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Whitney Crater

Missouri Kicks Off Season Friday At Super Six Challenge

Tigers will face five teams in the top-15

Jan. 3, 2006

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COLUMBIA, Mo. -- The #16 Missouri Tigers kick off the 2006 season against five of the top squads in the nation at the Super Six Challenge in Baton Rouge, La. on Friday, Jan. 6 at 6:00 p.m. CT. Mizzou will face #4 Alabama, #7 LSU, #8 Nebraska, #11 Iowa State and #15 Auburn to open the 2006 campaign. Live stats will be available on LSU's website at www.LSUsports.net. ESPN2 will air the meet on tape delay on Jan. 15 at 1:30 p.m. CT.

2006 Season Outlook
How do you follow up your best finish is program history with a final anking of 14 and a third place finish at the 2005 NCAA South Central Reg- ional with a team event record 195.100? Hopefully with a finish in the top 12 and a trip to Corvallis, Ore. for the 2006 NCAA National Championships in April.

Head Coach Rob Drass and his 2006 Missouri gymnastics squad hope their success last season springboards the program to new heights to reach the National Championships for only the second time in school history and the first trip since 1981.

The 2005 Tigers ended the regular season with an impressive 13-8 record that featured an upset of No. 15 Arkansas and yet another Cat Classic team title before their third-place finish at the South Central Regional. Along the way, Mizzou tied the school record with a 49.325 on the balance beam against Illinois and tied the second-highest bars score in school history in the same meet with a 49.325. The year was highlighted by a second All-America honor for senior Alisha Robinson, who finished fifth on the vault at the 2005 National Championships.

Despite the loss of Robinson, Missouri's record holder on vault, bars, floor and in the all-around, and 2004 Big 12 beam champion Rachael Dombart, the Tigers should improve on last year's performances with a more complete team this season.

"As we finished last season, the team's confidence grew quite a bit," Head Coach Rob Drass said. "Obviously we're looking to build upon that. On paper we should be a stronger team. Hopefully, we'll see a team that will challenge to get to the National Championships."

The Tigers, lead by seniors Jodie Heinicka, Lauren "Bunny" Schwartzman and Sarah Ziger, gain two local standouts this season. Freshmen Alicia Hatcher (Blue Springs, Mo.) and Adrianne Perry (Columbia, Mo.) join Missouri's already talented squad in the team's run to the National Champonships.

Vault
Missouri's best event for the second year running, the vault should once again be a be a brightspot for the Tigers in 2006. The graduation of Robinson, a two-time All-American on the event, hurts the lineup but a slew of talented Tigers should keep Mizzou on top.

Always a standard on vault, junior Whitney Crater will anchor the lineup with the help of Schartzman and sophomore Ashley Khederian, also routine regulars last season. Heinicka, junior Amanda Pezzullo and Zigler will join the lineup once again with depth provided by sophomores Julie Abaray, Nicole Bowman and Perry.

"We look to go nine to 10 deep on vault and have six very strong vaulters all with 10.0 vaults hopefully going out there and scoring 9.800 or better," Drass said. "Vault should be a very stable, solid event for us and we look to start things off on the right foot."

Uneven Bars
Historically Mizzou's weakest event, the uneven bars will probably be the team's most improved event this season. Another deep event for the Tigers, Drass expects the squad to go nine or ten deep on bars.

The Missouri record holder in the event, Heinicka will lead a lineup that features clean and solid routines with high-level dismounts. Also vying for a spot in the lineup are Zigler, Hatcher and Perry. Filling the final two or three routines will likely change week to week with junior Alicia Gilmore, sophomores Bowman, Ashley Khederian, Katie Kluga and Lisa Puccio.

Balance Beam
Aiming for consistency and solid routines on a weekly basis, Missouri's beam lineup need look no further than 2004 Big 12 beam champion Schwartzman. The only Tiger to score a perfect 10.0 in program history, Schartzman will once again anchor the beam lineup.

"Lauren is as good on beam as you can get," Drass said. "I'd put her up against anyone in the country any day and she could hold her own."

In addition to Schwartzman, the Tigers will look to beam standards Abaray, a former Junior Olympic National Champion and Pezzullo to stabilize the event week-to-week. With a solid preseason from Kluga and the freshmen tandem of Hatcher and Perry, who are both excellent beam workers, the Tigers have a solid lineup in 2006.

Floor Exercise
Rounding out the gymnastics rotation, the floor exercise looks to be one of the strongest and most consistent once again for the Tigers. The loss of Robinson strips Missouri of the program's event record holder but an array of returnees and newcomers give the Tigers a wealth of potential. A number of athletes can step in for the Tigers and compete depending on who is better on any given day.

