No. 15 Missouri gymnastics (5-8 1-4 SEC) kicked off its two-meet weekend with a third place finish in the Mardi Gras invitational on Friday at the The Family Arena in St. Charles, Missouri. No. 5 Louisiana State University claimed a team win, while No. 4 Utah earned second and the Stanford Cardinals finished fourth overall.
In the first rotation, the Tigers posted a 49.000 on beam. Sophomore Lauren Clevenger tied for second overall in the event with a career best of 9.875. Fellow sophomore Gabrielle Gottula posted a 9.850 in the event and senior Brooke Kelly contributed a 9.800.
Missouri’s largest event score of the evening occurred on floor as the Tigers recorded a 49.200 in the second rotation. All six Missouri gymnasts notched a score of 9.800 or better, and junior Mary Nicholson matched her season-best score of 9.875 to lead the Tigers. Senior Michaelee Turner also registered a season-high, earning a 9.850. Senior Madeleine Huber and junior Aspen Tucker matched each other’s 9.825s and Gottula added a score of 9.800.
On vault, the Tigers flipped their way to a team score of 49.100. Redshirt junior Morgan Porter and Huber both earned season-bests with scores of 9.875 and 9.850, respectively. Also earning a career record was sophomore Chelsey Christensen. She and Tucker both contributed 9.800s.
Missouri finished the night with a season-high of 49.175 on bars. Huber tied for the event win, while also tying her personal best of 9.925 for the fourth time in her career at MU. Porter helped the cause with a 9.875, a season-high, and senior Becca Schugel scored a 9.825. Christensen added another career-best score, recording a 9.800.
“I thought we did a nice job,” coach Shannon Welker said. “We had some new people step up again in places, so I was really pleased about that. Our landings were better overall, except for bars, we need to clean those up a little bit. Overall I was really pleased with what we did today. It was a good way to start our double weekend.”
_Edited by Emily Leiker | eleiker@themaneater.com_