Vault & beam issues derail great floor performance at Denver quad

As Taylor Swift probably sang, I remember Mizzou’s beam struggles all too well

On the road for its first away meet of the season, the Missouri Tigers traveled to Denver to take on Denver University in the last of a home-and-home series, Long Island for the first time ever (I think?), and SEC foe Georgia, who they’ll face again later this season. How did it go?

Eh…

There were some definite positives (FabFloor, etc.). But really, I’m more flummoxed than anything. I’m not sure who these Tigers are yet. They’re kinda missing an identity. A week after I proudly proclaimed BARS SCHOOL, they faltered a bit— nothing bad, mind you — but not as sharp. And for the second straight week, vault had its share of issues.

And, after two weeks of pretty solid beam performances (I’m including Black & Gold here as there were four 9.90 scores), well… You guys, I was really hoping that this would be the season where I could throw the use of sad Taylor Swift lyrics out the window. Alas, here I am again as Miss Swift has a song for everything. This week, I’m thinking about the 10-minute version of All Too Well, as it relates to an apparatus that we have known all too well to cause problems for the Tigers.

“They say all’s well that ends well, but I’m in a new hell

Every time you double-cross Mizzou’s beam crosses my mind.”

I don’t mean that to be overly dramatic, but it works for the purposes of this recap. Speaking of which, let’s get to it. I also think I’ll lighten the mood with some Schitt’s Creek gifs.

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Rotation One— MIZ UB | DEN VLT | UGA BB | LIU FX

After an amazing bars rotation last week, this week was decent. Competing with the same rotation and a week removed from five of six sticks, the Tigers managed just two sticks, and the handstands just weren’t as vertical. A week after averaging a 9.885, they averaged a 9.825, which is still good, but I’d love more consistency.

Addi led off with a slight step back on her finish, earning a 9.75 score (9.85 and 9.65 scores from judges). I honestly don’t know where the 9.65 came from, as I watched her routine several times and maybe there was a bent elbow in there, and it’s possible she took several steps on the landing? Jocelyn was next and her Tkatchev was massive, but she had a couple of short handstands and took a step back on her dismount, earning a 9.725 (9.80 & 9.65 from judges). Hannah was short on one of her handstands and took a hop back, but earned a 9.80 and the scores built from there so they finished pretty strong. Kyra had the first of two consecutive sticks but looked to be short on a handstand, earning a 9.825 before Amari followed with a 9.85 and a stick of her signature dismount. In the anchor spot, Mara looked fabulous, with just a small hop back on an otherwise gorgeous routine, earning a 9.90, which took a share of the bars title. In the exhibition slot, Olivia took a small step back but seemed good overall, earning a 9.725 and possibly a lineup slot in the future.

As for the other schools, Georgia struggled mightily on beam, having to count one of two falls, as well as a 9.575 and managed just a 48.325 overall score…Yikes. Lily Smith took the top spot with a 9.90 and a share of the event title. All eyes were on Kara Eaker, former Utah gymnast and Missouri native who retired and took the last two years off only to return to competition this year at a new school and with some harsh words for her former program. She had a 9.65 in exhibition, but she’ll 100% be in the rotation the next time the GymDogs face the Tigers and she’s reallllllly good.

Denver started off on vault and was led by Rylie Mundell’s 9.875 and dropped a 9.80. LIU only had five floor competitors, so all of their routines had to count, including sub-optimal 8.675 score.

Schitt’s Creek gif to represent my feelings:

After one rotation, Denver has a slight lead with a 49.25 to Mizzou’s 49.125 to Georgia’s 48.325 to LIU’s 46.75.

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Rotation Two— MIZ BB | LIU VLT | DEN UB | UGA FX

[insert Tayor Swift lyrics from above here and very long and very dramatic sigh.

I’m exasperated. With the apparatus. With the judging, which seemed a bit harsh. With the mistakes (yes, I know it’s week 2). I just KNOW this has the potential to be a really strong apparatus, even without LMac & Grace Anne (more on them later). A 48.575 is NOT good. A week after averaging a 9.820 on beam, the Tigers managed just a 9.715. Eek.

Yes, Mizzou also had a fall last week, but the rest of the rotation was solid. On Sunday, not so much. They seemed a bit nervy. Amy led off for the second straight week, and while she was a little low on the landing, I thought she otherwise looked pretty steady, earning a 9.675. Amari was next, and after wobbling on her front tuck, she fell off the beam after another skill, earning a 9.200 (it was dropped, thank god). How would the Tigers respond? Last week, in front of a friendly home crowd, they took it in stride and got it together. This week, ehhh. (I feel like I’m using that phrase/noise a lot this week.)

