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Welcome to Week 2, y’all. The rest of the gymnastics world will join in on the fun this week after only 20 teams competed in the first week. In fact, so few teams competed, we were confused on whether to actually call it Week 1 or Week 0.
“I thought we did a nice job tonight,” head coach Shannon Welker said after the opener on Sunday. “Especially opening weekend, or Week 0 or Week 1… whatever week we’re in, we did a nice job.” (We’ll get more to their performance in a bit.)
A new test awaits in Week 2, facing off against WCGA preseason no. 27-ranked Nebraska Cornhuskers team on the road, along with a couple of D-III schools. How will the Tigers fare in the Cornhusker State? We will soon find out, and I will be there IN PERSON to see it. You guys, I’m so incredibly excited. It will be my first true road meet — Lou to the Zou doesn’t count — and my first meet since starting to cover the meet where I sit amongst the Mizzou faithful! Hoping to connect with some Mizzou Gym parents and fans during the meet and offer up some fun perspective from a non-media view.
Something else to keep in mind that I addressed from the Iowa State point of view in my recap— the new NQS formula dictates that ALL away scores count, making consistency ridiculously important in 2026.
Meet Info: Ameritas Masters Classic
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Last Time On the Mats: Week 1 Rewind
It was a great week to be a Tiger, and Mizzou wrapped up Week 1 with their second highest opening score in program history (196.85) against Iowa State, and they were thisclose to getting to that 197 mark, if not for a couple beam oopsies. You can check out my in-depth recap here, but if you’re wanting a quick hitter, here’s some highlights!
- VAULT: 49.200— very good start, with 4x 10.0 SV vaults and two 9.875 scores from Jackson & Horton. Jackon’s 9.875 was on her new Y 1.5, which she’s been working on for years. Strong YF (9.95 SV) vaults from Echols (collegiate debut, 9.85) and Griffin (low-scored 9.775).
- BARS: 49.450— program high for first meet and in top-10 score overall. Four scores 9.875-plus, including event winner Horton (9.925), Echols (collegiate bars debut), Lawrence (leadoff, stepping in during touch period, 9.90 career-high tying), and Macpherson (Mizzou bars debut after injury year)
- BEAM: 48.75— started really strong with 2x 9.90 from Wier (ties career-high), and props to Jackson for a 9.85 after a fall, and Lawrence, with event title and 9.95 (ties last year’s high score). First time Mizzou counted a fall since 2024 season (wow) after falls from Echols & Tanskanen
- FLOOR: 49.450— 4x 9.875+ scores, including 9.925 from event winner Horton, 9.90s from Tisler and Acevedo, in her first collegiate lineup as a sophomore, and 9.875 from Griffin.
- ALL AROUND/OVERALL: Originally slated to be both Tanskanen & Echols, but former dropped bars during warmups. Echols was a bit shaky on beam, floor, but also just a freshman in first collegiate competition. 12/24 routines scored 9.875+, and 8/12 were 9.90+, making it a really nice debut.
(side note: I NEVER call them by their last names so this feels weird. I don’t think I like it….)
From Shannon: “I was really pleased. I thought we did a nice job tonight… So really proud of a lot of things that we were trying to accomplish, things we were trying to start with this year. Definitely stronger start on vault this year. I think we got to some sticks sooner this year overall. I think our percentage was pretty good tonight. Overall, pretty solid stuff. And we probably would have walked away at the highest score of the weekend; just got to not count that fall right there.”
