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Mizzou gymnastics’ historic run to the Four on the Floor isn't getting its storybook ending.
No. 7-seeded Missouri finished in fourth place at the NCAA National Championship on Saturday in Fort Worth, Texas, scoring 197.2125 in the team’s first appearance in program history in the title meet and trailing national-champion Oklahoma by nine-tenths of a point.
The 2-seed Sooners stormed to their fourth national title in the past six seasons, recording a score of 197.9250 to take the trophy back to Norman for the second straight season. No. 5-seed UCLA finished in second with a 197.6125, and No. 4-seed Utah took third with a 197.2375, just 0.025 ahead of MU.
The Tigers, appearing in their first championship meet in program history, were up against three of the sport’s elite teams: OU had won three of the past five national titles; Utah has nine in program history; and UCLA has seven.
The last time an MU team won a national championship was men’s track and field in 1965, which remains as one of two in school history. Baseball won the other in 1954.
Mizzou, led by 12th-year head coach Shannon Welker, began the championship meet on vault, the lowest scoring apparatus in the rotation.
Seniors Jocelyn Moore and Amari Celestine, among the MU crew competing for the final time as Tigers, closed with team-leading scores of 8.8500 and 9.9000, respectively, to give MU an opening score of 49.2000 — leaving Mizzou in fourth place and trailing meet co-leaders Oklahoma and UCLA by more than four-tenths of a point.
In need of a strong performance on the bars, the Tigers instead fell further behind. Celestine recorded the highest-scoring routine with an 9.8625. Mizzou needed to take a low score of 9.7875 and put up 49.1750 as a team.
The gap to the meet leader, Oklahoma, doubled to 0.8250.
Even with two of MU’s strongest apparatus remaining in the rotation, the path to the school’s first team national title was all but closed midway through the meet.
Helen Hu, in her final routine as a Tiger at the end of a remarkable comeback campaign, scored a 9.9625 on beam for the highest score on the apparatus of the meet. Hu won the individual national title on the beam Thursday, a year removed from taking a year away from the sport to travel the world.
More: Helen Hu hit perfection in Missouri gymnastics return. She took the long way round to get it
The Tigers closed the title meet — and their season — with a 49.4875 on floor, led by Celestine (9.9125), Kennedy Griffin (9.9500) and Moore (9.9000).
Welker, speaking to local media Friday, said that this will go down as “the best team in Missouri gymnastics history.” The results back that up.
Mizzou’s previous best finish in program history was fifth place in 2022, when the Tigers finished one place short of qualifying for the title meet. Missouri has made three NCAA Championship Semifinals appearances in program history.
This season, for the first time, Missouri’s season ended on the biggest stage in the sport.
This article originally appeared on Columbia Daily Tribune: Missouri gymnastics finishes fourth in NCAA National Championship
Continue reading...
No. 7-seeded Missouri finished in fourth place at the NCAA National Championship on Saturday in Fort Worth, Texas, scoring 197.2125 in the team’s first appearance in program history in the title meet and trailing national-champion Oklahoma by nine-tenths of a point.
The 2-seed Sooners stormed to their fourth national title in the past six seasons, recording a score of 197.9250 to take the trophy back to Norman for the second straight season. No. 5-seed UCLA finished in second with a 197.6125, and No. 4-seed Utah took third with a 197.2375, just 0.025 ahead of MU.
The Tigers, appearing in their first championship meet in program history, were up against three of the sport’s elite teams: OU had won three of the past five national titles; Utah has nine in program history; and UCLA has seven.
The last time an MU team won a national championship was men’s track and field in 1965, which remains as one of two in school history. Baseball won the other in 1954.
Mizzou, led by 12th-year head coach Shannon Welker, began the championship meet on vault, the lowest scoring apparatus in the rotation.
Seniors Jocelyn Moore and Amari Celestine, among the MU crew competing for the final time as Tigers, closed with team-leading scores of 8.8500 and 9.9000, respectively, to give MU an opening score of 49.2000 — leaving Mizzou in fourth place and trailing meet co-leaders Oklahoma and UCLA by more than four-tenths of a point.
In need of a strong performance on the bars, the Tigers instead fell further behind. Celestine recorded the highest-scoring routine with an 9.8625. Mizzou needed to take a low score of 9.7875 and put up 49.1750 as a team.
The gap to the meet leader, Oklahoma, doubled to 0.8250.
Even with two of MU’s strongest apparatus remaining in the rotation, the path to the school’s first team national title was all but closed midway through the meet.
Helen Hu, in her final routine as a Tiger at the end of a remarkable comeback campaign, scored a 9.9625 on beam for the highest score on the apparatus of the meet. Hu won the individual national title on the beam Thursday, a year removed from taking a year away from the sport to travel the world.
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More: Helen Hu hit perfection in Missouri gymnastics return. She took the long way round to get it
The Tigers closed the title meet — and their season — with a 49.4875 on floor, led by Celestine (9.9125), Kennedy Griffin (9.9500) and Moore (9.9000).
Welker, speaking to local media Friday, said that this will go down as “the best team in Missouri gymnastics history.” The results back that up.
Mizzou’s previous best finish in program history was fifth place in 2022, when the Tigers finished one place short of qualifying for the title meet. Missouri has made three NCAA Championship Semifinals appearances in program history.
This season, for the first time, Missouri’s season ended on the biggest stage in the sport.
You must be registered for see images
This article originally appeared on Columbia Daily Tribune: Missouri gymnastics finishes fourth in NCAA National Championship
Continue reading...
