Tigers test out new lineups galore in season-opening win at Beauty & the Beast meet

The ceiling for this team is whatever they’d like it to be.

And just like that, we’re BACK IN BUSINESS. It’s a new season for Mizzou Gymnastics, and on Friday night at Mizzou Arena, the athletic department, with the coaxing of Tiger wrestling coach Brian Smith, brought back the Beauty & the Beast meet for the first time since 2019, a simultaneously performed wrestling AND gymnastics meet. In front of a raucous crowd of 4,655, fans got to watch a very injured TigerStyle squad take on national runner-up and no. 12 Cornell. As for how that went, read Matthew’s recap; I’m not here for TigerStyle. On the gymnastics end, fans were treated to a quad meet with Southeast Missouri, Illinois State and Ball State. All teams with red & black in their colors, and all teams with red bird mascots.

Karen Steger | Rock M Nation

I must say, it was A LOT to take in. Quad meets are hard enough to focus on as it is as there’s a team on each apparatus, but then combining it with wrestling AND dual(ing) announcers? It was all-consuming. I’m not really sure I saw another team’s routine (and if you were watching on SEC+, neither did you, lol) and only saw a bit of the wrestling match between MU and Cornell, seeing just a few takedowns. Because of this, my recap will only focus on what I saw, which was Mizzou gymnastics. I have provided score tables so you’ll know how each team did on each rotation.

Changes in the lineups for the first meet of the season were a plenty, and Mizzou head coach Shannon Welker said post-meet in his opening statement, “We had a lot of new people in there. We had a lot of our new transfers in there, too. So we really wanted to take tonight to kind of test out some lineups and just see how some people were going to do in those situations.”

While pretty soon the goal will be to put the best six in the lineup, early on they’re taking the first couple weeks to test out people who are ready. “I thought we had some really good routines,” Shannon said.

I agree! Let’s recap.

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Rotation One— MIZ VLT | IL State UB | Ball State BB | SEMO FX

Featuring: Three new Mizzou vaulters at the top of the order! Welcome, Illinois transfer Abby Mueller (pronounced Miller), Kennedy Griffin and freshman Kaia Tanskanen! Another freshman, Ayla Acevedo, competed exhibition.

As for how the Tigers looked, it was honestly a bit hard to see but it started out super promising, as Abby led off with a stick she fought like hell for.

“Alright, this is what I’m talking about!”, Shannon said he thought after watching her vault. Me too, Shannon, me too.

Alas, that would be the only stick for the group (ha!), and it will be something to work on this week especially in preparation for the tough meet(s) again. Kennedy fought for a stick on her Yurchenko Full but landed with her chest dropped a bit too much, earning just a 9.65 (it would be dropped). Kaia, performing her 10.0 SV Tsuk full, had a big hop back on the landing. Hannah, Jocelyn and Amari’s Yurchenko 1.5 were all nice, as Joci showed off her heigh and Amari showed off her typical power. Was it too powerful?! Maybe, as she took a large step on the landing, but I’d rather see an overpowered vault than an under one, as you can dial it back a bit. Joci’s 9.85 ultimately tied for the Vault title, along with Alana Laster.

Overall, I could see this being a great event for the Tigers moving forward as they work towards more 10.0 SV vaults (they did 4 on Friday) and stuck landings to bring up that rotation score. A sub-49 is not what you want to see but compared to scores around the country in week 1 (more on that at the bottom), they were one of the best.

“There were some strong vaults,” Shannon said, “especially if we can stick those over there. It’s the first routine, the first event, the first meet out.”

NOTE: Don’t freak out about the scoring. Please. I was too originally.

After one rotation, Mizzou (48.975) held a 2/10ths lead over Illinois State (48.775) and 0.25 over Ball State (48.625). SEMO was in fourth with a 47.425.

Rotation Two— MIZ UB | SEMO VLT | IL STATE BB | BALL ST FX

Featuring: 3 new(er) bars members, as fans welcomed back Addison Lawrence, who missed the 2024 season with hip surgery, Amari Celestine, who took off bars last season, and Hannah, who did bars in EXH once last season. Kaia also got into this lineup as an exhibitioner, and joined Jocelyn, Kyra Burns and Mara Titarsolej.

BARS SCHOOL. This bars squad is deep, and this was a tremendous rotation. The handstands were TIGHT, the toes were POINTED, the feet were STICKY. It was fabulous. FABULOUS.

Addi led off with a gorgeous 9.825, just off her 2023 career best 9.85, with a stuck blind full to double tuck dismount to build off of, and from there it just got better. Jocelyn’s 9.875 featured a huge Tkachev and some beautiful handstands, and then came Hannah, who astounded me. After competing in exhibition just once last year and earning a 9.825 but seeing her progress and scoring in the last few intrasquads, I knew we could be in for a treat, but hot damn, was that awesome. A 9.925 to start the season!?! This, of course, gave her the Bars title for the meet.

