The Redbird arrives as a possible addition on vault, bars and floor
On Wednesday afternoon, we were greeted with Shannon’s new bat signal, which is him hoisting the third place national champ trophy, and while some Mizzou coaches haven’t quite gotten the timing down (sorry, Kellie), we didn’t have to wait long to see who it was.
Say hello to Illinois State grad transfer, Sara Wabi!
Per Road to Nationals data, the Chicago, Ill. native (Marist HS) competed in vault, floor and bars lineups for Illinois State during her senior season. Let’s take a closer look at her numbers, shall we?
Sara didn’t compete vault collegiately until this year (per a Redbirds’ FB post), when she randomly vaulted in a November and did so well, she stayed in lineups throughout the season! She earned a high score of 9.875 in early February on her Yurchenko Full. The Tigers have a lot of pretty solid YFs (9.95 SV) at their disposal already at their disposal, so I’m not sure if we’ll see her in vault lineups, but there’s always a chance. I do LOVE to see a stuck vault, something Missouri struggled with this season.
Wabi (pronounced like Robby but with a W) also competed on floor for Illinois State, earning four 9.875 and two 9.85 scores last season to go along with a 9.865 NQS, but with the team’s mighty floor depth, I’m not sure we’ll see her there. If you want to watch a routine, she uses the same floor music as Kaia!
Sara’s best event and where I think she’s most likely to make lineups is bars, as the Tigers have a couple holes to fill with the graduation of Mara, Kyra, Amari, Jocelyn & Abby. The MIC bars champion scored a career-high 9.90 in late February and also scored three 9.875 and a 9.85 in the 2025 season. In fact, she scored 9.80-plus in 9 of 14 meets, including a 9.80 as an individual entrant in the Washington Regional, so the Tigers are getting someone with postseason experience.
You’ll notice in the video below that she does the same giant to double tuck that Mara (sad face) competed.
How much eligibility does she have? One year, as she just graduated from Illinois State. I’m wondering if she was awarded a 5th year after not competing (possible holdover injury from her sr year of HS) her freshman season. Sara will join recently announced returners, Grace Anne Davis and Lauren Macpherson, vault specialist Dakota Essenpries, and bars specialist Makayla Green. (links go to my Rock M stories)
This puts the roster at 21, which is one over the proposed roster maximum. The total number of transfers I think will ultimately depend upon what’s decided in the House settlement, which is currently at odds due to roster size. But as with any other sport, “There’s always spots when you need ‘em.” I think that’s a Sam Snelling original quote right there.
Here’s how the roster stacks up currently. It’s looking MIGHTY, MIGHTY STRONG, y’all, and while some of the gymternet saw this as a more random addition for Mizzou, the overarching opinion seems to be one of happiness that top programs are looking at her as she’s “super underrated.”
Stay tuned for more Gym news here at Rock M. I suspect there will be more soon. Oh, and listen to the new ep of Majority Rules, which hit airwaves late last week.
#MIZ