For Shannon Welker’s fifth season as Missouri’s gymnastics coach, the Tigers sought to challenge an experienced roster that finished 2017 ranked 17th in the country against one of the nation’s most difficult schedules.
The results have been mixed , but have included breakthroughs that indicate the program remains on the rise in the Southeastern Conference.
The Tigers beat Florida for the first time in 23 attempts. They have three wins against top-10 teams. And they have posted several scores that rank among the 10 best in program history.
“The focus was on finishing stronger on the back half of the season,” Welker said. “The last two years we came out strong but tapered off a little with some quality and other things. So the focus was on the finish and we delayed a couple of things we usually do earlier to have some freshness to what we are doing.”
Mizzou entered the SEC Championships on Saturday ranked No. 21 nationally and seeded No. 8 out of eight teams in the conference. The Tigers finished third in the early session at Chaifetz Arena and seventh overall.
Their score of 196.1 was well off of their season best of 196.925.
Next they hope to make some noise in the regionals on April 7. The Tigers were third in their regional last year, leaving them one spot short of an appearance in the national championships.
In the last two seasons, Mizzou has won five dual meets against SEC opponents after having just one dual meet win previously in the conference.
“From the time we started we’ve made tremendous progress,” Welker said. “When we got here we were (ranked) in the low 40s. Every year through last year we improved. This year we’re not quite where we thought we’d be, but the postseason is where we want to make our mark.”
Aside from the tough SEC schedule, Mizzou also faced No. 25 Iowa State and lost and No. 21 George Washington, which the Tigers defeated.
On Saturday, Morgan Porter (Ritenour High) performed in the all-around competition for the second time this season and was fifth in the afternoon with a score of 39.10. Porter qualified for the NCAA Championships in all-around as a freshman and is coming off a ruptured Achilles tendon suffered last season.
“We’ve been slowly working her back into more events,” Welker said. “She started on bars and beam and we’ve been plugging her in on vault a little here and there and recently on the floor. We’ve been strategic when we use her, but she’s a full year out from the injury, so she’s ready.”
In her first attempt at the all-around this season, two weeks ago at Iowa State, Porter scored 39.175 . Doing her first competitive floor routine since the injury on Jan. 20, 2017, she scored 9.85. On Saturday, she scored 9.70.