'We've earned the right to be here:' Mizzou Gymnastics to Compete for 1st National Title

Missouri gymnastics has had what many would consider to be its most successful season in history. From earning a program-high 198.100 against Auburn on March 9 to securing a spot in Session II of the Southeastern Conference Championship, the Tigers have accomplished many impressive feats.

The Tigers are now slated to compete Saturday in the NCAA Championship Final for the first time in program history. Missouri will face Utah, UCLA and Oklahoma, vying for a National Championship.

"This is the most consistent team that we've had," head coach Shannon Welker said in a press conference Friday morning. "We've earned the right to be here by what has happened from August 28 to this point."

Missouri punched a ticket to the Final after finishing in the top two of the Semifinal on Thursday. The team upset the Florida Gators by a 197.3000-197.2000 margin to finish in second place behind Oklahoma (197.5500).

Missouri channeled its "undeniable mindset" to pull off the upset.

"When we compete against somebody, we have to be undeniable," Welker said. "Especially when you're trying to beat the Floridas and the LSUs and those guys, right? I think the mentality is we have to be undeniable in our performance, so there's zero questions."

One particular rotation that the Tigers would not be denied on was beam, where they scored a 49.5000. It was no surprise that Missouri's best beam routine of the night came from redshirt senior Helen Hu, who won the event with a 9.9875. With the win, she became Missouri's first National Champion.

"I think I smiled the most I did on that routine out of any other routine this year," Hu said. "I just wanted to go out and have fun. I still can't believe I won the national title."

Hu has had a phenomenal season, earning three perfect 10s on beam. What makes her season even more impressive is the fact that before this season, she took a year off from the sport, convinced she was retired.

That all changed when she found herself back in Columbia for a teammate's wedding, and Welker offered Hu the chance to come back for one last ride.

While it may seem unbelievable that Hu was able to find so much success after taking a year away, she thinks her time off helped her.

"I spent a lot of time outside doing a lot of physical activities. I was hiking a lot and doing yoga and surfing," Hu said. "Coming back from that, I felt like a new person. I felt really refreshed and really renewed, and I still feel that way. "

Despite all the success Missouri has seen, Hu believes the team is capable of more. In Missouri's most recent meet, the Tigers performed below their standard on floor.

Floor is typically the team's best event, but no gymnast cracked a 9.9000 in the Semifinal. Strong scores on beam and bars (49.4500) helped the Tigers out, but there was still some disappointment that not every event went as well as it could have.

On the flip side of that disappointment is optimism, which Hu recognizes.

"It's so cool (that) every week, we keep breaking these records and doing amazing things, and we keep thinking, we didn't even have our best day on every event," Hu said. "We still have room to grow."

Missouri will certainly need to have its best day on every event when it competes at the Final at 3 p.m. Saturday. No matter what happens, the Tigers have had a season they should be very proud of.

"On our dry-erase board in our gym, we wrote (our goals) up at the beginning of the year," Welker said. "We didn't put a Final Four on there, so I think that piece probably took it a step further. But I'm not surprised we've done it. (We) were not going to be denied the opportunity to at least have a shot at getting to this point."

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