COLUMBIA, Mo. – Southeast Missouri women's gymnastics finished strong at #16-ranked Missouri's tri meet with a huge bars routine of 48.450 to surpass the Redhawks 2019 season-high team score with 191.275 Saturday at the Hearnes Center in SEMO's season opener.
Southeast notched a season-best team score of 190.275 at the 2019 Midwest Independent Conference Championships last March (3/22/19) and overcame that mark by a point Saturday. The bars total Saturday was also SEMO's first 48.000 plus score since the 2018 MIC Championships (3/23/18, 48.250).
"I am very pleased with how well we did today," head coach
Ashley Lawson said after the meet. "These ladies had a goal of scoring a 190.000 [or higher] since last year, and I've had the goal of starting where we left off last year [at the 2019 MIC Championships]. To see this team come together and score a point higher than where we finished...that's grit, belief, and trust in themselves and each other."
In the final rotation, the Redhawks top-five scorers posted a 9.550 or higher on bars. Southeast topped Missouri on the event, 48.450-48.150.
Molly Maxwell led off with a 9.550 before
Jolie Miller compiled her first-career 9.700.
Lindsey Bates followed with a personal-best 9.775 in her first meet back from injury since the 2019 opener, a year ago to the day at Alabama (1/4/19). The score tied for fourth overall at the meet.
Dahlia Solorzano-Caruso added a 9.750 and
Anna Kaziska, the 2019 MIC Newcomer of the Year, concluded the meet with a score of 9.675.
"Our bars rotation was stellar!" Lawson said of ending on the event. "This event has always been the nemesis of this program. To watch these ladies come together and do something so special and score their highest bar score in years was amazing."
Southeast started the meet with a 46.600 on beam. Kaziska paced the Redhawks with a 9.750 from the anchor position. Solorzano-Caruso was second on the team, tallying a 9.550. Miller registered a 9.400 and Maxwell added a 9.000 in their SEMO debuts.
"We started off a little shaky and had some first meet jitters," Lawson said of opening 2020 on beam. "It's hard for your first meet to be in a bigger arena and start on beam. I know our beam team is stellar, and eager to get back in the gym and regain confidence."
"I'm thrilled that our athletes were able to leave our first rotation at that event and pick things up. They came together and found the belief in themselves and their gymnastics to finish out this meet on a high note."
The Redhawks then had their best rotation of the day with a 48.525 on floor which also bested the team's 2019 high. Moffitt and Solorzano-Caruso both scored their first-career scores of 9.700 or higher with identical 9.725s in the leadoff and fifth positions.
Gabrielle Adams and Maxwell hit consecutive marks of 9.625 in the third and fourth slots. Kaziska completed the second rotation with a 9.825.
Mallory Desch added a score of 8.800 in her first career meet in the Red and Black.
SEMO compiled a 47.700 on vault in the third rotation. Solorzano-Caruso led the Redhawks with a 9.650. Kaziska chipped in a score of 9.625. Maxwell posted a 9.500 and Moffitt had a 9.475.
Sophomore
Makenzie Marciniak rounded out the Southeast vault scorers with a 9.450 in her Redhawks debut after missing the entire 2019 season with an injury.
Kaziska finished third in the all-around competition with a total of 38.875. In their first career collegiate meet, Solorzano-Caruso was fourth (38.675) and Maxwell was sixth (37.675). Mia Takekawa of Illinois won the all-around crown with 39.350.
Nineteen of Saturday's 24 routines were completed by underclassmen and six Redhawks made their debuts.
"I'm excited to see where we go and build from here," Lawson said. "If we work out the inexperienced jitters, we will be a force to be reckoned with."
The #27-ranked Illini captured the team title with a score of 195.850. Missouri was second with 195.600.
Southeast next travels to Anchorage, Alaska, for a pair of meets. The Redhawks face Wisconsin-Eau Claire and Alaska-Anchorage in a tri meet on Friday, Jan. 10 at 10 p.m., CT (7 p.m. Alaska Standard/Daylight Time). SEMO wraps up its trip to The Last Frontier with a dual against Alaska-Anchorage on Sunday, Jan. 12 at 5 p.m., CT (2 p.m. Alaska Standard/Daylight Time). The Redhawks are on the road for the first four weeks of the season before consecutive home duals on Jan. 31 against Illinois State and Feb. 7 against Lindenwood.
