State of Missouri Meet
vs. #17 Missouri and Lindenwood
Meet Information
Date: Sunday, March 10, 2019
Time: 1 p.m., CT
Location: Cape Girardeau, Mo.
Venue: Show Me Center
Series: Missouri leads All-Time Series with SEMO 33-8;
Lindenwood leads All-Time Series with SEMO 11-4, 1-0 in 2019
Coaches: Ashley Lawson (First Season at SEMO);
Shannon Welker (Sixth Season at Missouri);
Jen Llewellyn (Sixth Season at Lindenwood)
 
Media Coverage
Live Stats: StatBroadcast
 
Follow the Redhawks on Twitter @SEMOGymnastics for in-meet updates.
 
Meet Notes: Southeast Missouri (PDF)
 
Redhawks Host State of Missouri Meet Sunday at the Show Me Center
Southeast Missouri women's gymnastics hosts #17 Missouri and Lindenwood for the State of Missouri Meet Sunday at 1 p.m. at the Show Me Center. Southeast will recognize senior Allyson Bell at the conclusion of the dual for Senior Day and also welcomes back former Redhawks gymnasts for Alumni Day. Sunday's tri meet marks the first time since 2014 that SEMO has hosted a gymnastics meet in the Show Me Center. The first 250 fans in attendance will receive a SEMO Gymnastics The Greatest Showman T-shirt. Kids 14 and under receive free admission. 
 
Southeast will start on vault, Missouri will open the meet on bars and Lindenwood commences the tri on beam.
 
Promotions
• The meet is The Greatest Showman themed.
- The first 250 fans in attendance will receive a SEMO Gymnastics The Greatest Showman T-shirt.
• Kids 14 and under receive free admission. 
• Senior Day
- Senior Allyson Bell will be recognized at the conclusion of the meet for her Redhawks career.
• Alumni Day
- Southeast welcomes back former Redhawks gymnasts as part of Sunday's Alumni Day festivities. 
 
Pennsylvania Recap
Southeast tallied a season-high beam mark of 48.100 Friday in its dual meet with Pennsylvania at Houck Field House. Southeast totaled a team score of 188.875 while Penn took the dual with a team score of 191.900. Anna Kaziska captured the floor (9.850) and all-around (38.500) titles and has now won the all-around crown at three meets in 2019. 
 
The Redhawks notched their best beam score of 2019 in the third rotation. Michael Sanders recorded a 9.550 in the second SEMO position followed by Allyson Bell's season high 9.600. Gabrielle Adams added a 9.500 and Mackenzie Slee matched Bell with a 9.600. Anna Kaziska posted a 9.850 in the anchor position to finish second overall at the dual.
 
Southeast opened the meet with a 46.900 on vault in the first rotation. Adams led the Redhawks with a 9.700 which finished second overall at the dual. Fischer added a 9.400 while Sanders posted a 9.375 and Maya Tran had a 9.325. 
 
The Redhawks then had a 45.625 on bars in the second rotation. Kaziska led SEMO and finished second at the dual with a score of 9.700 in the second Southeast lineup slot. Fischer notched a season best 9.675.
 
Southeast concluded the meet with its best event mark of the evening on floor. The Redhawks posted its second highest floor score this season with 48.250 in the final rotation Friday. Kaziska won the event with her third score of 9.850 in 2019. Slee was second overall at the dual with a 9.775 and Fischer chipped in a career best 9.675. Bell added a 9.525 and Sanders had a 9.425. Tran posted a 8.250 in her SEMO floor debut.
 
Looking at the Opponents
Missouri
The #17-ranked Tigers posted a 49.400 on floor in the final rotation last Friday to ice a 196.250-196.000 upset of No. 10 Kentucky at the Hearnes Center in Columbia, Missouri. Morgan Porter tallied a season-high 39.325 to win the all-around, and also tied teammates for the bars and floor titles. She and Becca Schugel tallied meet-best 9.850s on bars, while Porter, Aspen Tucker and Gabrielle Gottula all went 9.900 on floor to tie for the win.
 
Lindenwood
The Lions achieved its highest score of the season last Sunday during its tri-meet at Hyland Arena in St. Charles, Missouri. Lindenwood finished the afternoon with a team score of 195.650, setting season-high marks on the beam (49.000) and floor (49.200) in the process. Andavea Alexander captured the beam title with a 9.875. Taylor Colwell, Kyndall Baze, Ryan Henry won floor with three other competitors with a meet-best 9.875.
 
Redhawks Competing in Show Me Center
Southeast gymnastics hosts its first meet at the Show Me Center Sunday since March 9, 2014. The Redhawks beat Illinois State, 195.025-192.425, with a 49.025 on bars and a 49.025 on floor. Taylor Penzien (9.825), Kimmie Pickerl (9.825), Alyssa Tucker (9.800), Lauren Israel (9.800), Megan Fosnow (9.775) and Alexandria Stokes (9.750) helped SEMO register its third highest bars score in program history in that dual with ISU.
 
Fosnow also captured both the vault (9.875) and floor (9.875) titles. Tucker posted a score of 9.875 on beam to earn the title.  
 
State of Missouri Meet History
Southeast last hosted the State of Missouri Meet with Missouri and Lindenwood on Jan. 30, 2015 at Houck Field House. In that tri meet, the Redhawks hit a season-high 193.600. Alyssa Tucker registered a career-high 9.825 to claim her seventh career event title. Ashley Thomas finished third in the all-around with a career best 39.025. Missouri finished with the meet's top team score with a 195.850 and Lindenwood had a 194.700.
 