Quick Comparisons
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Opponent Outlook: Nebraska
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KEY ROSTER LOSSES:
Emma Spence (AA, First Team All-Big 10) | Ayzhia Hall (VLT) | Sophia McClelland (AA, First Team All-Big 10) | Katie Kuenemann (VLT) | Emma Simpton (UB, BB, Second Team All-Big 10) | Halle Rourke (FX) |Aubrey Gilliland (freshman,injury as of 1/1)
KEY ROSTER ADDITIONS:
Karys Griffin (3x national qualifier, 2x Region 4 L10 bars champ, MO State champ vault & beam/2nd in all-around) | Hailee Bowen (3x DP Nationals qualifier, 2x SD State Bars Champ- L10, 3rd Vault- DP Nationals) | Meredith Brandt (3x DP Nationals qualifier, 5x Region 6 L10 champion, 2nd Vault- DP Nationals 2023) | Aubrey Gilliland (3x DP Nationals qualifier, 2x Region 4 L10 floor champ, Region 4 2024 L10 vault, beam, floor, AA champ) | Ahnna Kalmes (2x DP Nationals qualifier, 6th Beam- DP Nationals 2024, 2nd Beam- Region 4 Champs) | Tegan Shaver (2x Canadian National Team member, 3rd Vault- Canadian Olympic Trials)
RETURNING/KNOWN SCORERS:
VAULT: Isabel Sikon (9.90) | Reese Baechle (9.90, LU 2024) | Whitney Jencks (9.825) | Jenna Sartoretto (9.675) | Nya Kraus (9.600) | Tegan Shaver | Wild Cards**: Karys Griffin, Hailee Bowen, Meredith Brandt
BARS: Whitney Jencks (9.90) | Nya Kraus (9.90, LU 2024) | Isabel Sikon (9.85) | Reese Baechle (9.85, LU 2024) | Emmalee Frost (9.775) | Lauren Hollifield (9.775) | Olivia Burns (9.75) | Wild Cards**: Karys Griffin, Hailee Bowen
BEAM: Isabel Sikon (9.925) | Whitney Jencks (9.85) | Nya Kraus (9.825; 9.90 LU 2023) | Lauren Homecillo (9.75) | Wild Cards**: Ahnna Kalmes
FLOOR: Lauren Homecillo (9.95) | Whitney Jencks (9.90) | Nya Kraus (9.85; 9.90 LU 2024) | Allie Gard (9.825); Reese Baechle (9.80; 9.90 LU 2024)
**based on L10 accomplishments listed above
PRESEASON NOTES:
- Nebraskaended its 2025 season ranked 28th (20th in regular season), with a 196.535 NQS, 196.108 average and 196.75 high score. Vault was the weakest link for the Huskers in 2025, while beam was the best (no. 18, 49.450 high). They finished fourth in Session II of the second round of the NCAA Championships, facing off against Oklahoma, Auburn and Illinois, making their third consecutive appearance in the NCAA Regionals.
- Per Huskers.com, the team had 19 new career-high scores and accumulated 33 individual event titles in 2025, to go along with seven different gymnasts earning an event score of 9.90-plus. They took 9th overall at the Big Ten Championships.
- Big 10 Gymnasts to Watch: Juniors Whitney Jencks and Isabel Sikon were named Big Ten Gymnasts to watch in mid-December. Jencks earned second-team All-Big 10 in 2025, setting new personal bests on vault, bars, floor and in the all-around. Sikon earned career highs on bars and beam in 2025, while tying her career high on vault.
- The Mizzou Connection: Reese Baechle is a former Missouri Tiger who transferred to Lindenwood as a RS-Fr before they shuttered their program in 2024. Olivia Burns is the sister of Kyra Burns, who graduated in 2025 after five incredible years in the black & gold.
- Coaches Corner: Head coach Heather Brink was named head coach of the Huskers in February 2019 after serving three seasons previously as the associate head coach, as well as significant time as an assistant coach. In all, this is her 15th season. Brink is also Nebraska’s all-time leading All-American, having earned the honors 11 times. She was also the first Husker woman to win an all-around national title in 2000. Associate Head Coach Brian Amato is in his sixth season with the Huskers after spending seven seasons as an assistant at Oregon State. Mollie Korth, a former All-American Kentucky Wildcat, is in her second season as an assistant after working as a beam coach for Georgia in 2024. Montana Rall, another former Kentucky Wildcat gymnast, was hired in August 2025, and enters her first season as an assistant coach, arriving from the Omaha Gymnastics Academy, where she spent three years as choreographer and lead beam coach.
