Championship Updates!
The NCAA Men’s Swimming & Diving Championships continue, and several Tigers found themselves with All-American honors. Junior Danny Kovac took seventh in the 200 IM, as did the Tigers’ 400 medley relay. In diving, sophomore Carlo Lopez placed 15th in the 1-meter. According to MUTigers.com, this was Kovac’s first individual All-American honors, after previously being part of a few AA relay teams in 2019.
- ℝ ℂ ℕ ℝ #Mizzou's 400 medley relay of Dahlgren, Patton, Kovac and Leach finish 7️⃣th in 3:04.34 for All-America first team honors❗#MIZ pic.twitter.com/JF1NKmPbjb
— Mizzou Swim & Dive (@MizzouSwimDive) March 26, 2021
From head coach Andrew Grevers on the day’s finishes:
“We really made all of our opportunities count this morning. Finals got kicked off with Carlo getting 15th, it was amazing to get those diving points. We started with a solid first relay and Danny had a good 200 IM but both races had opportunities for improvement. Then we put it all together for the 400 medley relay, it was great to end the session on a high note. Our team had great attitude and effort today, along with really good cheering from teammates in the stands.”
The team currently sits in 12th place. Competition continues through the weekend. Go Tigers!
Speaking of preparing for championships, one of my Mizzou faves of all time, J’den Cox, is preparing for the USA Wrestling Trials, which are set to begin next week in Fort Worth. He sat down with the media over Zoom, and the KC Star’s Vahe Gregorian wrote about all of it: his struggles with mental health that led him down a dark path his freshman year at Mizzou, confounding the Black Wrestling Association, how the pandemic actually helped him, his mental health advocacy, and the formidable task of taking on Kyle Snyder in the US Olympic Trials in a whole new weight class (he moved from the 86kg weight class he won bronze in to 97kg.
From the article, which is a MUST READ. Seriously, I was tearing up reading it:
When I asked him how he had grown the last year, he said he believed he had become “an avenue for others” who might be feeling sadness or a sense of losing themselves since sports are such a part of their identity.
Talking other people through that and how to carry themselves through this, he added, has helped him, too.
Suggested to him that it sounded like he was saying he’s actually been helped by the last year, he agreed.
“It’s kind of like wrestling: When you wrestle, yourself, you can get as good as you want,” he said. “But when you coach, too, when you’re teaching somebody else, you actually grow a lot from that as well.”
The most important part of his message is that those suffering from depression need to know they’re not alone and have nothing to be ashamed of and not be afraid to speak about it.
Just great, great stuff from a wonderful human. Wishing J’den all the best.
SIDE NOTE: I started writing all this before the surprise commitment news, so you’ll have to forgive me for not wanting to redo this whole damn thing :)
On to the Links!
Yesterday at Rock M
- Kortay previewed the Vandy series for the diamond Tigers. Guess what, y’all? Vandy is reallllllllly good.
- Sam asked what’s next for the Tigers now that Xavier Pinson is gone.
- Sam introduced us to our new commit, Green Bay transfer Amari Davis.
- IN CASE YOU MISSED IT: Do listen to the new episode of Dive Cuts. It’s a good discussion of the XP news and a postmortem of the OU game.
More Links:
Football
- Catch up with Coach Drinkwitz after the last of spring practices in this video from PowerMizzou.
- Mizzou’s defensive changes and wideout additions highlight Drinkwitz’s first full spring, according to Dave Matter of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch.
- Emily Leiker of the Missourian wrote about how Drinkwitz hopes MU’s camaraderie sets it apart from SEC competition.
- Check out PFF’s draft board, and you’ll see a familiar name around No. 22.
- Hear from Erik Link, who was mic’ed up at practice on Tuesday.
️ ️Coach Erik Link (@CoachErikLink, special teams coordinator) ' ️ ️#MIZ x #NewZou pic.twitter.com/UUfgVeVpcn
— Mizzou Football (@MizzouFootball) March 25, 2021
- Great news for Jake Hoffman, who was awarded a scholly, and you can read this piece, Mizzou punctuates end of spring practice by awarding scholarship to walk-on, by Keith Farner of Saturday Down South.
When the scholly hits ... #MIZ x #NewZou pic.twitter.com/ne9UuvG7WF
— Mizzou Football (@MizzouFootball) March 25, 2021
- During a SiriusXM appearance, Eli Drinkwitz hilariously recalled how he was horribly wrong about how to stop Alabama’s offense. This is an entertaining read by Michael Wayne Bratton of Saturday Down South. You can listen to the full interview here.
Hoops:
- Dave Matter’s back with a new weekly chat for the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, talking mostly hoops and a bit of football. Definitely some interesting tidbits in there about X and the roster, so I highly recommend checking it out. In the new Eye on The Tigers podcast, Dave and BenFred chat about the end of Mizzou season and the transfer of Xavier Pinson.
- Dave Matter appears to be the first of the Mizzou beat to get an interview with new commit, Amari Davis. He also talked with a couple of his former coaches, one of whom knows Cuonzo Martin well. It’s a great read.
