When members of the Missouri gymnastics team look back at their season for a defining moment, they point to one that happened in Lincoln, Neb., of all places.
The Tigers were down through the first two rotations to Nebraska. To even have a chance at topping the Cornhuskers, they would have to hit on the floor and the beam.
And hit they did, from a most unexpected source. After starting the day as an exhibitionist, then being inserted into the lineup after an athlete had to be taken out and then feeling even more pressure after sophomore Cathryn Aliceaacosta fell in her routine, freshman Briana Conkle stepped up to land a 9.825 in the floor exercise.
Her performance, as well as freshman Laura Kappler’s 9.750 in her first-ever beam routine, allowed the Tigers to capitalize on Nebraska’s missteps in the event and snatch the meet out of the Cornhuskers’ hands, 195.725-194.550.
The Tigers look back at the Lincoln meet as a turning point as they head into their last regular season meet and postseason competition.
“If those athletes had not accomplished what they did, that win at Nebraska would not have come,” coach Rob Drass said. “I think our attitude would not have been the same, our confidence level would not have been the same, so credit to those two walk-ons. A lot of credit there for our team getting the confidence to be consistent.”
The Tigers currently sit at No. 16 in the nation, and even though they were outside the top 25 in the GymInfo preseason poll, the season seems to be going exactly as expected from the athletes’ point of view.
“We had a lot of potential going into the season, we knew we were going to have a great season, so I think we’re happy with where we are now, and we have two more chances to move up,” senior Mary Burke said.
The potential she speaks of rested with Missouri’s numerous underclassmen, such as freshman Rachel Updike, with nine Big 12 Newcomer of the Week awards to her name, and sophomore Katelyn Trevino, who has provided solid scores on the vault and floor.
“Our team is so young right now, and a lot of freshmen and sophomores have been competing like veterans and just coming up in the clutch situations that we need them to,” Burke said.
Junior Tori Howard pointed to this year’s team’s much-improved camaraderie between younger athletes and upperclassmen.
“(The underclassmen) are really the majority of our team,” she said. “I think that’s kind of allowed us (upperclassmen) to get closer to the people lower down in classes.”
After Friday’s meet against No. 9 Arkansas, the Tigers will compete in the Big 12 Championships in Norman, Okla. Having beaten Iowa State in the first meet of the season, their main competition will be the Oklahoma Sooners.
And though Drass acknowledges the strength of the Sooners, he expressed hope anything could happen, including winning a championship.
“To do that, I think we’re going to have to have our best meet and almost have a flawless meet,” he said. “But we’re capable of doing that.”
That is true: With all the expectations the Tigers have surpassed this season and all the young talent and potential threatening to burst, nothing can be discounted.