A week after Jessa fell off the beam, she stayed on this time (yay!) but had a couple major wobbles and took a slight step forward on her landing, earning a 9.50. Despite the low score, it was encouraging to see her stay on the beam and finish. Railey, in just her second collegiate beam routine, took a step forward on her dismount, but I think otherwise looked good, earning a 9.75 (9.80 & 9.70 from judges). Addi had slight balance check at end of a difficult side aerial to back handspring series, and took a step forward on her 1.5 dismount, but they’re minor mistakes. Otherwise, her routine is so interesting and shows off her flexibility so well and I just love it (she got a 9.775). In the anchor slot, Helen was FLAWLESS. I could not spot a deduction. It was perfection, but she scored just a 9.875, and the gymternet collectively groaned. In the exhibition slot, Olivia had a lovely routine, notching a 9.775 score (9.70 & 9.85 from judges) that will be one to watch going forward for lineups. So the fall was bad, obviously, but there were just struggles all around. Aside from Helen (even though the judges apparently saw “something” to deduct on), everyone was just a bit off. Not terrible, mind you, but when everyone is doing it, it brings the scores down that much more, and in the mighty SEC, they’ll have to get it together.

LIU finished up vault with a 47.65 score, led by a 9.675 in the leadoff role by Brooke Burkhardt. Denver had a 49.200 on bars, led by Rylie’s 9.90 and were able to drop a 9.75. UGA scored a 49.00 on floor led by a 9.875 from Lily Smith, but having to count a 9.625 score.

After two rotations, Denver extends its lead 98.45 to Mizzou 97.70 to Georgia 97.325 to LIU 94.40.

Schitt’s Creek gif to accurately capture my emotions:

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Rotation Three— MIZ FX | UGA VLT | LIU UB | DEN BB

Ahhh, THERE IT IS. The #FabFloor is back, and even with stricter judging, nothing could keep them down. It was awesome and only will go up from here! A week after averaging 9.84, they went up to 9.89, wow!

Rayna led off with a solid 9.825 (higher than last week), but I have to think that with the return of Elise, we might see her slide off the rotation until someone needs a break (like Amari this week, for instance). Railey was up next, and her first tumbling pass landing might have been a smidge uncontrolled, but she too was solid, also scoring a 9.825, which matched her score from last week. Elise was next, inserted into the rotation for the first time this season after being out with injury last week, and she looked fabulous, earning a 9.875, and was followed by a high-flying Hannah Horton who looked masterful on her tumbling and jumps, earning a 9.90. And then came the stars, Kennedy and Jocelyn, who each earned a 9.925. Joci might have even gone higher scoring-wise if not for her front foot coming up a bit on her last pass. Regardless, the duo took home the floor title, with Hannah taking third. Great stuff.

Even without the fanfare of an Amari routine to go on, a 49.45 rotation score is awesome! Finally, in an exhibition role, Kylie finally got her chance to show off her zombie horror movie choreo. She stepped out on one pass for a mandatory .10 deduction, but overall, I thought looked really good and I’m glad the people (with MidCo Sports + anyway) got to see it! The live blogger from College Gymnastics News was practically begging for it to be in every meet going forward.

Denver, after an absolutely disastrous beam rotation last week, got started off on the right foot with a team-high 9.90 from Momoko Iwai, and had several really good scores after that in the 9.8-range, showcasing more of the beam aptitude the Pioneers are known for. They fortunately were able to drop the fall, leaving a 49.125 rotation score.

Georgia had a great vault rotation, notching a 49.30 and getting to drop a 9.80. Ady Wahl led the GymDogs in the anchor spot with a 9.925 which gave her the event title. LIU had a 47.70 bars rotation score, led by Caroline Kliewer’s 9.65.

Schitt’s Creek gif to accurately capture my emotions:

After three rotations, Mizzou gets back into it, though Denver still leads the way (147.575) to Mizzou (147.15) to Georgia (146.625) to LIU (142.100)

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Rotation Four— MIZ VLT | UGA UB | LIU BB | DEN FX

I just don’t know, you guys. For the second straight week, the Tigers suffered from some slippery feet, seemingly unable to stick the landings, recording another average score of 9.795. This week, I think only one of ‘em got a stick, though Abby was pretty close, leading off with a 9.775 on her Yurchenko Full (9.95 SV).

Kaia stepped to the side on the landing of her Tsuk Full (10.0 SV), earning another 9.775, and while Kyra did stick her YF landing, she might have piked down a bit, earning a — you guessed it! — 9.775. The final three Tigers all did Yurchenko 1.5 vaults (10.0 SV), and were the best of the bunch, showing off great height. Hannah took a small step on her landing, earning a 9.80. Jocelyn was a little crooked and stepped to the side on her landing, also earning a 9.80, and Amari took just a little step forward, earning a 9.825. The Tigers’ 48.975 score matched that of last week, and they dropped a 9.775. In the exhibition role, Kennedy had a 9.725 on her YF, which was notably better than last week.

The Tigers are clearly missing the vaults of Grace Anne Davis, who looked so fabulous preseason before her season-ending injury, as well as the services of Elise Tisler, who by all accounts should be back soon. After Shannon said they’d be really drilling these landings during this past week of practices, I was honestly surprised to see the same issues emerge.