Opponent Outlook: UW-LaCrosse & UW-Stout
I’m looping these together, as we didn’t even know the Tigers were facing other schools besides Nebraska until Sunday evening, and since they are Division III schools, they don’t figure to offer up heavy competition.
UW-LaCrosse Eagles
- On March 22, UWL won its 18th NCGA Championships (first since 2016), while capturing multiple individual titles and earning ten All-American honors. Impressive! Their team score of 194.925 broke their NCGA Championships program record of 193.65, set in 2016, while also setting a program record 49.050 on beam.
- Grace Kehr (vault, 9.85), Raina Christenson/Claire Robbins/Kyla Dickson (beam, 9.85), and Jessica Taylor (floor, 9.90) all took home individual titles. Kehr also finished second on floor.
- Christenson was awarded WCGA Regular Season Second Team All-American honors on beam for her second consecutive season.
- From my research, the Eagles return their entire roster? That’s honestly crazy to me, but if you’re doing D3 gymnastics and want to be on a winning team, UWL appears to be one of the best places to go.
UW-Stout Blue Devils
- UW-Stout opened its season in Week 1 with a third place finish at the UW-Oshkosh Quad. Jessica Qualich was the lone UWS individual winner, taking home the vault title with a 9.65.
- Jamie Beatty was named 2025 First Team WCGA Regular Season All-American in the all-around as a freshman after winning the all-around at the NCGA National Championships with a school-record score of 38.800. She also tied for first on bars with a 9.775, and recorded a personal best on floor (9.775). Taylar Schaefer finished 15th on vault (9.65).
- The Blue Devils sent six individual gymnasts to the 2025 NCGA National Championships, including three that return to the 2026 team: Jamie Beatty (soph, AA), Taylar Schaefer (junior, VLT), and Sarah Lutz (senior, UB)
RETURNING/KNOWN SCORERS:
VAULT: Grace Kehr (UWL, 9.85) | Sarah Pastore (UWL, 9.80) | Paige Breckwoldt (UWL, 9.80) | Taylar Schaefer (UWS, 9.80) | Jessica Qualich (UWS, 9.725) | Darby Savage (UWL, 9.700)
BARS: Jamie Beatty (UWS, 9.775) | Effie Ferguson (UWS, 9.75) | Sarah Lutz (UWS, 9.75) | Sarah Best (UWL, 9.75) | Lauren Main (UWL, 9.75) | Claire Robbins (UWL, 9.75)
BEAM: Raina Christenson (UWL, 9.85) | Claire Robbins (UWL, 9.85) | Lucy Warren (UWL, 9.825) | Lauren Main (UWL, 9.80) | Madalyn McCormick (UWL, 9.75) | Lauren Beatty (UWS, 9.675)
FLOOR: Grace Kehr (UWL, 9.875) | Grace Edwards (UWL, 9.825) | Jamie Beatty (UWS, 9.775) | Hunter Matulka (UWL, 9.775) | Claire Robbins (UWL, 9.775) | Kaylie Kassing (UWS, 9.675)
Missouri Lineup Preview
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Disclaimer: These are purely predictions based on nothing but my brain and the help of Nate. We’re going off of what we’ve seen in three intrasquad meets and over the last calendar year. The wild cards aren’t really in any particular order; just team members who I thought could also be up for inclusion. The scores in parentheses are the high scores from last year, as well as Black & Gold scores as needed for reference.
LINEUP PREDICTIONS:
VAULT: Hannah Horton (9.875 /9.95 H) | Railey Jackson (9.875) | Kimarra Echols (9.85) | Kaia Tanskanen (9.80 / 9.85 H) | Elise Tisler (9.80 / 9.875 H) | Wild Cards:Kennedy Griffin (9.775 / 9.875 H) | Olivia Kelly (9.825 H / 9.80 intrasquad) |Dakota Essenpries (9.725 / 9.90 H) / Ayla Acevedo (9.80 B&G)
- NOTES: I think the first five I’ve listed here are virtual locks for the rotation. The remaining sixth spot will be up in the air. Kennedy took the final spot in Week 1, and both Nate and I can see it happening again.