Kyra’s 9.875 was just off her career-best 9.90 and looked wonderful, and Amari followed in the five spot with a 9.90 with her signature dismount, The Celestine (yes, it’s named after her). Mara’s anchor spot was great as well, and her new combo (one she competed last year was downgraded in start value) is coming along well. The Tigers dropped a 9.825 score, which is honestly insane. Kaia’s exhibition routine was super unique, featuring an in-bar Geinger, and she’ll be one to watch (as well as Olivia Kelly) on this apparatus moving forward.

“Bars had really good handstands and sticks,” Shannon said post-meet. “I thought that they did a nice job there. They started off strong, with a 49.425 in the opening meet. That was great!”

After two rotations, Mizzou led 98.400 to Ball State’s 97.35 to Illinois State’s 97.00 to SEMO’s 95.30.

Rotation Three— MIZ BB | BALL ST VLT | SEMO UB | IL STATE FX

Featuring: FIVE-ish new(er) beam workers! Only Amari remains from last year’s rotation, though Kennedy, who performed on Friday in exhibition, was a fixture at the end of the season. The #BeamDreamTeam of 2023 welcomed back Addi and Helen Hu, both of whom scored 9.975s that year. Also new to this rotation were OU transfer Amy Wier, sophomore Jessa Conedera, who scored a 9.90 at the team’s final intrasquad, and freshman Railey Jackson. In fact, the only returning member from last year’s beam team was Amari!

It was so cool to get to see Oklahoma transfer Amy Wier perform her first counting collegiate routine in her home state in front of probably a good number of friends and family (she’s from Wildwood/St. Louis) and has talked about attending this very meet when she was younger with her dad, who wrestled at Mizzou.

“To see Amy Wier go up, hit her routine, that’s her first college meet in a lineup, so that was really great,” Shannon said. Amy’s 9.775 score was higher (I think, anyway) than any of her exhibition routines at OU, and her cartwheel gainer full dismount landed in a much-needed stick.

Amari came up in the two spot and scored a solid 9.825 (links to her routine). Again, building scores, which is exactly what you want to do! I was really excited to watch Jessa in the three spot, who earned the opportunity to be in her first collegiate lineup with her Black & Gold performance, and it was truly unfortunate to watch her fight so hard to stay on the beam after her back handspring, layout stepout (BHS LOSO) and ultimately fall off. Regardless of that whoopsie, though, it was a really nice routine, and when I asked about it after the meet, Shannon didn’t sound that this would be her only opportunity to show her stuff.

Once there’s a fall, it’s always interesting to see how the team will rebound, but it was like it never happened, and they were laser focused, even with a freshman, Railey Jackson, up next. Perhaps we should credit Addi Lawrence for her pep talk?

She said post-meet, “I told Railey right before her beam routine, ‘Hey, enjoy every second of it. You get less than two minutes up on that beam, and so you just need to enjoy it.’”

And enjoy it she did! In her first collegiate routine (and on such a narrow apparatus!), she shined with a 9.800. She had just a slight wobble after her BHS LOSO and a little step on her round off 1.5 dismount, but other than that, her Sissone to switch half was beautiful and the routine was awesome. She’s just a picture of elegance up there.

In the five spot came the triumphant return of Addi Lawrence, and she looked magnificent, no doubt utilizing the pep talk she’d just given to RJ herself. When I asked about being back and performing her first official routines since 2023, she lit up.

“Before my routines, I just couldn’t help but smile, just because it’s so amazing to be back and with all of my team. It was amazing and I am so happy to be back.”

After Addi’s 9.90 came what everyone had been waiting for— the return of Helen Hu. I could feel her nerves; I can only imagine what she was thinking, up there on the beam performing for the first time since 2023. She did not disappoint, however, performing the most beautiful and deliberate choreography she’s become known for in the gym world, with only a few wobbles.

To finish up the exhibition slot, Kennedy scored a surprisingly low 9.60 as I thought it looked lovely aside from the small step forward on her back handspring 1.5 dismount. Shannon said afterwards that perhaps they didn’t give her some of her connections, though he thought they looked good.

“Beam was solid,” he said, “though certainly I think we can do better there. But I thought they responded really well, You know, we had a mistake right in the middle, and so for the next three to hop up and get that done. and that’s pretty much a new lineup, if I’m not mistaken. It was great to see Helen back out there. She’s been gone for a year. It’s going to take one or two before we get that 10. Yes, I said that.”

Overall, the Tigers’ 49.100 score was higher than four scores from the 2024 season, and despite the fall, this looked like a different, more confident beam team. Addi’s 9.90 took the beam title.

After three rotations, Mizzou extended its lead with a 147.500, followed by Ball State’s 145.875, Illinois State’s 145.825 and SEMO’s 143.700.

