Gymnastics competes at home for final time
Missouri’s last test before the Big 12 Championships will be a crucial one as they welcome the No. 9 Oregon State Beavers to the Hearnes Center on Friday.
The No. 13 Tigers have not faced an opponent ranked as highly as their visitors from the Pac-10 conference, nor have they faced off with a team that has posted a higher team score (197.500).
When Missouri hits the mats at 6:30, there will be little margin for error.
Oregon State’s solid lineup has even caught the attention of Sports Illiustrated, who featured Beaver freshman Leslie Mak in their Faces in the Crowd section on March 2.
Mak has hit at least 9.9 in both the uneven parallel bars and balance beam this season. She also performs on the floor exercise and has hit as high as 9.850.
The Beavers feature another pair of weapons in all-arounders junior Mandi Rodriguez and senior Jami Lanz. Both gymnasts have hit at least 39.550 in the all-around this season while Rodriguez scored 9.975 on floor exercise on January 16.
As for that season-high score of 197.500 that Oregon State hit? They reached that mark last week against Washington and Seattle Pacific and come into Columbia riding that momentum.
Turning to Missouri, the Tigers will have one last chance to surpass their regular season-high score of 196.625 accomplished against Illinois on February 13.
After two straight weeks surpassing the 196.000 level, Missouri has averaged around 195.500 their last two meets. If the Tigers succeed in upending Oregon State, their regular season win total of 16 will be their highest since 2007, when they posted 17 victories.
Junior Sarah Shire is looking to wrap up a historic 2009 season. Thanks to her performance in the last week’s Eagle Invitational, Shire was named Big 12 Gymnast of the Week for the fifth time this season.
The Columbia native is looking for her ninth all-around title of the season against only one fourth place finish.
While Shire is looking to put a cap on her season, seniors Adrianne Perry and Alicia Hatcher are aiming to cap off their careers at the Hearnes Center.
Both seniors will perform at home for the last time in their four-year Missouri careers.