The first official quad meet of the year promises an action-packed night! No. 9 Missouri will host Ball State, Illinois State, and SEMO, alongside the return of the “Beauty and the Beast” event, where gymnastics and wrestling compete simultaneously.
Missouri, led by veteran Helen Hu, welcomes four transfers and five freshmen to an already-talented roster, making this one of the program’s most promising teams. Ball State, ranked No. 34 last year, looks to new freshmen and graduate student Suki Pfister to fill lineup gaps, especially on beam. Illinois State, despite key losses like Angelica Labat, adds five freshmen and three transfers, including all-around standout Jaly Jones from Lindenwood. SEMO brings in six newcomers and returns key athletes like Lindsay Ockler and Nyah Reader, aiming to rebuild depth after injuries last season.
Expect an exciting start to the season! You can follow along on SECN+ at 7 p.m. ET!
Rotation 1: VT Missouri, UB Illinois State, BB Ball State, FX SEMO
Mueller (Missouri): Yurchenko full fights for that stick to start Missouri off! (9.800)
Also no commentary for this meet so I’ll do my best to keep with scoring and names!
Griffin (Missouri): Yurchenko full, flairs it out and fights for the stick but drops her chest a bit. (9.650)
Tanskanen (Missouri): Tsuk full, big hop back on the landing but a huge vault for this lineup! 9.750.
Horton (Missouri): Yurchenko 1.5, really nice. 9.800
Moore (Missouri): Yurchenko 1.5, small hop forward, really nice height on that with chest up on the landing. 9.850.
Celestine (Missouri): Yurchenko 1.5, nice distance a little too much power with a big step out on the landing, but a really nice anchor vault for this lineup in their first showing of the season! 9.775.
*exhibition Acevedo (Missouri): Yurchenko full, small hop back but a nice controlled landing.
No other routines are being shown, just zoomed out to full screen, so I will do my best to update as best I can if routines are shown.
After 1: Missouri (48.975), Illinois State (48.775), Illinois State (48.625), SEMO (47.375)
So, unfortunately the coverage is only showing one team, so these will be short and sweet. Missouri had a good opening rotation, just missing the 49 mark on its first event. With several 10.0 start value vaults, highlighted by 9.850 by Jocelyn Moore, this lineup has definite potential when the landings get more dialed in, but, with it being the first meet of a long season, the more power the better! Going solely on scores for the other three teams, Illinois State and Ball State had good opening rotations as well; all counting scores for Illinois State were over a 9.725, a great start for them heading into beam. Ball State had scores in the 9.6-9.7 range, again, not a bad start, especially with beam as your first event of the year! SEMO had a little trouble on floor, with three scores under a 9.0, but will be looking to rally on vault!
Rotation 2: VT SEMO, UB Missouri, BB Illinois State, FX Ball State
Lawrence (Missouri): Starts off with a Maloney to immediate Pak, dismounts with a blind full to double tuck and gets the landing! 9.825
Moore (Missouri): Opens with a HUGE Tkachev to shoot over, nails the last handstand and sticks a big full in dismount! WOW what a routine! 9.875.
Horton (Missouri): Maloney right to Pak, really nice, dismounts with a really nice double layout. Three for three STICKS! 9.925. These scores are building!!
Burns (Missouri): Starts off with a blind to straddle Jaeger, right to shootover, really nice. Another stick!! Ending with a double layout, a little pulled in but Missouri is on fire! 9.875.
Celestine (Missouri): Opens up a Maloney huge back swing right to Pak. Maloney half back up, legs are glued and a toe on front pike half dismount, small scoot back but WOW! 9.90
Titarsolej (Missouri): Ending this huge rotation, this is going to be a routine to keep your eyes on all year long. Opens with a huge straddle Jaeger, to a beautiful Pak, ends with a nailed, HELd handstand, blind full to double tuck, small scoot back on the landing, but what a rotation for the Tigers!! 9.850.
*exhibition Tanskanen (Missouri): Nice Pak down to the low bar and a Maloney up. Directly to an in bar Geinger and double tuck dismount to end! Missouri definitely has some good depth on this event.
After 2: Missouri 49.425, Illinois State 48.225, Ball State , SEMO 47.875
A HUGE rotation for Missouri. Wow. a 49.425 with routines that honestly look championship ready! With all counting scores over a 9.825, highlighted by Hannah Horton’s huge 9.925, this event was solid for the Tigers. Also with an exhibition from Tanskanen, a really unique difficult routine, Missouri definitely has the depth on this event they might need later in the season. Illinois State came in with a 48.225, scoring in the mid 9s on beam and will look to get these bigger scores on floor this next rotation. Ball State had all counting scores over a 9.7, a nice rotation for them moving into the second half of the meet. SEMO scored just under a 48 on vault with its highest scoring being a 9.650 from Taylor Ingle, but counting much better scores as a whole on this event from the first rotation. Already into the second half for this meet!
Rotation 3: VT Ball State, UB SEMO, BB Missouri, FX Illinois State
Weir (Missouri): The transfer from Oklahoma’s Missouri debut! Front aerial to beat jump to start. BHS LOSO series, solid. FUN choreo down on the beam! Dismounts with a cartwheel gainer full, STUCK! We love this for a leadoff! 9.775.
