SEC gymnastics honors & Karissa gets a big award

Big congrats to Mizzou Gymnastics, who had a great awards season! Two freshmen, Helen Hu and Sienna Schreiber, claimed All-SEC honors, it was announced Tuesday. Schreiber was named to the All-Freshman team in the all-around and Hu earned spots on both the All-SEC & All-Freshman teams on the bars and beam, as well as being named Event Specialist of the Year. Read up on the specifics at MUTigers.com, and here’s a link to SEC announcement video. Congrats, ladies! Can’t wail to see what you do next season!

In other awards news, Karissa Schweizer, the current American Record holder in the 3000m, was selected as the Mizzou Female Athlete of the Decade on Tuesday, and I honestly can’t think of anyone more deserving of this honor in Mizzou women’s sports.

In a really awesome long form post on MUTigers.com — complete with video— they lauded her accomplishments, all of which came in just 3.5 years. This includes 6 national titles and 11 All-American awards, along with becoming the first female athlete in Mizzou Athletics history to win multiple NCAA titles. Karissa’s thoughts on the honor, from the story:

After all of the ups and downs that cumulated into her decorated career with the Tigers, Schweizer hopes that her experience can help inspire others and athletes who are looking to take their talents to the next step at Mizzou.

“I really hope it inspires other people that go through Mizzou to do the same. I think we’re hitting a new level especially in women’s athletics. I think we’re just tapping into this new competition and new international level,” Schweizer explained. “It’s really cool to see and I love representing Mizzou.”

On to the links, though I’ll leave you with an accurate shot of Karissa’s speed.

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Yesterday at Rock M

• Nate the Great analyzed Gary vs. Barry’s first four years coaching for Mizzou.
• Basketball savant Matthew J. Harris did a deeeeeeeeeeeeeeeep dive into grad transfers and analyzed how they performed at their new schools in a number of statistical areas. (side note— I miss Kash. I always miss Kash)
• IN CASE YOU MISSED IT: Read Site Manager Sam’s roster dissection with the additions of Chang and Buggs.
• COMING UP!!! Round 6,903 of the Mizzou Tigers Legends Draft (Round XII, actually) AND a Mizzou Recruiting Roundtable, featuring some of your fave Rock M football writers, that will span several posts.

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More Links:

Football

• PowerMizzou (free): Gabe published an in-depth Q & A with coach Erik Link. Gabe and Mitchell also put up a new ZOUMCast featuring David Rowe, former Mizzou football player, cancer beater, and owner of D Rowe’s Restaurant, which has the best smoked wings in town. (side note- he was my boss for a short time and he’s great)
• Connor Bazelak is feeling good!

• The Athletic ($$): Peter Baugh talked with Mizzou transfer, Damon Hazelton, Jr, about what he hopes to find at Missouri. Don’t forget you can sign up for The Athletic’s free 90-day trial!!!
• St. Louis Post-Dispatch: Matter wrote about three-year football series with Florida Atlantic... which starts in 7 years.
• Yahoo Sports: Pete Thamel talked to some college football coaches about who they thought were the biggest steals of the draft. The SEC’s top choice— Albert O!
• As a reminder, Chase Daniel is hosting a whole slew of special guests on Friday on his Twitter/Facebook live to honor the 2007 season. Check out some familiar faces— SPOOOOOOOOOOON— in the teaser below. Don’t forget you can donate here!

• Mizzou SID, Chad Moller, shared an in-depth recap on MUTigers.com about the magical 2007 season. I highly suggest to check it out.

Mizzou Athletics, Sports Illustrated

Hoops

• St. Louis Post-Dispatch: BenFred wrote about how now is not the time for the area’s underclassmen to risk NBA draft disappointment. It’s a good article, and I definitely recommend checking it out, because in the era of COVID, it’s just different.
• Columbia Missourian: Briar Napier wrote about new Tigers’ transfer, Drew Buggs, who is a proven and experienced pass-first point guard.
• A little flashback to Sophie’s 4th collegiate game where she scored 42 points!

Assorted Mizzou Sports News

• Tyler Hollins of the Columbia Missourian covered the newest softball commitment- Hannah Vargas, a middle infielder and outfielder from Chandler, Arizona.
• Eric Blum of the Columbia Tribune wrote about Helen Hu’s award in a Mizzou Notebook (side note- I could not open this article... stupid paywall... I refuse to clear my history again)
• Looks like, according to Mizzou Track twitter, that Faramola Shonekan has been awarded a Mark Twain Fellowship! Here’s a story from the Columbia Tribune on her academic and athletic gifts— she was a finalist for Fulbright and Rhodes scholarships... WOW.

• Emma Moloney of the Missourian continued her Fast Five series with quarantine questions with Mizzou Baseball’s Ian Bedell.
• The SEC Network is encouraging fans to vote for their favorite pitching performances, and Mizzou is included (and not doing well— y’all need to vote!!!)

Interesting/Non-specific Sports News

These are a few of the best stories & tidbits I found regarding some goings-on in sports and beyond that I enjoyed.

• The Missourian’s FIRST PITCHES series continued. First up was Nick Forrester, now a NHL Producer, who was witness to the rise of J’den Cox. And finally with Seth Wickersham, now a senior writer at ESPN, who wrote about lessons he learned from Lunch with Larry Smith.
• Tuesday was StL Cards hero/Mr. October David Freese’s birthday, and in honor of his special day, St. Louis Post-Dispatch writer Derrick Goold shared his in-depth interview with him last year.
• St. Louisian Bradley Beal has a novel idea!

• Tony Messenger of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch published a great piece: Like sports, post-coronavirus future balances on sharp edge between hope and fear.
• On The Ringer’s Winging it podcast, they debated MJ vs Kobe vs LeBron with someone who played against all three- Vince Carter.
• Roger McKinnon of the Columbia Tribune wrote about the campus’ decision to remain closed despite the easing of social distancing restrictions.
• John Krasinky, host of Some Good News on YouTube (if you haven’t watched it, it’s soooo great), is going to attempt to pull off a graduation ceremony for all 2020 graduates, and is looking for a valedictorian. What a fun idea!

• Finally, just a friendly reminder that if you are on a Zoom call to do a news briefing, or be in a meeting with your coworkers, or really just... whenever, you really should put some pants on.

• If you’re looking to sign up for ESPN+, Rock M Nation now has an affiliate link: click Here for ESPN+ Now! (** RockMNation has affiliate partnerships. These do not influence editorial content, though RockMNation may earn commissions for products purchased via affiliate links.**)