- PowerMizzou subscribers are in for a treat, as they can read about some good options in the transfer portal, as well as Mitchell Forde’s talk with UMKC transfer and Mizzou target, Brandon McKissic.
- Check out the Amari Davis commitment news from any number of local outlets: Joel Lorenzi, (Columbia Missourian). Keith Farner (Saturday Down South). Mitchell Forde (PowerMizzou).
- Sammy found some good info on Amari Davis from CBS sports
From the 2019-2020 season, CBS Sports listed Amari Davis as one of 10 freshman in college basketball who exceeded expectations. #Mizzou https://t.co/ZOM3104Gny pic.twitter.com/GEIFYLmyzE
— Sammy Stava (@StavaonSTL) March 26, 2021
- Thanks to RMN commenter Jesse for sharing this link. Here’s a fun interview with Amari where he shares some of his moves!
- And speaking of Mizzou commits, State Champ Anton Brookshire shared this video!
IM NOT ONE OF THEM
— Anton Brookshire (@AntBrookshire0) March 26, 2021
: @BBall_Movement pic.twitter.com/9Voqenc9WE
Other Mizzou Sports
- SOFTBALL: Mizzou picked up wins 21 & 22nd against Western Illinois, and still remains undefeated at home on the season. Read the recaps from The Maneater’s Caleb Logue and the News-Tribune’s Colin O’Brien. Ben Miglore of the Missourian wrote up Mizzou’s upcoming weekend matchup with Auburn, who has a pair of freshman aces on their staff, and MUTigers.com previews the series.
- BASEBALL: Mason Arneson of The Maneater scouted Vanderbilt, who has star pitchers and dangerous offense, which makes for the nation’s top-ranked team. Read the recap of Mizzou’s opening 10-2 loss to the ‘Dores at MUTigers.com.
- TRACK: Ciccolini and Sinclair Set Program Top-10 Marks on Day One of Texas and Raleigh Relays, and the Tigers also set three new personal records. (more info at MUTigers.com)
- GYMNASTICS: Sienna Schreiber and Amaya Marshall earned spots on the all-league teams for their performances this season. Schreiber made the All-SEC team while Marshall was named to the All-Freshman team. From MUTigers.com:
Over the course of the season, Schreiber won a team-best eight event titles, with four on beam, three on bars and one in the all-around. She currently ranks tied for 13th nationally on beam with a National Qualifying Score (NQS) of 9.938.
Marshall claimed All-Freshman team honors on bars and in the all-around based upon her performance at SECs, with scores of 9.825 on bars and 39.075 in the all-around. She won two event titles on the season, the all-around crown against Auburn and the bars title at Arkansas, and was named the SEC Co-Freshman of the Week on Feb. 16.
- In more gymnastics news, Sienna Schreiber was also named Second Team All-American from the WGTA on Thursday in the beam. According to MUTigers.com, Schreiber is the eighth Tiger in program history to claim All-America honors.
Our newest #MIZ pic.twitter.com/Rq2yBExy5N
— Mizzou Gymnastics (@MizzouGym) March 25, 2021
- TENNIS: Bronte Murgett and Marta Oliveira are now nationally ranked in doubles!
!
— Mizzou Tennis (@MizzouTennis) March 25, 2021
Bronte Murgett & Marta Oliveira check in at No. 55 in the @ITA_Tennis National Doubles Rankings! #MIZ pic.twitter.com/Zdsg132aX3
- Huge congrats to Mizzou Volleyball, who swept their last two road matchups.
4 straight W to end the regular season. Off to NCAA’s next for @MizzouVB! https://t.co/9xWyLbOtcJ
— Andy Oldenburg (@OldenburgAndy) March 25, 2021
Other News
- Love this from KOMU’s Ben Arnet, who took part in Kim English’s Zoom press conference. So happy for Kimmie.
From a sudden coaching change to a Conference Title, I asked @Englishscope24 about the influence his senior season at #Mizzou has had on his career since. Here's his answer@JarrettTSutton @LBowers_21 @MizzouMonster12 @philpressey @M_Pressive3 pic.twitter.com/CsksMXck0x
— Ben Arnet (@BenArnetKOMU) March 25, 2021
- The comedic world lost a great one on Thursday as the death of actor Jessica Walter was announced. Lucille Bluth on Arrested Development is one of the best tv characters ever, and I use her GIFs often... as you all have seen. I loved this little tribute.
jessica walter. an icon pic.twitter.com/xAIEV8GDQT
— lucy ford (@lucyj_ford) March 25, 2021
- In a wonderful piece that I’m so glad he wrote, The Maneater’s Mason Arneson revealed his autism diagnosis and shared a lot of great information about the difficulty adults have in finding employment with that diagnosis. Check it out in Vox Magazine:
For autistic individuals like me, the road to full-time employment is like climbing Mount Everest while it’s slicked with ice, and you’re wearing Timberlands coated in WD-40. With so many places to slip along the arduous trek, it seems futile to try.
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