Mizzou Gymnastics putting finishing touches on SEC preparations
COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ)
Mizzou gymnastics takes to Tulsa, Okla. this week for the conference championship meet.
After finishing third in the NCAA last season and fourth at the SEC meet, the Tigers head into the postseason ranked ninth in the country. Out of the eight squads ahead of them, head coach Shannon Welker and his team will see six of them at this meet.
"There's a ton of great competiton, we're not in the evening session this year, but that's got number one, two, three, and four in the country," said Welker. "It'll be great preparation for us as we move into the first round of the regional weekend.
You can watch the full press conference with coach Welker in the video player above.
After finishing the regular season with four wins in the last five competitions, the Tigers will carry a lot of momentum into a meet filled with team's they've already seen this season.
"We opened with three or four really tough meets, but we were 0-3 going into that first meet with Florida, and then we turned it around and went four and one on the back end, so I'm really pleased with some of the toughness and the growth in our team," said Welker.
Mizzou has had consistency throughout the floor routine all year, but all the ladies on the balance beam have stepped up and made it a consistently high scoring event for the Tigers, helping propel them to a win against Auburn to finish out the season. With eight or nine different people that could find their way into that line up, their depth is something that coach Welker can rely on in the coming weeks.
"We've had a had time closing out on beam, so I was really excited for them to to do that number one at Auburn, and two, do it with a brand new line up. Railey slid into the lead off spot, Hayli Westerlind slid into the line up for the first time this year, so that was exciting."
With the team starting to take shape, coach Welker and the Tigers are looking to take put together their best performances when the stakes are the highest.
Up Next - Mizzou travels to Tulsa, Okla. for the SEC Championships. First touch is set for 2 p.m. on Saturday, March 21.
