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Junior Ashley Khederian

Gymnastics Travels to Oklahoma For Friday Meet

Tigers to face No. 13 Oklahoma and Central Michigan

Jan. 18, 2007

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COLUMBIA, Mo. - Now in the full swing of the 2007 season, the Missouri gymnastics team hits the road this weekend with a meet against No. 13 Oklahoma and Central Michigan on Friday, Jan. 19 in Norman, Okla. The meet will begin at 7 p.m. CT in Howard McCasland Field House.

Mizzou in the rankings
Missouri dropped to No. 26 in the first in-season GymInfo National Poll, based on season average. On individual events, the Tigers rank tied for 18th on vault, 20th on beam, 21st on floor and 28th on bars. The rankings will go by season average until Feb. 19 when the poll switches to Regional Qualifying Score (RQS).

An RQS is calculated by taking the six-highest scores of the season, of which at least three must be from an away meet. The highest overall score is dropped and the remaining five scores are averaged to get the RQS.

Last time out
In its first home meet of the 2007 season, the No. 18 Missouri gymnastics team came away with a 194.025-191.025 win over Illinois in the third annual Pink Out on Friday, Jan. 12. In conjunction with University of Missouri Healthcare Ellis Fishcel Cancer Center, the Pink Out aimed to help raise money for breast cancer research and promote awareness for the disease. The first 500 fans receieved free t-shirts and $1 from every ticket sold went toward research.

Despite treacherous weatherin the area, fans still came out to support the Tigers in their home opener. Sophomore Adrianne Perry highlighted the night with a 39.150 to take the all-around crown and three event titles. The Columbia, Mo., native scored a 9.775 to take first on bars, tied junior Julie Abaray on beam with a 9.800 and posted a 9.750 on floor for her third event title of the night. She also tied senior Whitney Crater for second on vault with a 9.825.

In addition to her beam win, Abaray also tied for second on bars with freshman Becky Scholle after scoring a 9.700 and finished third on floor with a 9.700 as well. Sophomore Alicia Hatcher notched a 9.775 on beam to take second while senior Amanda Pezzullo had a 9.725 on floor for second place.

Vault on Top
Despite the loss of three routines from the 2006 season, vault has been the Tigers' strongest event thus far. The graduation of 2006 seniors Jodie Heinicka, Lauren Schwartzman and Sarah Zigler stripped Mizzou of half it's vault lineup but the 2007 edition has stepped up. So far this season newcomers, freshman Danielle Guider and junior Nikki Bowman and Ashley Khederian (who competed vault as a freshman in 2005) have joined 2006 returnees Whitney Crater, Adrianne Perry and Amanada Pezzullo in the lineup.

Tigers ranked nationally...
After two weeks on competition, four Tigers find themselves ranked in the top-100 nationally on different events. Sophomore Adrianne Perry clocks in at 15th in the all-around, 30th on beam, 62nd on bars and 87th on floor. Junior Katie Kluga is tied for 32nd on beam, senior Whitney Crater ranks 52nd on vault and junior Julie Abaray is 99th on floor.

...and regionally
In addition to their national rankings, seven Tigers are ranked in the top-30 in the South Central Region. Perry is second in the all-around, seventh on beam, tied for 12th on bars and tied for 17th on floor. Kluga is eighth on beam while Crater is tied for ninth on vault. Abaray ranks 22nd on floor and tied for 23rd on bars with junior Ashley Khederian, who is also tied for 25th on vault. Senior Amanda Pezzullo is tied for 23rd on floor and tied for 26th on vault while freshman Danielle Guider is 30th on beam.

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 the Cancun Classic on Jan. 5, the class contributed 11 of 24 routines.

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 Michigan, Nebraska, Oklahoma, Iowa State, Arkansas and Auburn. Missouri will also face five teams that received votes in the poll: BYU, Illinois, Iowa, Pittsburgh and Central Michigan.

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.

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.

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.