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Junior Whitney Crater

No. 18 Gymnastics Hosts Third Annual Pink Out On Friday

Tigers open home schedule with Illinois

Jan. 11, 2007

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COLUMBIA, Mo. - In its first home meet of the 2007 season, the No. 18 Missouri gymnastics team hosts Illinois on Friday, Jan. 12 at 7 p.m. in the Third Annual Pink Out. In conjunction with University of Missouri Healthcare Ellis Fishcel Cancer Center, the Tigers aim to help raise money for breast cancer research and promote awareness for the disease. The first 500 fans will receieve free t-shirts and $1 from every ticket sold will go toward research.

Over the past two years, Missouri has raised over $3,200 toward breast cancer research.

The meet will available live on Mizzou All-Access starting at 7 p.m. Live statistics can also be found at mutigers.com.

Mizzou in the rankings...
Missouri is ranked No. 18 in the GymInfo Peseason Coaches' Poll, released on Dec. 1. The Tigers will look to mirror last season's success when the their preseason ranking of 16th was the lowest of the season.

The first in-season poll will be released on Monday, Jan. 15 and will be based on a school's season average. Season average will decide rankings for the first five polls until it moves to Regional Qualifying Score (RQS) on Feb. 19. A school's RQS is tabulated by adding together the team's six highest scores, three of which must be from an away meet. The highest score is dropped and the remaining five are averaged to get the RQS.

Last time out...
The Tigers opened their 2007 campaign at the Cancun Classic in Cancun, Mexico, on Friday, Jan. 5. Mizzou scored a 192.625 to finish in fourth behind No. 13 Iowa State (195.600), No. 20 Auburn (194.150) and BYU (194.025).

Missouri started slow in its first two rotations, scoring a 47.550 and 47.850 on bars and beam, respectively. Sophomore Adrianne Perry led the way on beam with a 9.825 to tie for fifth place while junior Katie Kluga set a career high with a 9.800.

The Tigers improved in their final two rotations, with a 48.475 and a 48.750 on vault. Junior Julie Abaray finished in fourth on floor with a career high tying 9.800 on the event while senior Amanda Pezzullo scored a 9.875 on vault to tie for second.

Mizzou faces some of nation's best...
During the 2007 campaign, Mizzou will compete against some of the nation's top competition. Six teams ranked in the preseason poll are on the Tigers' schedule, including No. 6 Michigan, No. 7 Nebraska, No. 10 Oklahoma, No. 13 Iowa State, No. 15 Arkansas and No. 20 Auburn. Missouri will also face five teams that received votes in the poll: BYU, Illinois, Iowa, Pittsburgh and Central Michigan.

Time to step up...
This year's junior class, consisting of Julie Abaray, Nikki Bowman, Ashley Khederian, Katie Kluga and Lisa Puccio is the second largest on this year's squad but should account for the most routines overall. At last week's Cancun Classic, the class contributed 11 of 24 routines.

The Tigers under Drass...
In his seventh season as head coach of the Tigers, Rob Drass has revitalized the program and brought Mizzou to new heights. His squads have qualified for six regional championships in seven years, highlighted by third place showings in 2005 and 2006. The Tigers have been continualy ranked in the top 20 since his arrival and earned the program's all-time high of seventh in 2006. For his efforts, Drass was selected 2006 South Central Region Head Coach of the Year. Overall, he has a 71-54 regular season mark with the Tigers.

Mizzou to host Big 12 Championship...
For the first time since 2003, the Tigers will host the Big 12 Gymnastics Championship at the Hearnes Center on Saturday, March 31. The last time the meet was in Columbia, the Tigers finished third, which marked the first time since 1994 the squad finished better than fourth.

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.