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Feb. 22, 2012
Updike named Big 12 Newcomer of the Week for sixth time
The Big 12 Conference has named Missouri freshman gymnast Rachel Updike its Newcomer of the Week, the sixth time this season she has won the award. Updike is the first gymnast to win the award six times in a season.
Updike had a strong meet despite Missouri losing to Oklahoma on Friday. She scored 9.900 on vault, a career-high 9.850 on beam and 9.900 on floor to help propel the Tigers to their highest team score of the season.
Missouri will face Bowling Green State at 6:30 p.m. Friday at the Hearnes Center.
Feb. 21, 2012
Tigers suffer overtime loss to Cyclones
The Missouri women’s basketball team fell in overtime to Iowa State 66-59 Tuesday in Ames, Iowa.
Iowa State (17-9, 8-7 Big 12 Conference) held Missouri (11-15, 1-14 Big 12) scoreless in overtime until the last second of the game to pull out the win.
Missouri came out strong, shooting 40.7 from the floor while holding the Cyclones to 20.3 percent in the first half to take an eight-point lead to the locker room.
However, the Cyclones slowly chipped away at the lead in the second half to come back and take the lead 56-54 with 45 seconds remaining in the game.
With 15 seconds left, the Tigers trailed by three. Junior Sydney Crafton nailed a three-pointer with five seconds remaining to tie the game at 57 and force overtime.
The Tigers proceeded to miss their first five shots of the overtime period as the Cylcones jumped to a nine-point lead they would not relinquish.
Senior forward Christine Flores led the Tigers with 16 points. Senior forward BreAnna Brock and junior guard Sydney Crafton added 12 points each.
The Cyclones were led by Chelsea Poppens with 26 points and 13 rebounds.
The Tigers will be back in action 12 p.m. Saturday when they host the Kansas State Wildcats.
Swimming and diving teams add 20 to Academic All-Big 12
Twenty members of the Missouri swimming and diving teams earned Academic All-Big 12 Conference honors, the league office announced Tuesday.
On the men's side, seniors John Hunt, Max Kerwick, Michael Lopresti and Yaniv Shnaider and sophomore Mark Conroy all landed on the first team after maintaining a GPA of 3.20 or better while participating in 60 percent of the team’s competitive schedule.
In addition, senior Adam Abernathy and juniors Joe Hladik and John Krause were named to the second team. They maintained a GPA of 3.0 to 3.19 either cumulative or during the previous two semesters.
The women’s team added 12 Academic All-Big 12 members Tuesday.
Seniors Emy DiBenigno, Christina Gailey, Jordan Morcom, Lisa Nathanson and Stephanie Rovig, as well as juniors Dominique Bouchard, Cassie Cunningham, Sharon Finn, Rachel Ripley and Sydney Schaefer and sophomore Andrea Marko were all named to the Academic All-Big 12 First Team. Named to the second team was senior Leah Cowperthwaite.
Athletes must maintain a 3.0 GPA as well as participate in 60 percent of their team’s scheduled competitions to qualify. First-team members consist of athletes who maintained a GPA of 3.20 or better. Freshman and transfers were not eligible for the award.
The Academic All-Big 12 honors come mere days before the team hosts the Big 12 Championships, which begin Wednesday at the Missouri Aquatics Complex.
Feb. 20, 2012
Athletics Department announces changes to pricing, organization of football games
As the MU Athletics Department makes its change in leagues from the Big 12 Conference to the Southeastern Conference, it will also change the way it handles football events.
In a direct letter to "Tiger Nation" on Monday, Athletic Director Mike Alden outlined financial and logistical changes to football games at Faurot Field.
Headlining the changes is a $1.5 million replacement of the current artificial turf with a new artificial brand, which will come equipped with SEC logos, an expanded MU logo and end zones that spell out "MIZZOU," as opposed to the current "Missouri" end zones.
Ticket prices will increase across the board to fund the changes, with faculty, staff and students not included. According to Alden, the increases will place MU ticket prices in the "middle of the pack" in the SEC. Funding will also come from increases in seats as well as donation requirements to the Tiger Scholarship Fund for donors looking to receive priority seating.
Other home game changes include new uniforms, moving the marching band from the south end zone to the southeast corner of the student section to create more seats, expanding parking and increasing the visiting team allotment from approximately 3,800 tickets per game to 6,000.
Alden said changes were a necessary addendum to gaining SEC membership.