- H2, Elise, RJ & Dakota (Y 1.5), as well as Kaia (Tsuk Full/Pike Front Half Week 1) and Olivia (Y 1.5 tucked) all showcased 10.0 SV vaults at the team’s Black & Gold meet. Additionally, in other intrasquads we’ve seen progress on 10.0 SV vaults from Ayla, Kennedy (though she did a YF at the first meet), Lisa Szeibert & Bryce Kupbens.
- “Dakota is getting there on vault,” Shannon said after the first meet. “She’ll get there.” Because of this statement, I’m still keeping her in the Wild Card spot for now, as we haven’t seen a super steady landing from her on the Y 1.5 yet.
- Shannon mentioned after the first meet that he expects to compete 4-5 10.0 SV vaults each week.Will one of them be Kimarra? Not so fast. Shannon reminded us that Ki is not ONLY competing vault, but is prominent on other events as well, so throwing her into a new vault when she’s got a fantastic YF already might not be the best course of action. I mean… it’s a REALLY good Yurchenko Full, y’all.
BARS: Hannah Horton (9.925 / 9.95 H) |Kimarra Echols (9.90) | Lauren Macpherson (9.875 / 9.925 H) | Makayla Green (9.85 / 9.925 H) |Wild Cards:Addi Lawrence (9.90 / 9.85 B&G) | Olivia Kelly (9.925 H / 9.75 B&G) | Kaia Tanskanen (9.95 B&G) | Sara Wabi (9.90 H / 9.80 B&G) | Maiya Terry (9.80) | Rayna Light (9.25 / 9.85 H) | Ayla Acevedo (9.80 B&G) | Hayli Westerlind (9.75 B&G) | Lisa Szeibert (9.75 B&G)
- I’d call the first four I’ve listed locks, so that means there’s two spots up for grabs, including Kaia, who was penciled into the opening lineup, Addi, who was the last minute fill-in and tied a career high in Week 1, Olivia, who was a lineup mainstay (and WCGA Postseason All-American) in 2025, and Maiya, who did well in an exhibition role. Does Rayna get another shot? Her routine looked great until she came off the bar at the end. Does one of the other newbies get a go, like Sara Wabi or Hayli Westerlind? I just don’t know what to expect!
- Illinois State transfer Sara Wabi was the MIC bars champion, scoring a 9.90 last season and secured a 9.80+ in 9/14 meets, so she is definitely in the mix at some point, and this could be a good meet to slide her in or at least in exhibition?
BEAM: Addi Lawrence (9.95) | Lauren Macpherson (9.90 / 9.95 H (’24)) | Amy Wier (9.90) | Railey Jackson (9.85 / 9.875 H) | Grace Anne Davis (9.925 H (’24)) | Wild Cards: Olivia Kelly (9.70 / 9.90 H) | Kimarra Echols (9.15 / 9.95 B&G) | Kaia Tanskanen (9.00 / 9.95 B&G) | Kennedy Griffin (9.90 B&G) | Hannah Horton (9.75 B&G) | Rayna Light (9.85 B&G) | Hayli Westerlind (9.85 B&G) | Lisa Szeibert (9.85 B&G)
- I know there were some oopsies in Week 1, but I still think this is Year of the Beam. The depth here is just astonishing. Three — THREE!!! — people scored 9.95 at the Black & Gold meet, and two more scored 9.90, and at the home opener, half the lineup scored 9.90+.
- Liv and Addi return as 2nd team WCGA Second Team Postseason All-Americans after their phenomenal performances in the national semifinals, and while Shannon said that Liv was not 100%, he expects her to back in more events this week, so we’ll see if she makes an appearance.