Celestine (Missouri): Wolf turn to start, nice. BHS swing through to side aerial, nice connection. Front tuck, small shift to side but good. Split jump to split 3/4, really nice. Dismounts cat leap to Gainer full small scoot back. 9.825
Conedera (Missouri): Starts off with a BHS LOSO, fights for it but is off. Split jump to ring stag jump, nice. Front toss, steps forward out of it. BHS 1.5 dismount stuck. A nice routine even with the mistake, but this will be the first big test for Missouri in this meet so far to come back from this misstep. 9.150.
Jackson (Missouri): Front aerial to BHS LOSO, small adjustment but keeps it on. Sissone to switch half, beautiful. Good turn right into dance and dismounts with round off 1.5, small jump to the left but way to come back! 9.800.
Lawrence (Missouri): Fun mount! Up with her first skill, switch leap to split jump, beautiful over splits on both. Side aerial to BHS, really nice and solid. Front aerial, solid. Loving this unique choreo all the way though. Round off 1.5 STUCK. What a routine in this fifth spot! One to go! 9.9!
Hu (Missouri): This routine. I can’t wait. Iconic beginning choreo to moon walk LOVE. Y full turn, small wobble but moves out of it. Front aerial, front aerial to scale, perfect. Split jump to split 3/4, really good. Even more amazing beam choreo working all the way down to her dismount, Gainer pike off the end with a small step forward, but wow. Even with a year off, Hu looks so confident back in this spot already. 9.80.
*exhibition Griffin (Missouri): Front toss to BHS, really nice. Switch leap to switch split jump to beat jump, really nice. Ends with a BHS 1.5, small step forward.
After 3: Missouri 49.100, Illinois State 48.825, Ball State 48.525, SEMO 48.400
Another really great rotation for Missouri! With the much anticipated return of Helen Hu in the anchor spot, she did not disappoint with a beautiful, incredibly unique routine that makes it look like she never left. The lineup recovered really well after a fall in the middle, and with this historically being Missouri’s weakest event in terms of consistency, this is an amazing way to start the season and build this confidence. Scoring mid 48 on vault for Ball State, the first two scores were a bit lower, but brought up well in the back half with the last four scores all above a 9.7. This was SEMO’s best event of the night so far, with the highest score of the lineup in the anchor spot coming from Lindsay Ockler of a 9.8. Another good event for Illinois State; a nice 9.775 for Lindenwood transfer Jaly Jones in the leadoff spot, with a pair of 9.825s for Sara Wabi and Jaye Mack. One more to go here!
Rotation 4: VT Illinois State, UB Ball State, BB SEMO, FX Missouri
Light (Missouri): Round off 1.5 to front layout, nice to start and good leaps down the middle. Second pass sets up for her double pike, big step on the landing but keeps it on her feet! 9.800.
Horton (Missouri): Moon walk part two, opens with a huge full in, nice landing. Switch side to straddle 1.5, a little short on that jump. Second pass a front through to a double tuck, really nice landing to end a great routine! 9.850
Jackson (Missouri): Opens with a double pike, really nice landing. Second pass a 1.5 to front layout and dances right out of it. Leaps down to the floor and the first three pass routine in this lineup so far ending with a really nice double tuck! 9.825
Celestine (Missouri): Fun vibes already, LOVE. A huge full in to start, really nice control on the landing. Torjete half, split full, down to the floor. Second pass, front through to double tuck, another really nice landing to end this routine! 9.850.
Griffin (Missouri): First pass a really nice double pike, lots of energy on that, might have gone out or gotten really close to out on that. Second pass a front through to double tuck and keeps her heel up on the step back and stays in. Torjete half to straddle full straddle full down to the floor to her ending! 9.825
Moore (Missouri): Last one for Missouri tonight! Opens with a HUGE double layout, really nice and energy right into her dance. Switch half to split full down the middle, gets both around. Ends with a front through to double tuck, chest a little low but recovers the landing well. 9.850.
*exhibition Tanskanen (Missouri): Full in first pass, really nice. Second pass 1.5 to front layout, and down the middle with Torjete half to straddle full. Ends with a nice, ALMOST stuck, double tuck!
FINAL: Missouri 196.700, Ball State 194. 925, Illinois State 194.800, SEMO 190.475
What an opening night for Missouri at home! Unfortunately I can’t weigh in to much on the others just going off scores, but with a couple mistakes across events, this was not a bad outcome for all these teams in their first meets of the year! For Missouri, after seeing each routine, this is a team that already looks prepared. With only one fall that wasn’t included in the counting scores, this was a pretty smooth meet for the home team with several scores topping a 9.9 throughout the night. Opening the meet with a high 196 is exactly where Missouri wants to be to start off this year. Arguably the biggest high was the beam lineup, showing much more consistency and confidence and the ability to rally even after a mistake. The future is looking bright for the Tigers, and with this only being the first competition of the year, there is certainly room to grow, but this was an amazing debut they should be proud of!
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Live Blog by Julianna Roland