Rotation Four— MIZ FX | BALL ST UB | IL STATE VLT | SEMO UB

Featuring: two freshmen, Railey Jackson and Kaia Tanskanen (though Kaia again was an exhibitioner here) and Rayna, who was in I’d guess about half the FX rotations last season, along with the usuals of Amari, Hannah, Kennedy and Jocelyn made up the Fab-ish Floor. (the score was meh)

Rayna led off for the Tigers, taking over (for now anyway) Sienna Schreiber’s lead off role, and did a pretty nice job. Her two pass routine featured eclectic dance music, good leaps and a nice round off 1.5 to a front layout, to go along with a double pike, though it was a bit uncontrolled. Hannah was next, and her Michael Jackson themed-choreo and her 9.85 two-pass routine put her in a three-way event tie with two other of her Tiger gymmates by the meet’s end. Her full in was huge and had a great landing, and so did her front through to double tuck.

Railey came up in the three-spot, performing what is quickly becoming one of my favorite routines. She’s just so elegant, and does a three pass routine, which I LOVE to see, as it appears that many teams are getting rid of them if they can still earn high scores without the extra tumbling/stress. She landed her double pike somersault really well in her first pass, and danced right out of her 1.5 to front layout in the second pass. Her leaps were great leading into her final pass, which was a really good looking double tuck. A 9.825 was a SOLID score for her first routine, and was the second highest of the competition, tying with Kennedy Griffin, and finishing right between Hannah, Amari and Joci for the top spot. Impressive!

In the four spot was another favorite (more on her below) routine, courtesy of Amari Celestine, which she’s dedicating to several family members this season who supported her gymnastics growing up but have since passed away. This girl is always having the MOST fun, and this two pass routine was no different. Her first pass featured a ginormous full in and her control on the landing was * chef’s kiss *, and her last one was a front through to a double tuck, again with a gorgeous landing. In between, there were tons of upbeat dance and acrobatic elements, including a Tourjete half and a split full (thanks to the CGN live blog for naming these for me).

For those wondering, Amari’s brother Artyon once again helped to choreograph her dance elements. Over Face Time! “He was getting on me through the camera,” she said, laughing. She mentioned that he was supposed to come up for Thanksgiving, but he busy with his football team — he is still in high school, after all — but he arrived after Christmas and they’ve been working on it face-to-face since.

“He’s been on my tail,” she said, smiling. “So after I finish my floor routine, I look up at the stands and I get a standing ovation from him, and I get the pom pom waving. I just knew that I did a good job on the dance just because of his reaction.”

Excuse me. Aaaaaaawwwwwwwwwwwwwww. That is so so wholesome.

Kennedy was next with her super engaging Beyonce/Destiny’s Child themed choreo and did not disappoint. She glows out there! I thought KG might have gone out on her opening double pike and she kept her heel up to avoid going on out her second pass to a double tuck, but I think it was just close on both (something to monitor) and then Jocelyn came in to close things out for the Tigers with another 9.85 (that’s three in a row!). Her opening double layout was massive and her energy was on point. While her chest was a bit low on her second pass’ double tuck, her landing was solid and the routine was fire. Typical.

Finally, Kaia showed off a three pass 9.75 routine in exhibition and Nate commented on how she’ll have to get used to being able to do a lunge at the end of her passes, which aren’t allowed in Elite. Of her routine, Shannon said later, “That last floor routine was really good. Kaia did a nice job in that exhibition spot.”

After four rotations, Mizzou had run away with it, 196.700 to Ball State 194.925 to Illinois State 194.800 to SEMO 190475. The Tigers are now 3-0 on the young season.

MVPs

• Addison Lawrence— What a day for the junior, who made her first appearance back into the lineup after hip surgery displaced her last year. “I’m already a junior,” she said post-meet. “Like that just flew by fast. That’s my biggest thing this year is just to have fun, enjoy every second of your routines.” And fun she had. Between giving the freshmen and transfers advice on performing in front of Mizzou crowds, she made sure to have a great time and look good doing it. As mentioned earlier, the 9.825 on bars was thisclose to her career-high of 9.85 set her freshman year, so I have NO DOUBT as to whether or not she’ll topple that score. And a 9.90 is a SUPER solid start on beam considering the new, stricter scoring in place (at least for now). We have to remember she was gone a whole year. Pretty impressive stuff.

• Amari Celestine— The senior shined in her last first meet of the season. When I ran into her after B&G, she said it was her last Black & Gold, and so I wanted to know her feelings about her last first meet.

”I’m not gonna cry.” she said. “I am emotional, but I was just honestly proud to get out there. This is not my last meet. It’s just my last season. I just feel like I’m taking everything one event at a time. This was probably the most presence I’ve had on my side of the country. My family is here. So I was very proud just to get out there and the feeling was I was overfilled with joy.”