- Surprisingly, no Grace Anne Davis on beam in Week 1, so I’m expecting to see her this week.
- Both Ki and Kaia fell in week 1, so do you give them another chance? I’m hesitant to throw Kimarra back in the all-around so quickly, so I’m leaving her as a WC going into Week 2.
- Kennedy, Hannah and Rayna continue to be the wildest of true wild cards here, as KG & Rayna have sparsely competed beam since their freshman seasons, and Hannah has never collegiately competed beam. I’d simply love to see them get a shot in what will be a VERY difficult lineup to make at some point. Will it be in Week 2? Ehhhhh… I don’t know.
FLOOR Hannah Horton (9.925) | Elise Tisler (9.90 / 9.925 H) | Kennedy Griffin (9.875 / 10.0 H) | Railey Jackson (9.925 H / 9.85 B&G) | Kaia Tanskanen (9.85 / 9.90 H) | Kimarra Echols (9.75 / 9.90 B&G) |Wild Cards:Ayla Acevedo (9.90) | Dakota Essenpries (9.80 B&G) |Rayna Light (9.925 H / 9.75 B&G) | Maiya Terry (9.80 / 9.90 B&G) | Olivia Kelly | Sara Wabi (9.875 H)
- Yes, I know I have six athletes listed, which doesn’t even leave a WC, ha, but I strongly feel RJ’s getting into that floor lineup this week. Her “Waterbender” routine is just TOO GOOD.
- Ayla was the surprise of Week 1, notching a 9.90 in her first collegiate routine that should warrant inclusion in the lineup on more than one occasion, but they’re not going to use the same lineup week in and week out with this much [gestures wildly] talent.
- Methinks a Dakota routine appearance is coming, as the team’s social media made a point of calling out her routine as part of the Stick It! movie anniversary. I also think Rayna, who was a lineup mainstay last year, gets back in there as well.
- If Olivia can get her double arabian under control — it’s very difficult — I think she pushes for lineup inclusion for sure at some point, but I don’t think it’s Week 2.
NOTES:
- Worth mentioning again, as we saw Ayla debut in Week 1. After the Black & Gold intrasquad meet on December 12, Shannon told us to watch out for the sophomores, in particular. “I really feel like our last year’s freshmen (this year’s sophomores), they really have an opportunity to really have a huge impact,” he said. “I felt like they were doing really well last year; they just had a lot of people in front of them on events, and I think you got to get through that freshman year.”
- While Kimarra competed the all-around in Week 1, not so fast. Shannon was quick to point out that the team doesn’t necessarily NEED an all-arounder each week. He did, however, mention Railey and Kaia as options. (I’d also add in Hannah, but maybe that’s just me, haha).
- Even though it’s an away meet, it won’t be on a regular telecast, so perhaps we’ll see another exhibition or two? I’m honestly shocked that the Tigers didn’t do more than one exhibition in the home opener as the meet was on SEC+.
- Shannon told me via email before the opener that after the break for both the holidays and finals, some people get back quicker than others, so “I suspect there will be some shifting in line ups from week 1 to week 2, plus we have a lot of new talented people that we need to assess how they compete.”
- From College Gym News, multiple Tigers were mentioned in Breakout Performances:
- Sophomore Railey Jackson debuted her Yurchenko one and a half, notching her first hit and new career high of 9.875 in just her second collegiate vault.
- JerQuavia Henderson competed in her first meet since March 2023, highlighted by a 9.875 on floor that earned her Iowa’s team MVP award. Similarly, Emily Leese and Lauren Macpherson returned with strong showings after missing last season, with Leese claiming her first 9.900 of the season on vault and Macpherson hitting on both bars and beam for 9.900 and 9.875, respectively.
- Junior Annalise Newman-Achee earned a 9.900 in her collegiate beam debut. Sophomore Ayla Acevedo notched a 9.900 on floor in her first collegiate meet.
Stay tuned for more. M-I-Z.
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