As for the others, Georgia had a nice final rotation on bars, earning a 49.35, but ultimately couldn’t make up the distance with Mizzou. The GymDogs were led by a 9.90 from Ja’Free Scott, who finished in a three-way tie for first with Mara and Denver’s Rylie Mundell, and was good enough across the board to drop a 9.80. LIU’s 45.975 on beam was their worst rotation of the night, as they had three scores in the upper-8.80+ range. The bright spot? Kaira Cartwright, who put together a nice 9.75 routine.

Denver sealed its victory with a rather pedestrian 49.00 score on floor. Cecilia Cooley led the rotation with a 9.90 score, but the Pioneers only notched two other scores 9.80 or higher.

Schitt’s Creek gif to accurately capture my emotions

After four rotations, Denver takes the W, 196.575 to Mizzou’s 196.125 to Georgia’s 195.975 to LIU’s 188.075.

How long has it been since Mizzou has scored that low, you ask? Since 2021. I know… shocking. The judges are judging tighter currently, at least early on, so we’ll see. In the bright side— If you look at just the score Mizzou received and compare it to the high scores around the country, a 196.125 would still put them 16th, ahead of Georgia and Arkansas, so perhaps it’s not so bad.

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MVPs

• Kennedy Griffin (floor)— I don’t have video of it, but it was so, so good. Here’s last week’s routine and it was better than this! Also props to KG for improving her vault score.

• Helen Hu (beam)— If not for Helen’s (way-too-low scoring) 9.875, the Tigers would have been in a world of trouble, and likely found themselves in third place with a sub-196 score. She was beautiful. She was graceful. She was powerful. It was awesome. And she deserved way more than a 9.875— one judge gave her a 9.85!!! Blasphemous.

• Elise Tisler (floor)— WELCOME BACK, ELISE! WE MISSED YOU! The Tumbler from Towson looked fantastic in her debut.

• Mara Titarsolej (bars)— After watching Mara struggle a bit with her combination (her previously competed one was downgraded, per Nate Salsman, so she had to learn a new one), it was a joy to see this. She looked incredible and was the perfect end to the bars rotation. Per MUTigers, this was the 30th time in Mara’s career that she has reached or surpassed a 9.90 on bars.

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Loose Threads

• Unfortunately, Saturday afternoon brought about some news we feared— SJSU grad transfer Lauren Macpherson sustained an achilles tear and will be out for the season. This comes on the heels (sorry) of another achilles tear in the preseason from that of Grace Anne Davis, yet another 10.0 start value vaulter. The Achilles Twins unfortunately are also prolific beamers, and the Tigers will need to make adjustments without their services. GAD they’ve known about for a while, but LMac is a new one.
• Elise Tisler has worked her way back to the floor rotation (and killed it) after hyperextending her elbow before the first meet. She’s also a massive vaulter, so I’m hoping like hell she’s back on vault on Friday. The Tigers NEED her.
• Through two meets, we’ve seen several Tigers in exhibition. Let’s regroup:

VAULT: Kennedy Griffin (9.725 wk 2) | Ayla Acevedo (9.675 wk 1)

BARS: Olivia Kelly (9.725 wk 2) | Kaia Tanskanen (9.75 wk 1)

BEAM: Olivia Kelly (9.775 wk 2) | Kennedy Griffin (9.60 wk 1)

FLOOR: Kylie Minard (9.675 wk 2) | Kaia Tanskanen (9.75 wk 1)

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Rankings Updates:

One week after starting the season fifth, the Tigers have moved a bit. Now, some of that was to be expected as not all the teams competed in Week 1. Hell, half of the SEC teams didn’t have meets in Week 1, so they were not likely to remain in the 5-spot. And then you factor in Sunday’s performance and well… you can see where they’ve taken a bit of a hit.

OVERALL: no. 5 (week 1) | no. 10 (week 2)

VAULT: no. 4 (week 1) | no. 15 (week 2)

BARS: no. 2 (week 1) | no. 9 (week 2)

BEAM: no. 6 (week 1) | no. 24 (week 2)

FLOOR: no. 2 (week 1) | no. 6 (week 2)

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Final Thoughts:

I don’t have many other remaining thoughts that I haven’t already shared above. This team is good and has the potential to be great. We just haven’t seen it yet; they’re inconsistent and they’re still working through some kinks. They’ll get there. There aren’t a lot of massive mistakes; they’re fixable.

Success isn’t determined just by wins and losses. After Beauty & The Beast, Columbia Tribune reporter Calum McAndrew asked Shannon how success will be measured in the beginning part of the season.

“We just take it practice by practice,” he said. “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.”

There were some definitive signs of progress. There also were some spots that need work. The season is long. They’re only just getting started.

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UP NEXT: Mizzou heads to Norman, Okla. to take on the SEC rookie and currently no. 1 in the standings, Oklahoma Sooners. Preview to come later this week.