From a star-studded senior class to a stacked rising freshman class. Missouri gymnastics fans should be excited about the upcoming season. Here are five reasons to not underestimate Missouri gymnastics in the 2025 season

Superstar Seniors

Missouri will enter the season with a group of experienced and talented returning seniors. This squad includes Amari Celestine, Grace Anne Davis, Jocelyn Moore, Kyra Burns and Mara Titarsolej. 

Moore is the first Missouri gymnast to earn a 10.0 on floor and the third to accomplish the feat on vault. Titarsolej is the first Missouri gymnast to reach perfection on uneven bars. Both athletes will compete in those respective events. Moore could also compete on bars, an event where she has a career-high of a 9.925. Burns has also been known to be a steady leadoff on bars. She has a career-high of 9.900 on bars. 

Celestine has the opportunity to be the Tigers top all-around athlete this season. She is known for her strength on vault and floor. After taking a year off from competing on bars in 2024, Celestine has added beam to her repertoire. This event was very successful for Celestine – earning her a career high of a 9.925.  Celestine now plans on adding bars back to compete on all four apparatuses. She has a career-high of 9.925 or better on each event. Davis will miss the season due to injury. 

This group has made history, and it will continue to have a big impact on the lineups this year. 

The Return of the Veteran 

In October, Missouri gymnastics great Helen Hu announced her return to competitive gymnastics. The return is vital to Missouri, as Hu has a great effect on the balance beam lineup – an area the Tigers are looking to improve upon in the upcoming season. Hu has a career-high of 9.975 on the beam event. Last year the Tigers ranked No. 22 on the event, the lowest of its four apparatuses. 

Fabulous Freshmen

Missouri enters the new season with the No. 10 ranked freshman class nationally. The class is composed of two five-star recruits, Railey Jackson and Olivia Kelly; a world championship competitor in Kaia Tanskanen; and Lisa Szeibert and Ayla Acevedo. 

Based off of their preseason training videos, Jackson, Kelly and Tanskanen could greatly help the beam lineup. Tanskanen also brings in a 10.0 SV vault with her Tsuk full. Szeibert will serve as a utility athlete who could be implemented on any event. Acevedo should bring her strengths on vault and floor as well. 

Tactical Transfers

This season, Missouri is introducing four transfer athletes. Elise Tisler, Amy Wier, Lauren Macpherson and Abby Mueller. Each of these athletes comes to Missouri with great experience and high scores from previous seasons that could immediately place them into lineups. The transfer athletes were selected to repair the weaknesses the Tigers previously had. Tisler will greatly help the team on vault and floor, owning career-highs of 9.975 on each event. Macpherson and Mueller can compete in every event, each of them having career-highs above 9.900 in floor competition. Macpherson also has a career-high of 9.950 on beam. Wier specializes in beam and will look to contribute to that event. 

Missouri gymnastics assistant coach Jackie Terpak has talked about the importance of fitting the pieces of the puzzle when building up a team. 

“Everything we do here at Mizzou is intentional,” Terpak said. “There is always a method to the madness. It’s our job as coaches to put the best team together, which can sometimes feel like a puzzle. When evaluating athletes to join the team, we take into consideration more than just their competitive results. We strive for a team that is balanced, focused and knows how to work hard while having fun.” 

Valuable Vaults 

One place of emphasis for the Tigers is improving its vault lineup. Last year, they only had three 10.0 start-value vaults. This year they have shown off five 10.0 start-value vaults on social media. These vaults will come from Moore, Celestine, Hannah Horton, Tanskanen and Tisler. The more challenging vault lineup will greatly help them increase their scores in the upcoming year. 

The Tigers will begin their competitive season at 6 p.m. on Jan. 3 at the Hearnes Center. 

Edited by Michael Stamps | mstamps@themaneater.com

Copy Edited by Ella McGuire and Natalie Kientzy | nkientzy@themaneater.com

Edited by Emily Skidmore | eskidmore@themaneater.com