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Complete coverage of all MU athletics.
Jan. 29, 2012
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.
Jan. 27, 2012
Missouri Tennis falls to 0-2 with 6-1 loss at Georgia
The Missouri women’s tennis team fell 6-1 to the Georgia Bulldogs on Friday in Athens, Georgia, dropping its spring record to 0-2.
Tiger sophomore Rachel Stuhlmann recorded the only Missouri victory, defeating Maho Kowase (6-3 and 6-2) in fourth slot singles. Kowase is the No. 22 player in the country.
At No. 1 singles, Chelsey Gullickson, ranked No. 2 nationally, defeated Missouri senior Nina Pantic (6-2 and 7-5). In the second slot, Georgia's Lauren Herring beat Maria Christensen (6-2 and 6-3). At No. 3, Nadja Gilchrist topped Missouri freshman Alex Clark (6-2 and 6-3).
In a hard-fought battle at No. 5, Georgia's Kate Fuller defeated Jamie Mera, (3-6, 6-3, 1-0 and 10-7). Lilly Kimbell had an easier time with Annemijn Koenen at No. 6, besting the MU junior (6-0 and 7-6).
In doubles, the Bulldog tandem of Gullickson and Gilchrist ran past Pantic and Stuhlmann 8-1. Fuller and Herring then topped the Clark and Mera duo 8-3. The match concluded with Kimbell and Kowase beating Christensen and Koenen 7-4.
The match marked the first ever meeting between Missouri and Georgia. The teams will be conference rivals when the Tigers join the Southeastern Conference beginning in the 2012-2013 season.
Jan. 25, 2012
Tigers drop seventh straight in loss to Longhorns
The Missouri women’s basketball team remained winless in Big 12 Conference play with a 75-58 loss to the Texas Longhorns on Wednesday in Austin, Texas.
The Tigers (10-8, 0-7 Big 12) got off to a terrible start, finding themselves down 11-0 just four minutes into the game. They fought back to a 15-12 deficit, but the Longhorns went on another run to take a 33-18 lead.
The Tigers would fight back again, cutting the lead to 39-34 at the half. But they could never seriously challenge the Longhorns in the second half as their deficit slowly expanded to the final 17-point margin.
The Tigers once again struggled shooting from the floor going only 22-of-70.
The Tigers were led again by the inside duo of senior forwards Christine Flores and BreAnna Brock. Flores led the Tigers with 12 points while Brock added a double-double of 11 points and a team-high 13 rebounds.
The Tigers will return home on Saturday to face the Oklahoma Sooners at 4:30. The Sooners are 4-2 in conference play.
No. 2 Missouri falls at Oklahoma State
With the territory of the No. 2 national ranking comes a target, especially playing on the road. No. 2 Missouri learned that lesson the hard way Wednesday night at Gallagher-Iba Arena in Stillwater, Okla.
Thanks in large part to a 32-17 run over the game’s final 13 minutes, Oklahoma State (10-10, 3-4 Big 12 Conference) upset No. 2 Missouri in stunning fashion, 79-72.
Entering the game as the No. 2 team in the country, a team that has received much national attention in recent days, Missouri expected to get Oklahoma State’s best shot.
“We will get Oklahoma State’s very, very best effort, as we will every night we lace ‘em up,” Haith said of Wednesday’s matchup at media day Monday. “We have to be tough enough to be able to handle that.”
After surrendering 27 points to Baylor freshman Quincy Miller last Saturday, Missouri was once again torched by a first-year player. This time it was Cowboys guard Le’Bryan Nash, who dropped a career-high 27 points. A stretch of eight consecutive Nash points with two minutes and change remaining would prove to be too much for the Tigers.
Missouri got off to a slow start, shooting just 41 percent from the field in the first half, and trailing by one at the half. The Tigers pulled out to an eight-point lead midway through the second half, but that’s when Nash took over for the Cowboys.
Senior forward Ricardo Ratliffe led the Tigers with 25 points and 12 rebounds.
Jan. 24, 2012
Tennis to host Black and Gold Alumni Challenge
MU's women’s tennis team has announced the Black and Gold Alumni Challenge. The inaugural event will be held 10 a.m. March 10 at the Green Tennis Center.
In an effort to connect multiple generations of student athletes, the event will take current and former players, divide them into two teams and have them compete in singles, doubles and mixed doubles matches.
Women's tennis coach Sasha Schmid is coordinating the participation of former student-athletes.
Updike claims Big 12 Newcomer of the Week for third week
The Big 12 Conference named Missouri gymnast Rachel Updike its Newcomer of the Week for a third straight week. The freshman is the program’s first-ever athlete to win the award three weeks in a row and the third in the history of the Big 12.
Updike won every event in which she competed, contributing to Missouri's win against Denver on Jan. 20. She scored a 9.875 on vault, 9.800 on beam and 9.925 on the floor routine.
The Tigers’ next meet is Saturday against the Nebraska Cornhuskers in Lincoln, Nebraska.
Ratliffe named national player of the week
Not long after being honored as the Big 12 Conference’s player of the week, the Missouri men’s basketball team’s senior forward Ricardo Ratliffe was named the nation’s best Tuesday.
After a week in which he averaged 22 points and seven rebounds over two league games, Ratliffe was named the recipient of this week’s Lute Olsen National Player Award. It was Ratliffe’s career-high 27 points in Waco, Texas, that helped the Tigers overcome then-No. 3 Baylor 89-88 and ultimately earn its No. 2 ranking, the highest for the program since 2001.
Ratliffe added 17 points and six rebounds in Missouri’s victory over Texas A&M last Tuesday. Over the week, he connected on 16-of-21 field goals, bringing his field goal percentage to .772 on the year. Ratliffe is on track to break the single-season record of .746, set by Oregon State’s Steve Johnson in 1981.
Asked about his conference player of the week award Monday, Ratliffe passed credit to his teammates.
“Basically, it’s good guard play,” he said. “I just respect the guards. You (have) got to give it to them.”
His coach explained the success differently.
“We need his production,” Frank Haith said. “I think (with) our guards, it’s like a marriage: You can’t have one without the other. I don’t know that Ricardo would have his great play without our guards and I don’t know if our guards would be as good as they are if we didn’t have a low-post presence.”
