Mizzou Gym picks up All-American honors

A round of thunderous applause for our Missouri Tigers

Just last week, All-SEC awards were revealed and a bunch of Tigers, as well as head coach Shannon Welker, received accolades. You can read that post here.

Now, my friends, it’s time for the regular season All-American honors, and what do ya know, the same Tigers who were honored last week are back at it again this week, with one new face amongst the group.

Let’s discuss.

Newly named SEC Specialist of the Year, All-SEC, and SEC beam co-champion Helen Hu has unsurprisingly earned First Team All-American honors on beam. Helen, who took a year off after retiring from gymnastics to travel the globe with her sister, returned this year and earned the country’s first perfect 10 in Week 3 at Oklahoma, the first of her career. She earned her second 10 in the regular season finale at Arkansas and is currently the only gymnast in the country with two perfect 10s on beam. Besides the 10s, Helen also earned three 9.975 scores, a 9.925 and two 9.90 scores. Only four times the entire season did Hu NOT score a 9.90+. Pretty incredible.

Currently, she ranks second nationally on the apparatus, behind only Olympian Jade Carey, and even that is by a miniscule amount. This is Hu’s second time earning First Team honors on beam, as it also happened her freshman season (she also was 2nd team bars that season, btw).

Mara Titarsolej, the back-to-back SEC bars title winner, also earned First Team All-American honors. She finished the regular season ranked no. 4 nationally and third in the SEC with a 9.945 NQS. She earned the third 10 of her career at the SEC Championships, after earning one last year at the team’s Zou to the Lou meet, and one at her former school. This season, besides the 10, Mara earned a 9.975, two 9.95s, two 9.925s, and three 9.90s. Out of 12. Amazing.

Perhaps the coolest honor on this list, Amari Celestine finished 15th nationally and 8th in the SEC in her FIRST year of doing All-Around, which is insane to think about, as most gymnasts will back off events as they get older. Not Amari; she competed on all-around eight times this season as a senior. Her All-Around NQS was 39.515, finishing just behind Oklahoma’s Audrey Davis. Her high score of 39.650 was 17th highest nationally, and 9th in the SEC.

The Fab Floor indeed! Amari, Jocelyn Moore, and Kennedy Griffin all earned Second Team All-American honors on floor, to no one’s surprise. The trio accounted for: a perfect 10, a 9.975, seven 9.95s, eight 9.925s, and three 9.90 scores. Wow.

Amari finished the season tied for no. 11 nationally and tied for 7th in the SEC with a 9.935 NQS, just behind her teammate and fellow SEC honoree and senior, Jocelyn Moore! Joci finished the season ranked no. 10 nationally and sixth in the SEC with a 9.940 NQS on floor. Both earned highs of 9.95 in the regular season. Kennedy finished the season tied for no. 14 nationally and 10th in the SEC with a 9.930 NQS in her sophomore season.

Want to know how the Tigers did at the SEC Championships? Read that here! Want to know more about Mizzou’s regional placement? Read that here! Want to know more about the team? Follow me on the twitter/X at @karensteger and stay tuned!

There’s also a surprise intrasquad tonight (Monday) that I may have some notes from, depending upon what I can get put together.