Mizzou Opens 2025 Season with Beauty and the Beast Meet

SEASON TICKETS ON SALE NOW

2024 WRAPPED – A RECORD-BREAKING YEAR

• This is the 10th time Mizzou has hosted the event and first as a quad.
• SEMO has been the Tigers’ most common opponent in Beauty and the Beast history, now competing for the fourth time.
• Overall, Missouri is 8-4 against Ball State, 19-4 versus Illinois State and 40-7 taking on SEMO.

BLACK & GOLD SHOW STOPPERS

• Mizzou gymnastics has won seven of the nine Beauty and the Beast events while wrestling is 6-3 with all three losses coming against top-10 teams.
• The highest team score Mizzou ever posted was a 196.625 in the program’s win over Illinois in the previous Beauty and the Beast on Jan. 19, 2019.
• Adrianne Perry and Sarah Shire each hold two Beauty and the Beast scoring records – Perry on vault (9.950) and bars (9.925) in 2007 and 2008, respectively. Shire holds the best scores from her 2009 balance beam routine and floor in 2008 and 2009, earning a 9.925 in both events. 

LAST TIME OUT

• During Missouri’s annual Black & Gold Intrasquad meet, Team Black took the win, scoring higher in three rotations and tying on bars to defeat Team Gold 196.150-194.700.
• The Tigers combined for 27 of 50 scores over 9.8 or better and eight scores of 9.900 or greater, four of which came on balance beam. The Black squad chipped in with a combined score of 49.200 on vault, the highest score by either team in any event.
• Graduate newcomer Lauren Macpherson brought home the all-around title. The 2023 Mountain Pacific Sports Federation Gymnast of the Year earned a 9.900 on the balance beam and scores of 9.850 on vault, bars and floor for a 39.450 total.
• Senior Amari Celestine capped off her preseason prep by scoring the highest of any gymnast during the bars and floor routines. The three-time All-Southeastern Conference honoree turned in the highest score of the meet – a 9.950 from her floor performance.

Season ticket renewals for the 2025 Mizzou gymnastics season are on sale now at MUTigers.com/Tickets. In addition to hosting “Beauty and the Beast” for the team’s regular-season opener, the Tigers will host SEC home duals against Kentucky, Georgia and Auburn.

• Director of Athletics Laird Veatch announced on Thursday, Jan. 2 that gymnastics head coach Shannon Welker has signed a contract extension to remain at the helm of the program through 2029.
• Since taking over Mizzou’s program in May of 2013, Welker has transformed the Tigers into a consistent contender on the national stage.
• He has led the program to historic milestones, including multiple NCAA Championship appearances, record-breaking team scores, home attendance records along and the development of numerous All-Americans and conference honorees.

UP NEXT

• Helen Hu, a two-time NCAA All-American and three-time All-Southeastern Conference gymnast, has returned to the University of Missouri gymnastic program and will use her final year of eligibility to compete in the forthcoming 2025 campaign.
• Hu spent the past year backpacking in European, South American and Asian countries. 
• The redshirt senior holds career highs of 9.975 three times on the balance beam and 9.950 twice on bars, placing her tied for third and second in the program’s record books for the respective competitions.
• Between beam and bars, Hu has earned a 9.900 or better 36 times between the two events.
• In her most recent season of competition, the 2023 campaign, Hu competed in all 13 meets and posted a 9.900 or better on beam in 10 of them.
• She earned second-team All-America status in the event and was on the end-of-season All-SEC team. 

THE MATCHUP

• Missouri gymnastics was selected as the ninth-ranked team in the nation by the members of the Women’s Collegiate Gymnastics Association heading into the 2025 season.
• The Southeastern Conference combined for seven of the top 10 in the poll. Ninth-ranked Mizzou is joined at the top by No. 1 Oklahoma, No. 2 LSU, No. 3 Florida, No. 6 Alabama, No. 7 Kentucky and No. 8 Arkansas. All nine programs in the SEC were featured in the top 17 in the country.
• This preseason ranking ties the Mizzou’s highest in the last 10 years and is the second time in the last three years the Tigers have cracked the top 10. They also slotted at No. 9 ahead of the 2023 season.
• All but two of the Tigers’ 15 opponents for the upcoming season were featured in the ranking in either the selected 1-36 or receiving votes. 

COLUMBIA, Mo. — No. 9 University of Missouri gymnastics opens its 2025 season with Beauty and the Beast, a simultaneous gymnastics and wrestling competition, as the team takes on Ball State, Illinois State and SEMO in the quad meet on Friday at 6 p.m. at Mizzou Arena.

• The Mizzou gymnastics program broke more than 25 records l in the 2024 season, most notably setting the team-high score on all four events.
• Seven Tigers earned All-SEC selections, the most of any team in the conference, and three were named WCGA All-Americans.
• Missouri set a new dual meet attendance record during its Jan. 26, 2024 win over No. 3 LSU with 7,336 spectators as the program earned its highest-ranked win in history.
• The Tigers had their best season ever on vault, earning a score of at least 49.000 in every meet for the first time ever.
• Mara Titarsolej, Sienne Schreiber and Jocelyn Moore all earned perfect 10s during the year – Titarsolej on bars, Schreiber on beam and Moore on floor.
• The team also set its highest-ever NQS score of 197.420. In addition, Missouri also broke its best NQS score on floor (49.575), bars (49.420) and vault (49.340). Its ranking of eighth on floor and 11th on bars is the highest end of year ranking.

STAR-STUDDED TIGERS JOIN THE AMBUSH

• After a historic 2024 season, Welker signed the sixth-ranked freshman class and top-ranked transfer class, according to CollegeGymNews.com.
• Welker has announced the program’s 2025 recruiting class of four signees on Nov. 11, 2024, consisting of CollegeGymNews.com five-star Kimarra Echols, Bryce Kupbens, three-star Maiya Terry and four-star Hayli Westerlind.
• The Tigers’ class ranks 11th nationally and fifth in the SEC, according to CollegeGymNews.com. This marks the third time since 2021 that MU has welcomed a top-11 class nationally. 

BEAUTY AND THE BEAST HISTORY

• The Tigers travel to take on the Denver Pioneers in Magness Arena for their first road meet of the year at the Denver Quad on Jan. 12 at 3 p.m. Georgia and LIU join Mizzou and Denver for the contest. 
• This marks the first time Missouri visit the Pioneers since March 3, 2012, which was also in a quad format. Mizzou is 9-11 against Denver all-time, 11-24 versus Georgia and meet LIU for the first time.

FOLLOW THE TIGERS

• Mizzou’s 2024 season came to an end in the NCAA Gainesville Regional Final, finishing in third with a 197.325 final score.
• MU became part of a select group to advance to four-consecutive regional finals, as only six other programs in the country — Alabama, California, Denver, Florida, Oklahoma and Utah — have sustained a streak as long as the Tigers.
• The Tigers put together their most complete meet of the season at the NCAA Gainesville Regional Second Round, scoring a 197.525 to place second and claim a spot in the regional final.

For all the latest on Mizzou gymnastics, stay tuned to MUTigers.com and follow the team on Facebook, X, and Instagram.

GUESS HU’S BACK?

SIGNED, SEALED, DELIVERED

IT JUST MEANS MORE