Missouri has looked like an ascendant team for a number of years, but after a breakthrough 2022 that ended with a national championship berth, the Tigers haven’t yet made it back. This could be the year that changes, though. Missouri hustled on the transfer market this offseason, bringing in four new names to complement an already-strong freshman class—then capped it all by announcing the unretirement of program legend Helen Hu.
2024 Rewind
No. 11 overall | No. 5 at SECs | No. 11 in regular season | Regional Finals
2024 went roughly as expected for the Tigers, and delivering one of the best meets of the season in the regional semifinal to crush an upset attempt by Georgia will have felt great. There’s reason to hope for more in 2025, though.
Losses & Gains
| Returning | In |
| Fifth-Years Kyra Burns Mara Titarsolej Helen Hu Seniors Amari Celestine Grace Anne Davis Jocelyn Moore Juniors Addison Lawrence Courtney Woods Sophomores Jessa Conedera Kennedi Griffin Hannah Horton Rayna Light Kylie Minard | Freshmen Ayla Acevedo Railey Jackson Olivia Kelly Lisa Szeibert Kaia Tanskanen Transfers Lauren Macpherson (San Jose State) Abby Mueller (Illinois) Elise Tisler (Towson) Amy Wier (Oklahoma) |
| Out | |
| Graduated Alonna Kratzer (FX) Amaya Marshall (UB, BB) Kalise Newson Hollyn Patrick (UB) Sydney Schaffer (BB) Sienna Schreiber (AA) Retired Jalene Jachna Mackenzie Patricelli | |
| Injury Update | |
| Grace Anne Davis will miss the season after an Achilles rupture. Addison Lawrence missed the 2024 season with injury but should return this year. Olivia Kelly was limited by a wrist injury (apparently due to a scooter accident) during preseason but looks promising in recent intrasquads. | |
Fresh Faces
The four transfers will likely be the story here. This group, particularly the two grad transfers, is a powerful signal that Missouri intends to make a move this year and control its own destiny. The increase in upperclassman depth might mean the freshmen are slower to earn lineup spots, but don’t underestimate them; this group includes two former five-star recruits and an international elite.
Apparatus Deep Dive
Vault
2024 Event Ranking: No. 12 | NQS: 49.340 | Average: 49.269
| Event Overview: Missouri has, to the best of our knowledge, five current 10.0 SV vaults to play with, and a couple more might be on the way. This is a dynamic event for Missouri, but it sometimes takes a few weeks to get the landings under control to start the season. | ||
| Locks: Amari Celestine, Hannah Horton, Jocelyn Moore These three returning Yurchenko one and a halves, all of which topped out at 9.950 last year, will form the core of the lineup. All three are occasionally vulnerable to overpowering these massive vaults, but most of the time they’re excellent. | ||
| Contenders: Kennedy Griffin, Railey Jackson, Abby Mueller, Kaia Tanskanen, Elise Tisler Tisler is here only because of the slight uncertainty introduced by a transfer; by NQS, she’s actually Missouri’s top returning vaulter. Tanskanen is the most likely impact freshman, with a great Tsuk full. Griffin and Jackson are athletes who head coach Shannon Welker has mentioned having possible upgrades while Mueller has the top returning Yurchenko full by NQS. | ||
| Wildcards: Ayla Acevedo, Kyra Burns, Rayna Light, Lauren MacPherson, Lisa Szeibert This group of Yurchenko fulls from a mixture of returners and newcomers provide a wealth of consistent backup options. |
Bars
2024 Event Ranking: No. 11 | NQS: 49.420 | Average: 49.304
| Event Overview: Three of Missouri’s six NQS routines from 2024 graduated, so bars is an opportunity for newcomers to step up. Luckily, there will be no shortage of options between transfers, freshmen, and one intriguing injury returner. | ||
| Locks: Jocelyn Moore, Mara Titarsolej Titarsolej will almost certainly return to the anchor spot here; her bars is often Missouri’s single best routine at the meet. While nobody else on the team can match her weekly near-perfection, veteran Jocelyn Moore’s consistency virtually guarantees her return to this lineup. | ||
| Contenders: Kyra Burns, Addison Lawrence, Lauren MacPherson, Abby Mueller Burns is the third returning NQS routine from 2024, along with Moore and Titarsolej. Getting junior Lawrence back from injury could be significant on bars, and both grad transfers were frequent and valuable bars competitors for their previous teams. | ||
