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Complete coverage of all MU athletics.
Feb. 1, 2012
Thomas, Fleming named to softball Player of the Year watch list
Standout junior pitcher Chelsea Thomas and senior outfielder Ashley Fleming of the No. 5 Missouri softball team have been selected to the USA Softball’s Collegiate Player of the Year Top-50 Watch List, as announced Wednesday by the Amateur Softball Association.
Thomas was dominant on the hill for the Tigers in 2011, posting a 32-8 record and leading the nation with a 0.95 earned run average. She compiled 31 complete games, 13 shutouts, 397 strikeouts and held opponents to a .155 batting average on her way to being named a First Team All-American. The redshirt junior hurler was also named a Player of the Year Finalist and to the Women’s College World Series All-Tournament Team last season.
Fleming paced Missouri with a .356 batting average last year while playing in 62 games for the Tigers. The right fielder racked up a team-high 16 doubles, 14 home runs and 62 RBI on her way to being named a NFCA Second Team All-American. She also scored 52 runs and swiped 16 bases without getting caught. Her .452 on-base percentage and .701 slugging were team highs as well.
The 25 finalists for 2012 Player of the Year Award will be revealed April 11. The list will be cut down to 10 on May 9, and then to three May 23. The winner will be announced May 29, prior to the start of the Women’s College World Series in Oklahoma City, Okla.
No. 1 recruit Dorial Green-Beckham selects Missouri
A year of history-making for the Missouri football program has taken another step into uncharted territory in wrapping up perhaps its top profile recruit in school history.
Hillcrest High School senior wide receiver Dorial Green-Beckham, the No. 1 overall recruit by scouting services Scout and Rivals, announced his decision to join the Tigers at a press conference Wednesday from his hometown of Springfield, Mo. The announcement came on what is commonly known as National Signing Day, which is the deadline for most college football recruits to make their decisions and the first day athletes can sign a Letter of Intent.
Green-Beckham made the announcement by putting on a Missouri hat and then sat down to make his signature to play for the Tigers.
Missouri edged previous favorite Arkansas as well as final contenders Oklahoma and Texas for the star recruit. Missouri made the very first offer to Green-Beckham prior to the receiver's freshman year of high school.
The 6-foot-6-inch, 220-pound recruit is the nation's all-time leading receiver with 6,447 career yards to go along with 75 touchdowns.
He was also a decorated athlete in other sports, such as track, where he claimed individual titles in the 100-meter dash and triple jump and a second-place finish in the long jump. He was the Hillcrest basketball team's most valuable player en route to a Class 5 state championship in 2010.
Green-Beckham made his final college visit to Columbia this past weekend, in which he was present on the bench for the men's basketball team's 63-50 victory over Texas Tech at Mizzou Arena.
Green-Beckham gives the Tigers their 12th signee to the 2012 recruiting class.
Jan. 31, 2012
Updike takes Newcomer honors for fourth week
The Big 12 Conference named Missouri gymnast Rachel Updike its Newcomer of the Week for the fourth time in a row, the first time a Big 12 gymnast has earned a weekly award four consecutive times.
Updike scored 9.950 on vault and 9.875 on floor exercise to lead the No. 20 Tigers past No. 4 Nebraska on Saturday for their first regular win against the Cornhuskers since 1995.
Updike and the rest of the gymnastics squad will take on North Carolina State on Friday at the Hearnes Center.
Jan. 30, 2012
No. 4 Missouri edges Texas with last-second score
In its fourth game in nine days, the No. 4 Missouri men’s basketball team outlasted Texas 67-66 on Monday night in Austin, Texas.
“Coach and we as a team have been stressing growth from the Oklahoma State game,” senior guard Kim English said in a news release after finishing with eight points and six rebounds. “This week we stayed true to what we talked about all week late in the game. Two things have to be constant: defensive stops and offensive execution.”
The point guard tandem of junior Michael Dixon and sophomore Phil Pressey anchored the Tigers (20-2, 7-2 Big 12 Conference). Dixon had his second 20-point contest with 21 on 9-of-10 shooting from the field to go along with a pair of treys. Pressey added 13 points, five assists and four rebounds.
The Longhorns (13-9, 3-6 Big 12) employed a turbulent offense in the first half with nine turnovers and not a single assist. J’Covan Brown — the team’s top scorer who dropped 34 on the Tigers on Jan. 14 in Columbia — only finished with four points.
Meanwhile, Missouri ran a quick-paced attack that thrived early in transition, scoring off two Texas turnovers. Dixon and Pressey were responsible for 16 of the Tigers’ 27 points entering halftime.
Dixon checked into the second half early and fired off a three pointer to lift his team to its best advantage of the game at 32-23. He expanded the lead after scoring six more and assisting on two more makes behind the arc from senior guard Kim English and senior guard Matt Pressey. By the half’s first TV timeout, Missouri led 39-28.
"I wanted to get him back in the game because I felt he had a nice pop and focus from the offensive standpoint,” coach Frank Haith said in a news release. “He really did a nice job executing. His play helped us get some separation.”
