Lack of MU-KU rivalry doesn't affect gymnasts
Published March 16, 2007
The gymnastics team has most of the things an MU team would want. Its No. 18 ranking puts it in a position for an NCAA Regional bid. Although the Tigers have yet to beat a Big 12 team this season, they get to host the Big 12 Championship on March 31. But one thing is missing: a chance to compete against archrival Kansas, which does not have a gymnastics team.
"We would love to kick the crap out of KU every year," coach Rob Drass said. "I think that we're one of the programs on this campus that could do it. That's something special that we don't get to participate in."
But senior Amanda Pezzullo said though she is not affected much by the loss of the rivalry, she would like more Big 12 teams to compete against.
"Honestly, I really don't care," she said. "It's kind of disappointing that there is only four teams in the Big 12 for gymnastics, and it would be really cool to compete against different teams, but personally for me, KU doesn't really matter."
Pezzullo said the team has a unique competitive relationship with another border school, Illinois.
Drass considers meets against Illinois as more of a rivalry.
"I think we're starting a border rivalry with them," he said. "So we're going to do our part there and make sure we push the Illini down every chance we get. They're a good team as well, and it's a healthy rivalry."
Junior Julie Abaray said a meet against KU would be nice to generate fan interest, but the team has other rivals, and these rivalries are enhanced due to a lack of competition against KU.
"We have Arkansas and Illinois as our other border states that we get to compete against," she said.
Tonight the team will compete in Ann Arbor, Mich., against the Michigan Wolverines. Since the meet is on the road, it presents an opportunity to remove the team's 193.825 score on Jan. 19 at Oklahoma from the Regional Qualifying Score. The RQS is calculated from three road scores, the lowest of which can be dropped.