The Tigers’ longtime leader will remain in CoMo through 2029

Mizzou Gymnastics head coach Shannon Welker’s contract has been extended through the 2029 season, according to an athletics announcement Thursday.

The announcement comes one day before the team’s season begins with a quad meet against Ball State, Illinois State and SEMO at Beauty and the Beast.

For more on the upcoming meet, read Karen Steger’s preview here.

Welker has led the gymnastics program to unprecedented success in his 11 seasons with the Tigers, taking the team to four consecutive NCAA Regional Finals and a fifth place finish at the NCAA Championships in 2022.

He won SEC Coach of the Year for his efforts that season, the best in program history. Mizzou is currently one of seven schools to reach four straight regional finals.

The team enters this year with sky high expectations, ranked ninth in the WCGA preseason poll after landing the 11th-ranked freshman class and arguably the top transfer group in the nation to supplement several key returners.

The Tigers shocked the world of gymnastics this fall when they announced the return of All-American Helen Hu after she had previously retired from the sport and spent a year traveling around the world.

Mizzou was also recently listed as one of eight teams on College Gym News’ national title watchlist, a possible spoiler entering this season. The squad has backed up the hype so far in intrasquad scrimmages.

When adding the highest five scores from each event at the team’s Black and Gold Scrimmage on Dec. 18 (like you would in a regular season meet), the team scored a 197.300. Last year’s squad, which finished 11th in the country, didn’t reach that score until a full month later on Jan. 20 at Georgia.

For more on the scrimmage, here is Karen’s recap.

The Tigers have one of the best coaches in the country, and one of its best teams, entering the 2024 season. With Welker’s extension, the program will hope to remain a mainstay in the national conversation for years to come.