Texas chopped the lead to three after a rattling off an 18-7 scoring run, commanded by Brown, who scored 16 points in the half. With the score at 52-48, senior guard Marcus Denmon missed a critical try in the bonus at the free throw line. It was Phil Pressey that took hold of the Tigers and orchestrated an 11-3 scoring streak, scoring on an and-one and dishing out three assists.
After the Tigers pulled ahead to a 10-point advantage, the Longhorns took less than four minutes to bring the game within three. When Dixon was called on a flagrant for incidentally swinging an elbow toward his defender’s face, Texas made both charity shots and Brown scored to put his team ahead by one with under a minute left.
Out of his team’s timeout, Dixon slashed and lofted a left-hander high off the glass for what was the game-winner with 31 seconds on the clock.
“In the heat of the battle, there is no time to stress,” Haith said in the news release. “I want our guys to trust each other and believe we were going to win the game; that is what we were stressing. In the timeouts, we stressed that it was ‘win time.’”
Missouri will face No. 8 Kansas on Saturday at Mizzou Arena for what will be the rivalry’s first top 10 installment of the decade.
Top recruit Green-Beckham to announce destination Wednesday
The nation's top football recruiting prospect Dorial Green-Beckham -- a senior at Hillcrest High School in Springfield, Mo., and the top player on Missouri's board -- will announce his college destination 9 a.m. Wednesday. The day is more commonly known as National Signing Day, or the day by which most recruits will have made their announcements.
Missouri is in a four-way battle for the high school star, who has been listed as the No. 1 recruit for the 2012 class by national scouting services Rivals, Scout and No. 3 by ESPN. The Tigers are vying for his services with Arkansas, Oklahoma and Texas heading into the final days.
Green-Beckham is the nation's all-time leading receiver with 6,353 yards accumulated over a four-year career for the Hillcrest Hornets. According to his Rivals.com scouting profile, Green-Beckham lists at 6 feet 6 inches and 220 pounds and runs a 4.43-second 40-yard dash.
Green-Beckham made his official visit to MU on Saturday, when he was present for the men's basketball team's 63-50 victory over Texas Tech.
Jan. 29, 2012
No. 15 Missouri dominates duel at SIU-Edwardsville
The No. 15 Missouri Tigers wrestling team won all three matches at the quad meet hosted by Southern Illinois-Edwardsville on Sunday to improve to 11-2.
Missouri took down Eastern Michigan, Southern Illinois-Edwardsville and Truman State en route to a sweep of the quad meet.
Eastern Michigan was the first team to fall victim to Missouri on Sunday. The Tigers took down the Eagles with ease, cruising to a 25-6 victory in which the team never trailed.
Sophomore Alan Waters, who came into the quad meet ranked No. 3 in the nation at 125 pounds, was the only MU wrestler to win with bonus points, earning a 15-4 major decision over Eastern Michigan’s Jared Germaine.
Missouri then went on to shut out Southern Illinois-Edwardsville with a score of 42-0. Seven Missouri wrestlers won their matches with bonus points, and two of those matches were decided by Cougar forfeits.
The dominance continued for Missouri against Truman State. Each MU wrestler won his match with bonus points as the team cruised to a 52-0 victory. The win marks the fourth-highest margin of victory in program history, and the eighth time a Missouri wrestling team scored more than 50 points in a single dual.
With juniors Nathan McCormick, who wrestled for the first time since Dec. 18, and Clarence Neely securing victories by falls, and seven other Tigers winning by technical falls, MU managed to win 23 straight matches and score 103 consecutive points to close out the quad dual.
The Tigers are hoping their success carries into next weekend when they have a pair of Big 12 Conference duals at home, beginning with No. 1 Oklahoma State at 12 p.m. Saturday. No. 11 Oklahoma comes to town Sunday to take on Missouri in a dual that begins at 1 p.m., wrapping up an important weekend for Missouri and the rest of the Big 12.
Tiger men, women compete in Bill Bergan Invitational
The Missouri men's and women's track and field team traveled to Ames, Iowa, to compete in the Bill Bergan Invitational on Saturday, where two Tiger athletes achieved national rankings in their events.
Missouri juniors Brooks Mosier and Laura Roxberg set personal bests in the shot put and the mile run, respectively. Roxberg placed second in the mile run with a time of 4:44:09, making him No. 14 in the nation. The highlight of the competition for the Tigers came when Mosier heaved his shot 18.40 meters, good enough for first place and a top 15 national ranking.
Missouri also featured solid performances from junior Jacob Bullinger and sophomore Brian Duncan in the weight throw. Bullinger earned third place with a throw of 18.09 meters while Duncan finished in sixth place with 17.53 meters.
In the rest of the men's competition, Tiger senior Blake Irwin had a strong showing in the 800-meter race, finishing third at 1:50:53. Also finishing third with a time of 3:14.60 was the 400-meter relay team, consisting of senior Ryan Blackwell, Irwin, junior Ricky West and senior Kellyn Fogarty.
