Mizzou Gymnastics prepares for battle with No. 3 LSU

COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ)

No. 9 Mizzou is returning to the Hearnes Center after a pair of road meets against Alabama and Georgia. The Tigers are getting set for a top 10 battle with No. 3 LSU on Friday at 7:30 p.m.

Shannon Welker said at Wednesday's press conference that his team has had a good week of preparation, and he likes the energy his team has been practicing with.

Friday's meet will be the third consecutive time that Mizzou will face an opponent ranked 20th or higher in the nation. Despite facing plenty of tough competition so far this season, the Tigers focus more on their own preparation rather than their opponent.

"Honestly we don't think much about who we are going up against, we're just trying to be the best versions of ourselves," Amaya Marshall said. "We've been putting in the work in the gym, so honestly, we get to the weekend, and we just want to show what we've been practicing."

At Mizzou's last meet, the Tigers posted their eighth-best team score in program history with a 197.400 that featured some fantastic performances, including a record-breaking routine from Mara Titarsolej. She posted a 9.975 on bars, which set the program record for Mizzou's highest individual score ever on that apparatus.

"Not really surprised, just wondering when it was going to happen quite honestly. She obviously has a track record of doing quite well there at her previous university," Welker said. "We were excited for Mara, and she's doing exactly what we thought she was capable of doing."

You can watch the full press conference with Mizzou gymnastics coach Shannon Welker and senior gymnast Amaya Marshall in the video player below.

The Tigers' performance against the Bulldogs allowed them to jump three spots to No. 9 in this week's national rankings. There are currently five other SEC programs ranked higher than Mizzou. While Welker's crew is focused more on themselves and what they can control, they do use the national rankings as motivation to keep improving.

"The rankings are nice and that's cool. I think that's just confidence building stuff right there, but we know that we have to continue to develop because if we stay the same, we'll get passed up," Welker said. "Those stick percentages, that's great if they are at 50% now, but as we move into February, we need to be closer to 60%."