"When we made the decision as a University to apply and then be accepted to the SEC, we communicated very publicly how there was no question that all of us would have to 'step up,'" Alden said in the letter. "Academically, socially, competitively, financially, facilities, recruiting, etc. ... all of these issues and more would challenge us to evaluate what we were doing and to keep improving in all areas."
Missouri coach Gary Pinkel foreshadowed the changes with similar sentiments in his last press conference, a Feb. 1 announcement of the 2012 football recruiting class.
"What we need to do because we're in the SEC is up the facilities," Pinkel said at the press conference. "We need to invest. We're working on that right now, but that's got to happen. That’s got to happen in the league we’re going after."
Alden said higher competition comes with the territory of the SEC.
"As competitors, that's what we do: seize the opportunities, challenge ourselves and commit to achieving success," he said in the letter.
Opel earns Big 12 Player of the Week award
Missouri junior outfielder Dane Opel was named the Big 12 Conference Player of the Week, the league office announced Monday.
Opel, an Edwardsville, Ill., native, went 6 of 12 in the Tigers’ season-opening series at Auburn, at which Missouri took two of three games. He hit two home runs and had four RBIs in the second game of the series to help the team notch its first win of the season.
Opel also recorded two hits in Missouri’s first game and added a single in the third game. The award is the first of his career.
Missouri travels west to face the San Francisco Dons in a three-game weekend set starting Friday.
Women's golf places second at Claud Jacobs Challenge
The Missouri women’s golf team kicked off the season this past weekend with a second-place finish at the Claud Jacobs Challenge in Victoria, Texas. The team tied for second with Iowa, falling in just behind Texas State, who shot an impressive 904 total over three rounds. The Tigers finished with a cumulative 934 strokes.
Leading the way for the Tigers was sophomore Kate Gallagher, who finished her final round 4-over-par, good enough for a 14th-place finish. Fellow sophomore Taylor Gohn hit five birdies in her final round to capture 19th place in the tournament.
Three other Tigers placed for Missouri at the event. Seniors Hannah Lovelock and Marissa Cook finished 22nd and 25th, respectively. Lovelock shot 7-over-par across all three rounds, and Cook holed two birdies to close out her final round in a tie for the 25th spot.
Freshman Alina Rogers finished the event in 23rd place. Sophomore Ariana Savich also placed tied for 68th, competing unattached.
The Missouri women will next appear in competition at the Sir Pizza Cards Challenge on Feb. 27 in Miami, Fla.
Feb. 19, 2012
Missouri baseball sweeps double-header, wins series vs. Auburn
The Missouri baseball team swept a double-header Sunday against Auburn, taking the series victory and climbing to a 2-1 record to start off the season. After dropping Friday's season opener 5-2, Missouri rallied Sunday to tally victories of 6-4 and 4-3.
Senior pitcher Jeff Emens recorded victory in his first start of the season in game one of the double-header. Emens finished his day with no runs allowed on seven hits.
Junior outfielder Dane Opel then got things rolling offensively. Opel blasted off two home runs, driving in four more runs on three hits. The Tigers finished the game with 12 hits in total.
Riding the fresh momentum following the victory, the Tigers then won game two in comeback fashion. Trailing 3-1 at the top of the 7th, Missouri tallied three runs to take the lead. It was a lead the Tigers would not relinquish, as Missouri held Auburn off the scoreboard until curfew was called.
Junior pitcher Jake Walsh earned a save in both games Sunday. In game one, Walsh relieved pitcher Blake Holovach in the ninth, allowing Auburn to score once, but the Tigers held on for the win.
In game two, Walsh was on closing duty once more. With the 4:45 p.m. game deadline fast approaching, Walsh took to the mound to record the final two outs of the 7th inning. After that, the game was called.
The Tigers will walk away from this series with satisfaction, having now beaten their newfound fellow Southeastern Conference opponent four of their last five meetings.
The Tigers will play again this weekend in California when they tackle a three-game series against San Francisco.
Tiger softball blasts past Eastern Tennessee State 9-3
Thanks to a trio of long balls, the No. 5 Missouri softball team cruised to a 9-3 win over East Tennessee State on Sunday, wrapping up its first tournament of the season.
The Tigers open up the year with a 3-1 record after the win, the final game of the Quality Inn Classic in Troy, Ala.
Left fielder Nicole Hudson got the offense churning early with a first inning home run, the junior’s first of the year and 24th of her career.
Junior catcher Jenna Marston extended the lead in the top of the second by singling up the middle and advancing to second on a throwing error, allowing freshman second baseman Corrin Genovese and junior shortstop Princess Krebs to come around and score.
