying her career-best routine with a 9.900 with a stuck landing on her full twisting double back dismount. 
• The veteran from Kannapolis, North Carolina, helped Missouri score a 49.400 on the apparatus as one of five Tigers to hit 9.875 or higher.

• The Tigers feature four competitors — juniors Amari Celestine and Jocelyn Moore and freshmen Hannah Horton and Rayna Light — who rank among the top 25 individually on Road To Nationals.
• Moore is tied for ninth on vault with a 9.894 average and tied for seventh on floor with a 9.925.
• Horton and Celestine are tied for 24th on vault with a 9.875 average.
• After her 39.375 debut on all-around, Light ranks 24th in the country as an all-arounder.

• Missouri and Texas Woman’s last squared off in a tri-meet featuring Lindenwood on Jan. 29, 2023. The Tigers topped the Pioneers and Lions with a score of 196.800, their highest road score to that point in the campaign.
• All four event titles belonged to Missouri, as Amari Celestine took the vault title and Jocelyn Moore and Sienna Schreiber shared the bars title. Schreiber, Addison Lawrence and Alisa Sheremeta split the beam title, while Moore and Celestine secured the floor title.

• The Tigers lead the all-time series over the Pioneers, 16-1.

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