Columbia, MO: Coach Shannon Welker and the Missouri Tigers held an open practice on Wednesday, the public’s final look at the team before they take the stage in the BOK Center.

As the seventh-ranked team in the SEC, the Tigers will compete in Session One alongside Georgia, Arkansas, Auburn and Kentucky.

New materials for success

On Feb. 22, Welker informed reporters about a new beam podium, or elevated surface, to be implemented in the team’s training facility.

The construction of the apparatus was completed last week, with the first public reveal of the surface happening on Wednesday.

The podium is intended to mimic the structure of the apparatuses used throughout the postseason. Missouri usually competes on a podium once during the regular season, at Zou to the Lou, however this year they have yet to take advantage of an elevated playing surface.

“[All events] post their own unique challenges, but I think beam is a little different, just visually,” Welker said.

Magic or Tragic

Going into postseason play is never easy for any team, and Welker asserts there is a stronger emphasis on consistency during the final stretch.

”We’re in that last three to five percent of our journey right here. That’s the hardest.”

Welker says the team needs to focus on competing within a tighter scoring range, limiting “magic or tragic” situations.

“Consistency wins, right,” Welker said. “You wanna try to tighten up the range that your kids compete in.”

New Adjustments

This year’s championships will be the first year with a five team rotation. Before Oklahoma joined the SEC, four teams competed in each session. Last season, the conference let the top eight teams into the tournament, leaving out Arkansas.

In this year’s contest, seeds five through nine will compete in the afternoon, with the top four teams to follow.

Because of five teams competing across four events, each team will have a “bye” during one rotation. Missouri’s bye is during the fifth and final rotation, meaning there will be no break in competition.

“I do like the fact that [we] can just restart, you don’t have to deal with the bye. If you get some mojo going and some momentum, you would just keep it, right? You don’t want that break in there.”

Missouri’s order of events will be Bars, Beam, Floor and Vault.

“The only thing I don’t like is not being on the floor in the last rotation,  because I do think, unfortunately, scores tend to elevate…but I think I really do like the rotation we have, and I think that’s gonna serve us well,” Welker said.

Missouri will take the stage in Tulsa on March 21 at 2:00 pm.