Blackwell was able to secure fifth place in the 400-meter dash with a time of 48.73.
For the women's track events, senior Sierre Gant, freshman Sha'Rone Greenlaw, senior Leslie Farmer and freshman Jasmine Webb ran for the Tigers in the 400-meter relay, taking third place with a time of 3:48:22.
Placing fourth for Missouri was sophomore Camille Hayes, who recorded a high jump of 1.70 meters. In the pole vault, junior Heather Green secured fourth by clearing 3.65m.
Senior Leslie Farmer took fifth place in the 400-meter dash with a time of 56.39. In the 3000-meter run, Missouri junior Bailey Belvis finished at 9:35:10, earning her a fifth-place finish as well.
The Tigers will next compete in the Texas A&M Challenge on Feb. 11 in College Station, Texas.
Missouri tennis grabs first victory over Fresno State
After suffering a tough defeat against Georgia on Friday, the Missouri women’s tennis rebounded by beating No. 66 Fresno State by a score of 5-2 on Saturday.
In the No. 1 slot, Fresno State's Marianne Jodoin defeated Missouri senior Nina Pantic (6-2, 4-6 and 6-3).
In No. 2 singles, Missouri junior Maria Christensen prevailed over Laura Pola (6-1 and 6-0).
Missouri also won in No. 3 singles, as freshman Alex Clark beat Olga Kirpicheva (1-6, 6-3 and 6-1).
And in No. 4 singles, facing Melissa McQueen, Missouri sophomore Rachel Stuhlmann was victorious (6-3 and 6-2). Stuhlmann has won five of her first six matches to start the season.
As she did in her defeat at the hands of Georgia's Kate Fuller on Friday, Missouri senior Jamie Mera, playing in the No. 5 slot, once again played into a third set tiebreaker, this time against Tanya Murtagh. Mera won (6-4, 3-6, 1-0 and 10-3).
In No. 6 singles, Missouri junior Annemijn Koenen was forced to retire due to injury while facing Bianca Modec (6-0, 3-2, retired).
In No. 1 doubles, Missouri's Pantic and Stuhlman managed to pull out a close victory against Fresno State's Pola and Kirpicheva (8-6).
In the No. 2 doubles position, Fresno State's Jodoin and Murtagh beat Missouri's Clark and Mera (8-3).
And in the No. 3 doubles slot, Missouri's Christensen and Koenen won against Fresno State's Agrawal and McQueen (8-3).
Missouri coach Sasha Schmid said the team had placed a great deal of emphasis on its doubles matches.
“We have been working hard on doubles so it was great to see the team execute well to win the doubles matches,” Schmid said.
The Tigers' victory is their first on the young season, giving them a record of 1-2. The team hopes to have two victories in a row after they face Arkansas-Fort Smith on Saturday in the Green Tennis Center.
Jan. 28, 2012
No. 20 Missouri gymnastics knocks off No. 4 Nebraska
The No. 20 Missouri gymnastics team knocked off No. 4 Nebraska, 195.725-194.550, for its fourth win of the season Saturday in Lincoln, Neb.
Freshman Rachel Updike and senior Mary Burke both had career-high scores on vault with 9.950 and 9.925, respectively. Burke also scored 39.325 in the all-around competition, finishing second by 0.050 points.
Missouri also received strong performances from freshman Kelsy Landreth with a career-high 9.850 on vault and junior Tori Howard’s 9.800s on vault and the floor exercise.
Nebraska led coming off the first two rotations, but a poor showing on beam reversed the Cornhuskers’ fortunes. The Tigers were consistently high-scoring throughout the meet; their lowest event score was 48.675 on the beam.
Missouri’s next meet will take place against the North Carolina State Wolfpack on Friday at the Hearnes Center.
Missouri swimming teams lead in Evanston after day one
After wrapping up the first day of a two-day meet, both the men’s and women’s swimming and diving squads have found themselves in the lead. Swimming against Denver and Northwestern, the men’s squad leads Denver 76-33 and Northwestern 59-50.
The women’s team has a commanding lead over Denver with a tally of 80-29, while it leads Northwestern 61-49. Missouri swimmers broke two Northwestern records in the 200 individual medley and the 200 freestyle relay.
The Tigers dominated the pool, turning in strong finishes in nearly every event. The women’s 400-yard medley relay team of Dominique Bouchard, Emy DiBenigno, Shara Stafford and Emily Doucette placed first with a time of 3:43.57. Freshman Eegan Groome also placed first in the 500-yard freestyle event with a time of 4:29.76.
Missouri saw immense success in the diving pool as well. Sophomore David Bonuchi placed first in the 1-meter diving event with 421.00 points, while Jordan Morcom placed second in 3-meter diving with 323.30 points and Sharon Finn finished third with 291.75 points on the women’s side.
The Tigers will look to build on their successes and further their lead when they again take to the pool tomorrow morning.
