Missouri Tigers turn in school-record gymnastics performance vs. Auburn: how they did it
Enjoying arguably the best season in program history, the No. 7-ranked Missouri Tigers gymnastics team finished its last home meet of the season on a high note, defeating No. 13 Auburn 198.100-197.150 on Sunday at the Hearnes Center.
Mizzou’s score was the highest in program history.
“The score, it tells us what the consistency is,” MU coach Shannon Welker said. “There are nights when we’ve got that type of performance, and maybe we score a little lower. We did a great job of just being consistent across all four events and minimizing some little, small areas. ...
“There are only maybe five schools in the country that have a 198, and we’re one of them. I think that speaks to values to make history but also to do it on senior day.”
MU seniors Amari Celestine and Jocelyn Moore scored career highs on floor, the former recording a 9.975 and the latter a 9.950. Sophomores Rayna Light, Kennedy Griffin and Hannah Horton each scored a 9.925, giving MU a 49.700 for the rotation and clinching the historic final team score.
Celestine and Moore were visibly emotional immediately after finishing their routine.
“We always try to compete for something bigger than ourselves,” Moore said. “We talked about legacy and just doing things for the people who will come behind us. There are people before me that set us up for greatness, and now, we’re just trying to keep that going for the later generations and later classes.”
Celestine’s all-around score of 39.650 is the sixth-best mark in program history.
“Ten to 12 years ago when I started here, we had about 100 people in this building, and we weren’t doing so hot,” Welker said. “To be able to have that type of performance in front of this crowd at the level that we did, it’s super special. It’s the most impactful senior class we’ve had.”
Mizzou (12-4, 4-3 Southeastern Conference) started the meet with an impressive performance on vault. The host Tigers tied their season high with a score of 49.375. Horton earned a 9.900, and Celestine received a 9.925 as the anchor.
Graduate Kyra Burns opened the uneven bars strong, finishing with a career-high score of 9.925. Moore followed with another career high, recording a 9.950 after sticking the landing, and graduate anchor Mara Titarsolej’s 9.950 gave MU a total of 49.575, the second-best mark in program history.
Mizzou hit a season high on beam with a 49.450. Celestine also recorded a season high on the apparatus with a 9.875, junior Addison Lawrence followed with a 9.925, and redshirt senior Helen Hu’s 9.900 rounded out the third rotation.
MU’s victory over Auburn (10-5, 3-4) came on the heels of a 198.125-197.725 road loss to No. 3 Florida on Feb. 28.
Mizzou will next face No. 16 Arkansas (7-8, 2-5) at 7 p.m Friday at Bud Walton Arena in Fayetteville, Arkansas.
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