Following a historic opening meet score, Missouri struggles on the road against a top five opponent.
Missouri gymnastics faced their first SEC foe in Alabama on Jan. 12. The No. 3 Tigers fell to the No. 4 Crimson Tide with a final score of 197.225-196.475.
Alabama bested Missouri in all events except vault, with Missouri earning a score of 49.375 to Alabama’s 49.125. Missouri struggled in bars and beam, earning 48.950 and 48.800 scores, respectively. This loss comes off a historic opening meet score of 197.150 against Lindenwood, SEMO and Northern Illinois.
The first rotation saw the Tigers take on the uneven bars, where the team struggled to stick landings and display fluidity. Graduate Hollyn Patrick’s 9.65 was dropped, but two scores of 9.725 from senior Amaya Marshall and junior Jocelyn Moore were counted. However, senior Mara Titarsolej’s beautiful routine, featuring a pak salto and stuck landing, finished the bars rotation with a strong 9.850. Meanwhile on vault, Alabama struggled early with unstuck landings and low scores. While neither team earned a score of 9.900 or higher in the first rotation, the Tide barely edged the Tigers, 49.125-48.950.
The second rotation brought the Tigers to the vault, their most improved event from their Jan. 6 meet. Graduate Sienna Schreiber opened with a clean, stuck 9.850 vault which was followed by three more scores of 9.800 and above. Similar to Alabama, Missouri fell victim to small steps and hops in landings due to powerful vaults. Freshman Hannah Horton and Moore finished with Yurchenko 1.5 vaults and scores of 9.900 and 9.925, respectively. On the bars, Alabama solved their issues on vault and stuck all but one of their landings. Freshman Chloe LaCoursiere put up a stunning 9.925 opening routine that catalyzed a series of stuck landings and clean tricks in motion. Alabama’s strong bars rotation extended their lead, 98.675-98.325.
The Tigers headed to the floor exercise in the third rotation. After a standard routine from Schreiber, freshman Kennedy Griffin’s lively routine to a Destiny’s Child medley, with a stuck double pike dismount, set the tone for floor. Griffin was followed by clean 9.875 and 9.900 routines from junior Alonna Kratzer and Horton. Then, junior Amari Celestine, who normally shines on floor, put up a 9.700 due to an under-rotated layout full pass. Alabama opened the door slightly on beam with two 9.700 scores and consistent balance checks. Graduate Luisa Blanco’s 9.925 helped the Tide finish strong, but Missouri still cut Alabama’s lead to 147.775-147.675.
The fourth rotation on the beam required the Tigers to pull out big scores to overtake the Tide. After a less than ideal 9.700 from Marshall, it was up to Titarsolej to set the tone for the rest. Unfortunately, she was crooked on her triple series and unsteady on all tricks in the rest of her routine, leading to a low 9.550. The Tigers produced clean but unconfident routines to follow, leading to lower scores. Meanwhile, Alabama made minimal mistakes on floor, resulting in three 9.875 scores and a 9.900 from sophomore and SEC Specialist of the Week Gabby Gladieux. Missouri ended with a bang with a tight 9.950 routine from Schreiber, but it wasn’t enough to overtake Alabama.
Schreiber’s score was the highest on beam across the two teams, but was still bested by Blanco in the all-around, 39.675-39.500. Moore’s 9.925 vault score was the highest of the day, and Horton finished another strong freshman meet with two scores of 9.900.
With another road meet ahead, Missouri should hope to improve their beam and bars scores while minimizing landing mistakes. The Tigers will face No. 15 Georgia in Athens on Jan. 20 at 1 p.m.
Edited by Quentin Corpuel | qcorpuel@themaneater.com
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