In 2018, SEMO posted a season-high vault score of 48.475 and Alexis Brawner tied for first to claim the floor event title (PR, 9.900) as the Redhawks finished third at the State of Missouri Meet in Columbia, Missouri. Southeast totaled a team score of 192.500 as #21-ranked Missouri won the tri meet with a 196.800. Lindenwood finished second with a 195.200.
 
Brawner had a season-best score of 9.825 to lead the Redhawks on vault. Gabrielle Adams matched a personal high of 9.800 and Michael Sanders notched a career-best score of 9.750. Samantha Gallet tied her personal best with her third score of 9.600 in 2018. Alana Fischer added a career high of 9.500.
 
Lawson Faces Former Team
Southeast Head Coach Ashley Lawson faces Lindenwood where she served as an assistant in 2018 for the second time this season Sunday at the State of Missouri Meet. At Lindenwood, she was the balance beam coach, and helped lead the Lions to their fourth-straight Midwest Independent Conference title. Lindenwood also finished second in the team finals of the 2018 USA Gymnastics Women's Collegiate National Championships.
 
Kaziska Named MIC Newcomer of the Week for Fourth Time in 2019
Anna Kaziska was named Midwest Independent Conference Newcomer of the Week for the fourth time this season, the league announced Feb. 20 after her performances at the GymQuarters Mardi Gras Invitational on Feb. 15 and at Illinois-Chicago Feb. 17.
 
2018-2019 Signees 
Southeast Head Coach Ashley Lawson announced Feb. 20 the addition of signee Molly Maxwell to the 2020 team. Maxwell, a Milton, Wisconsin native, will graduate from Milton High School in 2019. She won the all-around at the Wisconsin State Championships and was the first alternate for JO (Junior Olympic) Nationals in 2018.
 
Maxwell is the fourth Redhawks signee in 2019 and will join Catherine Costantini, Lindsey Moffitt and Taylor Fishkin as well as early signing period signees Dahlia Solorzano-Caruso, Jordan Jones and Mallory Desch this upcoming fall ahead of the 2020 season. 
 
Costantini, a Centerton, Arkansas native, will graduate from Seton Home Study School in 2019 and signed with SEMO on Feb. 14. Moffitt, a Ferris, Texas native, will graduate from Laurel Springs School Online in May 2019 and signed with the Redhawks on Jan. 29. Fishkin, a Manlius, New York native, will graduate from Fayetteville-Manlius High School in 2019 and signed with SEMO on Jan. 21.
 
New Coach, New Era
Ashley Lawson returns to Southeast after competing for the Redhawks from 2001-2004 and holds the school record in four (bars, beam, floor, all-around) of the five individual event titles. Lawson coaches beam as well as co-coaches the vault and floor teams with assistant coach Chris Licameli.
 
Lawson was previously an assistant coach at Lindenwood University in 2018. There, she was the balance beam coach, helping lead the Lions to their fourth-straight Midwest Independent Conference title. Lindenwood also finished second in the team finals of the 2018 USA Gymnastics Women's Collegiate National Championships.
 
Lawson also served as a member of the Southeast Missouri women's gymnastics coaching staff for one year in 2009-10. As an assistant coach at SEMO, Lawson was the head balance beam coach that helped coach three gymnasts to qualify for the 2010 NCAA Regionals. Also, while acting as the head balance beam coach, Lawson turned Southeast's weakest event into its second-best event in just six months.
 
From 2001-2004, Lawson competed on the Redhawks gymnastics squad at Southeast Missouri. She holds the school record in four of the five individual event titles. She holds the bars (9.925), beam (9.975), floor (10.000), and all-around (39.550) records. She is one of just three gymnasts in school history to record a perfect ten in an individual event.
 
Roster Breakdown
Southeast returns 10 athletes from 2018 but is relatively young with eight underclassmen. Allyson Bell is the lone senior. Juniors Megan Dennis, Kenna Skepnek, Mackenzie Slee and Kendra Benak round out the upperclassmen.
 
Sophomores Gabrielle Adams, Lindsey Bates, Alana Fischer, Samantha Gallet and Michael Sanders were regular contributors to the 2018 lineup and had to grow up quickly in their inaugural collegiate season. Bates competed as an all-arounder in four meets and led the freshman class with five event titles in 2018. Adams captured one event title last season. Both Adams and Bates earned MIC Newcomer of the Week laurels.
 
Freshmen Anna Kaziska, Makenzie Marciniak and Maya Tran complete the 13-member 2019 team. Kaziska will make an impact on all four events as an all-arounder. 
 
2018 in Review
Southeast finished fourth at the MIC Championships in 2018 with a team score of 193.875. Gabrielle Adams tied for third on vault at the MIC Championships to earn First-Team All-MIC honors. SEMO posted a 7-17 overall record in 2018.
 
Gabrielle Adams, Megan Dennis, Alana Fischer and Samantha Gallet each qualified for the USA Gymnastics National Championships in 2018.
 
Looking Ahead
Southeast next heads to Fayetteville, Arkansas, on Saturday, March 16 at 6 p.m. for a quad meet with Lindenwood, Texas Women's and Arkansas. The Redhawks then travel to Shreveport, Louisiana, for the 2019 MIC Championships held at Centenary Friday, March 22.