Senior pitcher Kristin Nottlemann tossed seven innings, gave up three earned runs on six hits and notched eight strikeouts on her way to her second victory of the tournament.
After a two-run ETSU homer in the second, junior designated player Lindsey Muller gave the Tigers a cushion by knocking a solo home run to left field, making it 4-2 Missouri. Freshman outfielder Kelsi Jones followed up the blast with a single, the first hit of her career. Jones came around to score on a Marston single after stealing second.
The score moved to 6-2 Tigers later in the inning when Hudson kept up the high-octane offense by smacking an RBI single, scoring Marston.
Missouri expanded the scoring gap by loading the bases in the sixth and scoring two on an Angela Randazzo walk and a Mackenzie Sykes sac fly, respectively.
Muller hit her second solo home run of the day in the top of the seventh to push the contest out of reach for the Bucs. She, along with Marston and Hudson, had three RBIs.
The Tigers follow up this tournament by heading to Palm Springs, Calif., to compete in the Cathedral City Classic against UC Davis, Northwestern, Nebraska, Washington and UCLA next weekend.
Tiger track outpaces competition at Missouri Collegiate Challenge
The Missouri track and field team hosted and competed in the Missouri Collegiate Challenge on Friday and hosted the Missouri All-Comers meet Saturday.
On Friday, the Tigers set new meet records in the long jump and triple jump on the men’s side. Freshman Jeremy Lampley won the triple jump with a mark of 15.17 meters and junior Malcolm Pennix won the long jump with a distance of 7.55 meters.
On the women’s side, the Tigers set the meet record in the pole vault and tied the record in the high jump.
Junior Heather Green finished second in the pole vault with a jump of 3.8 meters while setting the meet record and sophomore Camille Hayes won the high jump with a height of 1.72 meters.
In the throwing events, the Tigers dominated the weight throw and the shot put with first-place finishes from the men and women in all four events. Junior Jacob Bullinger won the men’s weight throw with a distance of 19.49 meters. The Tigers took the top six places in the event.
Junior Brooks Mosier won the men’s shot put swith a throw of 17.79 meters while sophomore Alex McDonald took second.
In women’s throwing events, the Tigers took home the top four spots in both the weight throw and shot put. Freshman Kearston Peoples won the weight throw and the shot put with throws of 18.99 meters and 15.81 meters, respectively.
The Tigers also had several top male and female finishers on the track.
Men’s winners on the track were senior Matt Pickerel with a time of 50.25 seconds in the 400-meter dash, senior Ryan Blackwell with a time of 1:12.94 in the 600-yard run and freshman Bryant Blahnik with a time of 8:38.71 in the 3000-meter run.
Winners on the track for the women were sophomore Lauren Flaker with a time of 7.71 seconds in the 60-meter dash, senior Sierra Gant with a time of 25.64 seconds in the 200-meter dash, senior Leslie Farmer with a time 56.64 seconds in the 400-meter dash and freshman Jasmine Webb with a time of 1:25.85 in the 600-yard run.
On Saturday, the Tigers hosted the Missouri All-Comers Meet. The meet was open to a variety of age levels. The Tigers did not compete.
The team will be back in action this weekend when it competes in the Big 12 Conference Indoor Championships in College Station, Texas.
Feb. 18, 2012
Missouri women secure first Big 12 victory in final bout with Kansas
The Missouri women’s basketball team snapped its 13-game Big 12 losing streak with a 70-65 victory over the Kansas Jayhawks (17-9, 6-8 Big 12) on Saturday in Lawrence, Kans.
Senior Christine Flores had her 11th game of 20-plus points with 24 to lead the Tigers (11-14, 1-13 Big 12). Both junior Sydney Crafton and freshman Kylie Simmons added another 13 points.
In the first half, the Tigers held the Jayhawks to 37.5 percent shooting from the field to take a 37-22 lead to the locker room.
The Jayhawks rallied in the second half and were able to force the score to a one-possession game with one minute left. But Flores was able to stop the rally when she was fouled with 27 seconds remaining and made both free throws, securing a 70-65 win. The Tigers were 9-of-10 from the free-throw line in the contest.
Offensively, the Tigers had one of their best showings on Saturday in recent memory, shooting 57.4 percent on field goals, the team's best shooting percentage since 2005.
The Tigers continue their road trip Tuesday when they travel to Aimes, Iowa, to face the Iowa State Cyclones.