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Gymnastics Set for Big 12 Championship
Mizzou will compete in the Big 12 Gymnastics Championship in Norman, Okla.
COLUMBIA, Mo. –The
Mizzou Gymnastics team will travel to Norman, Okla., this weekend for
the 2012 Big 12 Gymnastics Championship. Hosted by OU, the meet will be
held in the Lloyd Noble Center and is scheduled to begin at 4 p.m. on
Saturday, March 24. Tickets are $10 for the general public, and $5 for
youth/seniors. The Big 12 Conference will offer a live video feed on
its website, and the meet will air on FSN at a later date.
Last Time Out
Mizzou
Gymnastics topped the Arkansas Razorbacks on Senior Night at the
Hearnes Center with a score of 196.100 to Arkansas’ 195.450. The Tigers
posted a season-high 49.400 on floor, which ties for the fifth-best
team floor score in school history. Several Tigers set career-highs at
the meet, including freshmen Rachel Updike, Colleen Mulcahy, Briana
Conkle and Rebecca Johnson and sophomore Mackenzie McGill. The victory
improves the Tigers to 9-6 on the season.
Last Time at Big 12’s
Mizzou
hosted the 2011 Big 12 Gymnastics Championship in the Hearnes Center,
earning a fourth place finish. Then a junior, Mary Burke took the
all-around title at the meet with a score of 39.300. The Tigers placed
fourth at the meet with a score of 194.975, while Nebraska took home
the trophy with a 196.775 team total. Oklahoma finished in second
place, while Iowa State took third.
Inside Iowa State
Ranked
25th in the nation, the Iowa State Cyclones are 5-7 overall and 0-2 in
Big 12 competition. The Tigers and the Cyclones met earlier this season
at the Hearnes Center, with the Tigers earning a 192.675-192.000
victory. The team is led by Michelle Browning, who ranks 23rd in the
nation for her all-around performance this season. Celine Paulus is
also a major contributor for the Cyclones as she is ranked 38th in the
all-around and 45th on the uneven bars.
Spotting the Sooners
After
entering the 2012 season with back-to-back top-three finishes in the
NCAA Super Six team finals in 2010 and 2011, the Sooners added five new
gymnasts to the roster after returning 18 of 24 routines from 2011,
including nine All-American performances. The Tigers lost to the
Sooners, 197.400-196.375, earlier this season at the Hearnes Center. OU
is ranked second in the nation, and leads the nation on the floor
exercise. The team boasts several high-ranked gymnasts including the
No. 1-ranked gymnasts on vault (Sara Stone) and floor (Megan Ferguson).
Ferguson is ranked second on the beam and third on the bars as well.
Conference Championship History
Since
the start of the Big 12 Conference, Mizzou has earned nine fourth place
finishes at the meet and the team has finished in third place six
times. In the first year of the Mizzou Gymnastics program, the Tigers
finished third at the conference championships, and have earned a total
of 16 third place finishes. Mizzou finished second at the
championship three times and has earned a total of 12 fourth place
finishes.
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