When asked about her excitement at performing the all-around for the first time, a goal she told Nate Salsman about this summer, she said, “Honestly, I woke up at seven o’clock this morning by myself [no alarms]. I’m not a morning person, but like, I just got up and got dressed. Literally, I’ve been ready for this meet. It was just an overwhelming joy. I was really excited. I feel like I put a lot of hard work in. My teammates backed me 100% so I was glad to get back out there.”

Her performance in the all-around did not disappoint, capturing her first title in her first ever all-around! With a 9.775 on vault, a 9.90 on bars, a 9.825 on beam and a 9.85 on floor, a 39.35 all-around score already ranks her 10th nationally. Not too bad for an AA newbie!

Whether or not she’s in it meet in and meet out though is not a major concern.

“If I’m not in the all-around, it’s not the end of the world. So that’s another thing that I’ve learned just being on this team is there’s gonna be somebody better that day. It’s just a matter of who it is. Shannon puts the best six people and if it’s not me, I can’t be upset because I know that they can do it at the end of the day. So I’m not really going into every week harping on being in the all-around. I’m just going in every week and working my butt off. We push each other to the max. I’m proud to be on this team.”

Loose Threads

• Elise Tisler— Her name was called and she ran out with the team but was noticeably missing from vault & floor lineups, of which we thought she’d be a staple. Per Shannon, Elise is dealing with a bit of a hyper-extended elbow. “She’ll be back out and running soon here, I think in the next couple weeks,” he said.
• Lauren Macpherson— This one is a bit more concerning, as LMac was observed rolling around on a scooter with a boot on her foot. When asked about an update, Shannon said, “We had a little lower leg injury, so we’ll see what the status is probably on Monday. We’ll probably have an update in the early (to) middle of next week here.” Thoughts & prayers, guys. Thoughts and prayers and sage and four-leaf clovers and rabbit’s feet and all that lucky shit.
• Olivia Kelly is coming along since her summer run-in with a scooter, and is close to being ready. Shannon said it took her out for a good 2.5 weeks, so if she’s a bit behind it’s understandable.
• Abby Mueller, who was a mainstay in the all-around at Illinois, has been suspiciously absent from multiple events she’s been known over her career to participate in. Nate & I don’t know if this is injury-related, or just that there’s a line of people ahead of her to get in. We saw her compete on floor, which she’s been historically very strong at, in several intrasquads, but not black & gold. We also haven’t seen her on beam or bars in a while either. I’ll try to find out what’s going on there.

Final Thoughts:

“It gets harder, obviously, at this point, moving forward,” Shannon said. “We’re not only obviously trying to get wins, but we’re trying to get the highest score too, because both of those are important things for us. We get Denver and Georgia and Long Island next weekend, and that certainly is going to be a bigger challenge for us right there. And so we’re just going to use information for this weekend to help us prepare for next weekend. But if we have an opportunity to put some people in lineups, that’s one of our goals this year, is to try to utilize as many routines that are ready do it early on if we can.”

When asked how success will be measured in the beginning part of the season, he said, “We just take it practice by practice. Meet by meet. Success isn’t determined. Success is not determined by our scores. It’s by the progress we have made. So getting into the gym and getting 1% better, like pointing our toes a little better, just doing things better every day and seeing where we can go. We don’t have a ceiling. The ceiling is wherever we’d like to make it out to be. Obviously, we’ve got goals for the season, but we’re looking at progress every single day, and that’s how we’re measuring success.”

“As far as progress, really, I think for us, it’s just cleaning up a couple of details for next weekend and getting our stick percentage closer to 50% between vault, bars and beam. quite honestly.”

He estimates they were probably around 35-40% on Friday, which isn’t bad, “but we got to get that number up a little bit if we want to be competitive, especially with the Oklahomas and the LSUs of the world, which we could do absolutely.”

Comparison-wise, knowing that not everyone competed in week one — Mizzou was one of just 4 SEC schools to compete, for instance — the Tigers’ scores are lining up quite nicely with the rest of the country. They currently sit fifth overall, just behind Utah (196.775), Michigan State (196.850), LSU (197.300) and Oklahoma (197.55). They are notably ahead of next week’s competition, Denver, who is 11th with a 195.700. Georgia notably didn’t have a meet this weekend. They are fifth on vault (behind Denver, who’s no. 4 with a 49.025), third on bars (behind Denver, who is no. 2 with a 49.450), sixth on beam (Denver is 30th with a 47.975, yikes), and third on floor (Denver is no. 2 with a 49.250). So it’s close, guys. Real close.

Man, I love this team so much. They’re the MOST fun to cover. Thanks for following along with my novel if you’ve made it this far!

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UP NEXT: Mizzou heads to Denver, Col. to take on the University of Denver, University of Georgia, and Long Island University. Preview to come later.