The combination of choreography by assistant coach Kira Montuori and tumbling by assistant coach Paul Scardina should produce one of the better floor programs in the nation who can hold its own with anyone.

Leading the lineup are 2005 floor standards Abaray, Crater, Khederian and Schwartzman. Joining the lineup this year is Perry and with added depth from Hatcher, Heinicka and Pezzullo, the Tigers look to set new standards on floor in the upcoming season.

Rule Changes
After a change in the scoring system last season, routine requirements and skill devaluing will take effect this season with a particular emphasis on variety in routines. The events most altered are the uneven bars and floor.

On bars, teams who previously took the easy way out with relatively low skill routines will face deductions because minimum requirements for releases have been stengthened. A emphasis on variety is another change. Routines that feature an overuse of one skill or element will face deductions.

"We've always pushed the envelope as far as difficulty and made sure we did gymnastics that was not only clean and consistent but also at the highest level we were able to compete at and still be clean and consistent," Drass said.

On the balance beam there is now a greater emphasis on tumbling difficulty and gymnasts are expected to add acrobatic skills above the minimum. Additionally, routines are expected to contain backward, sideward and forward choreography to encourage variety.

The floor looks to be impacted the most by the changes as there has been a devaluing of front tumbling. This season, routines will feature bigger tumbling sets and more bounding tumbling than in the past with more variety in the dance skills.

"As a whole, I think the rules will benefit us," Drass said. "It's the style of gymnastics we like to do anyway, so hopefully that will work to our advantage."

Never shy to compete against the top programs in the country, the Tigers open the 2006 campaign at the Super Six Challenge against five of the top 15 teams in the country in Alabama, Auburn, Iowa State, LSU and Nebraska. Starting off the season with such a difficult meet will give Missouri a great way to measure the team and get the Tigers ready for the rest of the season.

"We want to go out there and find out how good we are and if we're good, we're going to make sure everyone knows we can complete with these types of programs."

Mizzou's schedule is also highlighted by perennial top 25 squads Arkansas, Illinois, Oklahoma and Pittsburgh as well as additional matchups with Big 12 foes Iowa State and Nebraska.

As a whole, Drass foresees great things from his 2006 Tiger squad. The team is in better condition than any other season during his tenure and are getting through routines on a more consistent basis in the preseason.

"I think we'll really start off hot this year and stay there and hopefully break a bunch of records on the way. "

The always consistent performances of seniors Heinicka,Schwartzman and Zigler, the improving skills of Abaray, Bowman, Crater, Gilmore, Khederian, Kluga, Pezzulo and Puccio and the vast talents of newcomers Hatcher and Perry spell great things to come in 2006 and the yers to come.

Mizzou makes history... The No. 16 preseason ranking by GymInfo was the highest preseason ranking for the Tigers in program history. Last season, Mizzou entered the season ranked No. 22.

About Alabama...
The Crimson Tide finished 2005 as the national runner-up to Georgia at the National Championships.. Alabama returns three All-Americans from 2005, including NCAA uneven bars champion Terin Humphrey.
Mizzou vs. Alabama: 0-20

About Auburn...
Headlining Auburn's lineup is 2005 All-American SEC Freshman of the Year Julie Dwyer. The Tigers ended last season ranked 16th and move up one spot in this year's preseason rankings to 15th.
Mizzou vs. Auburn: 7-15

About Iowa State...
The eighth ranked team at the end of 2005, the Cyclones enter the Super Six ranked No. 11 in the preseason poll. Iowa State is led by senior All-American Laura-Kay Powell
Mizzou vs. Iowa State: 41-33

About LSU...
The host of the Super Six Challenge, LSU, who enters the meet ranked No. 7, is led by 2005 SEC and NCAA Central Region Gymnast of the Year, April Burkholder.
Mizzou vs. LSU: 5-20

About Nebraska...
The Huskers enter the Super Six Challenge led by a trio of All-Americans, including sophomore Emily Parsons, the 2005 Big 12 Newcomer of the Year. Nebraska ended 2005 ranked sixth in the nation.
Mizzou vs. Nebraska: 7-55

GymInfo Preseason Top 25
1. Georgia
2. Utah
3. UCLA
4. Alabama
5. Michigan
6. Florida
7. LSU
8. Nebraska
9. Stanford
10. Oklahoma
11. Iowa State
12. Penn State
13. Oregon
14. Arizona State
15. Auburn
16. Missouri
17. Arizona
18. Washington
19. Brigham Young
20. Arkansas
21. Denver
22. North Carolina
23. Kentucky
24. Minnesota
25. New Hampshire

Shire, Perry to Rotate with SEC Squads

04/06/2009 - W. Gymnastics

This is senior Adrianne Perry's fourth trip to the NCAA National Championships, a school record, and the first time Missouri has sent two individuals to the competition.