| Wildcards: Amari Celestine, Hannah Horton, Helen Hu, Olivia Kelly, Rayna Light, Lisa Szeibert Celestine was a regular presence in the bar lineup during her first two years in Columbia but dropped the event last year. Horton and Light have both competed bars intermittently in the past. Szeibert was the only freshman Tiger to do bars at the most recent intrasquad, but Kelly has a lot of potential here if her wrist is fully healthy. Hu’s focus seems to be on beam for her final season, but bars is an intriguing outside possibility. |
Beam
2024 Event Ranking: No. 22 | NQS: 49.295 | Average: 49.098
| Event Overview: Beam tends to be a weakness for Missouri, with both errors and technical imperfections contributing to a lower score ceiling. Turnover was inevitable here, with only two of Missouri’s own 2024 NQS routines available. Luckily, it’s a strength for the transfers, not to mention beam legend Hu. Expect a very different, maybe improved, beam lineup this year. | ||
| Locks: Helen Hu, Lauren Macpherson Hu needs no introduction here, but Macpherson might, if you’re the type of person who can’t stay up late enough on a Friday night to catch the west coast conferences. Her beam NQS was 9.905 last year. Designating a transfer routine a lock might be a little bit bold, but she’s a heavy hitter on this event. | ||
| Contenders: Amari Celestine, Railey Jackson, Olivia Kelly, Addison Lawrence, Rayna Light, Abby Mueller, Kaia Tanskanen, Amy Wier This is a long list: There are many options on beam and little to choose between most of them based on publicly available information. Oklahoma transfer Wier is an intriguing prospect; she’s only competed exhibitions so far in her college career, but she’s looked very promising in training. Celestine, Light, and Mueller all competed regularly last year, with Celestine adding beam to her repertoire after not competing it for her first two seasons. Beam is also a strength for many of the freshmen. | ||
| Wildcards: Jessa Conedera, Kennedy Griffin, Jocelyn Moore, Mara Titarsolej Moore popping up at the intrasquad on beam is intriguing; the senior has never competed this event in her career. Titarsolej has never quite gotten consistent on beam in college and might not even be seriously training it in her final season, but she can be lovely nevertheless. |
Floor
2024 Event Ranking: No. 8 | NQS: 49.575 | Average: 49.515
| Event Overview: Missouri is a floor team. After three apparently wide-open lineups, the Tigers’ pet event is a whole different story: Most of last year’s extremely dangerous floor team returns, and it won’t be easy for newcomers to break in. | ||
| Locks: Amari Celestine, Kennedy Griffin, Jocelyn Moore These three are as good a back half on floor as any in the country. They have difficulty, dynamism, presence, and undeniable star power. They’ll continue to contribute big scores and ridiculous highlights in 2025. | ||
| Contenders: Hannah Horton, Railey Jackson, Olivia Kelly, Lauren Macpherson, Elise Tisler Horton is the surest bet. She’s just half a step back from last year’s top group after a freshman season interrupted with a bout of the twisties (from which she recovered admirably). Tisler and Macpherson both did big numbers on floor at their previous schools. | ||
| Wildcards: Jessa Conedera, Rayna Light, Kylie Minard, Abby Mueller Light and Mueller are both returning NQS floor athletes (one at Missouri, one elsewhere) whose peak scores are just a little below the potential of some others. But both are also admirably consistent. Conedera and Minard are true wildcards: They’re intriguing returners who haven’t yet seen lineup time but who are consistently present in training and at intrasquads. |
Records Watch
Team: 197.850 | AA: 39.725 | VT: 49.500/10.000 | UB: 49.600/10.000 | BB: 49.550/10.000 | FX: 49.700/10.000
The vault, bars, and floor team records were all set in 2024, and vault in particular looks tantalizingly possible in 2025. Jocelyn Moore has career 10.0s on both vault and floor, and Mara Titarsolej has done the same on bars—both should be considered candidates to repeat this year.
The Big Picture
If you didn’t know how badly Missouri wants to make it back to nationals this year, recruiting four transfers and bringing a former star out of retirement should do the trick. This team is going all in on 2025. Don’t be surprised if the freshmen don’t make a huge splash right off the bat: Every appearance is that athletes who are already prepared to handle pressure will be prioritized. It’s rare to see a gymnastics team use such an overt win-now strategy, so it’ll be fascinating to see if it works.
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Article by Rebecca Scally
