By perusing the honors bestowed upon Missouri gymnastics this season, one might develop the concept that the Tigers have a two-athlete team.
Freshman Rachel Updike has stolen the headlines by winning every Big 12 Conference Newcomer of the Week Award given out, and senior Mary Burke has won Big 12 Gymnast of the Week and two individual all-around titles.
However, in their meet Friday night against the North Carolina State Wolfpack, the Missouri Tigers (5-0) showed their true depth, cruising to an easy 195.925-195.225 victory.
The score was Tigers’ highest of the season and saw five different athletes achieve scores of 9.875 or higher.
The Tigers took the lead out of the first rotation on vault, led by strong scores with Burke’s 9.875, Updike’s 9.850 and sophomore Katelyn Trevino’s 9.825. The Wolfpack trailed but was consistent on bars, staying above 9.700 with all six athletes.
Senior Allie Heizelman uncorked a career-high 9.900 on the bars to headline the second rotation for Missouri, and the Updike-Burke duo led the Tigers on the beam with two 9.850 scores. Updike’s mark tied her career high in the event.
“I think it went great,” she said. “We just came out and did the best that we could do as always. Sometimes the judges don’t give us as high scores as we think, but we can’t determine that, so I think we all did great.”
Missouri put the meet to bed in the floor exercise. Trevino and junior Tori Howard scored 9.875 while Updike and Burke applied the exclamation point with a pair of 9.900s, with Burke’s routine sending the crowd into frenzy.
Burke won the all-around title by a comfortable margin of .425 points and her 39.450 score was a season-high.
“I think that, finally, things are coming together,” Burke said about the team. “We are just building every week and hitting our landings and sticking everything.”
The floor exercise was the Tigers’ best event of the night and has turned into a strong point for them. Missouri’s team score was .150 points better than any other event and totaled over 49 points for the third straight meet.
“We have some good, confident kids who like to dance and tumble,” Drass said. “We construct the routines in such a way that when they hit them, they should score well, and it’s just a matter of them having the confidence to get out there and do it.”
Drass complimented the Tigers’ consistency and lack of falls while still noting room for improvement.
“This was closer (to a complete meet) across the board, but we still left a couple of tents on the ground,” he said. “We’ve got all the big things right, now we’ve got to just fine-tune it and get some of the details and nuances, whether it’s a step here or wobble there … the things a casual observer won’t notice as much, but the judge sitting there is marking down against you.”
In its next meet, Missouri will take on Boise State, Illinois and UCLA in the IGI Chicago Style Invite on Saturday in an attempt to extend their winning streak to six.
