Tumbling Into the New Year: Previewing Mizzou's Upcoming Gymnastics Season

Mizzou's gymnastics season is inching closer as December comes to a close. The Tigers open the year with a quad meet on Jan. 3.

Mar 18, 2023; Duluth, GA, USA; Missouri Tigers gymnast Jocelyn Moore launches off the vault during the SEC Gymnastics Championship at Gas South Arena. Mandatory Credit: Dale Zanine-Imagn Images / Dale Zanine-Imagn Images

 The ceiling is sky high for Missouri gymnastics in 2025.

Following last season's third place finish at the Regional Final, the Tigers landed at No. 9 in the Women’s Collegiate Gymnastics Association preseason poll. This top-10 rank means Missouri is entering the season with high expectations, but will the team be able to meet them?

Here is a look at why the Tigers have the potential to not just meet, but exceed, what fans are hoping for.

Key athletes return

Missouri had a successful 2024 gymnastics season, highlighted by impressive performances from athletes like Mara Titarsolej and Jocelyn Moore.

Both Titarsolej and Moore earned perfect 10s on the bar and floor rotations respectively. They are two of just four Missouri gymnasts who have achieved perfect scores on an event. Both athletes are competing for the Tigers in 2025, with Titarsolej using her final year of eligibility.

Helen Hu is back after retiring from gymnastics at the end of the 2023 season. She thought she had decided to put the sport behind her, as she did not compete in 2024. However, after visiting Missouri for a previous teammate’s wedding and talking to head coach Shannon Welker, the redshirt senior decided to return as a Tiger.

Hu will be focusing on the beam in 2025. This is an especially good thing for Missouri, as the beam was the Tigers' worst event in 2024.

Mar 18, 2023; Duluth, GA, USA; Missouri Tigers gymnast Helen Hu competes on the balance beam during the SEC Gymnastics Championship at Gas South Arena. Mandatory Credit: Dale Zanine-Imagn Images / Dale Zanine-Imagn Images

The Tigers also have multiple gymnasts who made the All-SEC Team in 2024 returning, including senior Amari Celestine and sophomores Kennedy Griffin and Hannah Horton.

Celestine will likely be competing in every event this season, while Griffin and Horton may compete in three of the four with Griffin opting out of the bars and Horton opting out of the beam.

These returnees will aim to make their presence felt on the 2025 season as they hope to make it farther along in the postseason than they did last year.

"We want to be the final four teams competing in the NCAA," Moore said to InsideGymnastics. "I think that is one thing we really want to accomplish and it's because we can." 

New additions provide excitement

While the Tigers are seeing the return of reliable athletes, they are also seeing an influx of new gymnasts. Missouri gained four new additions through the transfer portal — Amy Wier, Elise Tisler, Lauren Macpherson and Abby Mueller. 

Both Wier and Tisler have had careers riddled with injuries. After sitting out for the 2024 season, Wier is ready to showcase her skills at a new school, competing at Oklahoma in 2022 and 2023. She will do so by prioritizing the beam.

Tisler also dealt with adversity at her previous school in the form of an Achilles injury. Nevertheless, she had a solid career at Towson, being named the East Atlantic Gymnastics League specialist of the year in 2024. She mainly competes on the vault and floor.

Macpherson and Mueller bring experience, as they are graduate students. Macpherson, who transferred from San Jose State, was named the 2023 Mountain Pacific Sports Federation Gymnast of the Year. She is looking to compete in all events at Missouri.

Furthermore, the Tigers welcomed a freshman class of five. Standouts among the young athletes include Olivia Kelly and Kaia Tanskanen.

Kelly is a five-star recruit from New York, as well as a two-time World Championship qualifier. Tanskanen qualified for the World Championships too, and she also participated in the European Championships. Both girls compete internationally, with Kelly representing Barbados and Tanskanen representing Finland.

These two gymnasts contribute to Missouri’s freshman class ranking No. 6 in the nation. The incoming freshmen, as well as the transfer athletes, bolster Missouri's gymnastics roster. 

Intrasquad meet indicates potential

Missouri competed in its annual Black and Gold gymnastics meet on Dec. 18. Though they only competed against each other, the Tigers embraced this exhibition as an opportunity to prepare for the rapidly approaching season.

At the meet, Missouri earned a score of 9.900 or better on eight routines. Of the eight best scores, four came on beam. Jessa Conedera, Griffin, Hu and Macpherson all earned 9.900s on the apparatus.

The highest score of the day was awarded to Celestine, who achieved a 9.950 on her floor routine. Celestine also got a 9.900 on bars, higher than any other gymnast on that event. 

A couple of first-time Tigers had impressive performances as well. Railey Jackson was the only freshman to get a 9.900, which came on the floor, and newcomer Macpherson won the all-around.

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A brief outlook of the 2025 season

While everything above hints at a positive season for Missouri gymnastics, it is imperative the team remains focused and does not get ahead of itself.

Last season, Missouri struggled against opponents in the Southeastern Conference. Missouri won just two regular-season SEC matchups, first against Georgia and then against LSU.

The victory against LSU was one of Missouri’s most impressive moments, as it marked a huge upset. Missouri took down a No. 3 ranked team that went on to win the NCAA Championship.

According to the WCGA preseason rankings, the Tigers are underdogs in six of their matchups in 2025. They also face nine top-20 programs, seeing No. 14 Georgia twice. 

Missouri will have to compete against the three highest ranked teams in the nation in Oklahoma, LSU and Florida. Oklahoma and LSU have combined to take home the last three NCAA Championship titles.

Another difficult opponent is the sixth-ranked Alabama Crimson Tide. Missouri lost to Alabama in 2024 and the Tigers’ score of 196.475 from that meet was their worst of the season. 

This year, Missouri should take advantage of its schedule by winning its easier matchups. The team can get off to a quick start when it participates in a quad meet on Jan. 3. During this contest, the Tigers will face off against Ball State, Illinois State and Southeast Missouri State. 

If Missouri can overcome easier opponents, as well as find the drive to pull off a few upsets, the sky is the limit for 2025.