Tigers on the Rise:  

Head Coach Rob Drass discusses his team...

CollegeGymFans.com spoke with Missouri Coach Rob Drass about Missouri’s game plan for 2003.  Missouri made great progress last year, finishing the year ranked 17^th in the country.  This year, with a Preseason Rank of #20, the Tigers have even higher ambitions.  With 24/24 routines from Regionals returning, and three talented frosh, the Tigers look to complete their return climb to the ranks of National qualifiers. 

During their season opener, Missouri edged Iowa State 192.575 to 192.00.  The victory marked Missouri’s first win over a Big 12 opponent in the regular season since 1996.  While acknowledging the victory, Missouri Head Coach Rob Drass noted immediate room for improvement, “…we had a couple of falls on bars and some problems beam, and held back on vault”.  With those changes and a few more, he feels they can be “…a 195 team, plus or minus a half a point.  And as we raise our SVs on vault, we should go even higher”.

Missouri has some ambitious team goals for this season:  a slot at Nationals, and the Big 12 Championship title.  When asked about some of the intermediate goals and steps towards achieving these larger goals, Drass noted the importance of getting consistent performances and bringing the skill level of the team to be competitive with the Big 12 and the other teams in contention for slots at Nationals.  The offseason progress the team has made has put them on track .  He says, ”… there are about 15 to 20 teams capable of making Nationals, and we want to be in position at the end of the season to do exactly that”.

Missouri Head Coach Rob Drass with Soph Ashley Asraf
(photo courtesy of Missouri Media Relations)

Missouri’s approach to the season differs markedly from year’s past.   In the past, “…we had basically thrown in everything we were capable of”.  This year, with a higher skill level on the team, the team will work on a consistency and then add skills as the season progresses.  For example on vault, Missouri threw mostly 9.8 SV vaults in the opener, with the notable exception of a Tsuk Layout Full from frosh Jodie Heinicka.  The return of powerhouse Alisha Robinson will be an obvious boost, but Drass expects to possibly add two 10.0 SV vaults this weekend, and then one or two more in the coming weeks. 

Missouri’s approach to the vault has changed.  With the addition of the new table, many of the athletes are now working the Yurchenko entry vaults.  Said Drass, "With a few exceptions, like if there were a defect in their roundoff flipflop on floor, we switched their training to the roundoff entry".  Junior Lindsay Davis is one gymnast making the change.  Last season, she had vaulted a Phelps and last weekend, she debuted a layout Yurchenko.  “Last season, she sometimes had trouble with the Phelps…", he added, "...with having to sometimes tuck the vault.  She had trained the roundoff entry a little when she was younger, and so we have switched her to the roundoff entry”, Drass noted.  They will plan to upgrade her vault later, as she and several gymnasts are now twisting the vaults into the Resi-Pits and are making the transition to hard surfaces for debut in the coming weeks.

Although he noted the initial conservative approach to vault leads to a Start Value disadvantage, Drass stated that the team really has no weak events.  “Our strength as a team is that we have no glaring weak spots”, he noted.  By the end of the season, he asserts, even the start values on vault should not be a problem.

Of the returners, Drass did not single out any particular gymnast as having improved the most.  He feels the entire team has made the effort to add the skills needed to raise their competitive level.  Right now, with senior Leah Gremaud and Alisha Robinson out with injuries, the team’s potential has only begun to be tapped.   Gremaud will provide a boost on UB and BB, where is she has made a strong impact in the past.  Robinson will be a stellar all arounder once again, pacing the Tigers as she did all of last year.

Robinson’s stress fracture is being handled carefully.  Drass notes “with a stress fractures, its best to take things slow because you really can’t tell what is going on.”  Last season, Robinson splashy debut was remarkable because “… she had been out of artistic gymnastics for about a year, and we didn’t really put in everything she was capable of…”.  This year, the staff plans to debut several new skills, including a dramatically improved UB set, possibly including a  full twisting double layout dismount plus a series of new releases.  Drass said, “She had this skill last year for Nationals, but she didn’t do it because there is no real reward versus sticking a double layout”.    

Despite the loss of frosh Kelley Anderson for the year, Coach Drass still expects strong contributions from his three remaining frosh.  Katie Roets is making great progress from her injury and may twist her Yurchenko this weekend.  She also has a strong UB routine, and is working to make her release more consistent.  Jodie Heinicka’s strong vault has already provided a boost, and she will also provide another strong UB routine.  Lauren  Schwartzman made a splashy debut last weekend on BB and FX, where she is capable of a double layout.

With a strong game plan in place, Missouri looks to overcome early season injuries and secure a place at Nationals.  With so many teams in contention, the coaching staff has outlined a careful plan to maximum the team's chances of achieving their goals.  For fans of gymnastics, having Missouri return to the ranks of contenders has been an exciting change.

Thanks to Missouri Coach Rob Drass for taking the time to answer questions about his rising Missouri Tiger squad.