2023-24 Rock M’mys: I’m Him/I’m Her (Best Performance)

It’s awards season at Rock M Nation, and we’ve got a lot to celebrate from the 2023-24 school year. New hires, postseason highs, incredible individual and team performances... There’s a lot of good things going on in CoMo, and we intend to talk about it.

And because we always strive to do things a bit differently around here, we created our own award, the Rock M’my, last year. Consider it to be part Emmy, part Espy, and all parts love of Mizzou Athletics. (pronounced Rock Emmy)

I encouraged the staff to not just consider the major sports and the top dogs, but to dig below the surface and select worthy nominees from all the teams. Luckily, Rock M Nation represents a diverse group of writers with knowledge about a variety of Mizzou sports, so this wasn’t too much of an ask. With each nomination, you’ll also find a bit of backstory, so you, the fans, can make an informed decision, because at the end of each post, you’ll vote. Forget to cast your ballot one day? No big deal. I’ll provide links to the other awards from the preceding posts.

Once all the votes for each award have been tabulated over the next few weeks, I’ll present a winners list, and that student-athlete will win our completely serious award that will undoubtedly be the greatest triumph of their lives thus far.

Voting closes Tuesday, July 23 at 7pm CST.

In case you missed the vote (which is open til Tuesday, July 23 at 7pm CST):

• Newcomer of the Year

Let’s begin.

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Sometimes we as sports fans have the pleasure of witnessing greatness. A moment that leaves you astonished, proclaiming, “HE IS HIM. SHE IS HER.” (I never say this because I find it weird, but that’s just me). Believe it or not, we aren’t always Mizzou’d, and in the past year, there were a helluva lot of great performances that left fans excited and jumping up and down, screaming and wanting more.

In fact, there were so many awesome performances we couldn’t write about them all. So congrats, CC Harrison’s no-no vs. Texas A&M-Commerce, Daylan Carnell’s pick 6 vs. Tennessee, and Jocelyn Moore’s perfect 10 on FX in the final regular season meet of the year, as well as so many others that we couldn’t get to. Y’all are VERY honorable mention-worthy in my book and deserve some votes.

So who was included? Let’s find out. Please make sure you read all the nominations carefully before casting your online ballot. They deserve your time for all their awesomeness!

Here are the nominees for I’m Him / I’m Her (Best Performance)

Mama’s Triple-Double vs. Auburn, Women’s Hoops

Mama Dembele got off to about as hot of a start as anybody in college basketball this season, as she was at one point the leader in assist/turnover ratio in the country. She culminated that hot start into a fiery performance against Auburn with a blistering 15 points, 11 rebounds, and 11 assists in a 70-59 defeat. Per MUTigers.com data, it was Missouri’s first triple-double since Christine Flores in 2011 against Eastern Illinois and marked the marked the first triple double with assists since Erika Martin in 1995 versus Lamar. Unfortunately, Dembele left as a grad transfer in the offseason for sunnier locales (South Florida), but that doesn’t diminish her impact. —Adeen Rao

Grant Bochenski Makes Backstroke History, Swim & Dive

At the SEC Championships in late February, junior Grant Bochenski rewrote Mizzou history books, breaking a five-year old school record set by Daniel Hein in 2019 in the 100 backstroke in prelims with a 45.19 before becoming the first Missouri swimmer to ever go sub-45 in finals with his 44.96, which earned him a fourth place finish and now the two fastest Mizzou times in history. Even cooler than doing this twice was that it occurred on the same day. —Karen Steger

Kylee Simmons’ Scoring Explosion, Soccer

While these are usually limited to a single game, this was just too good to exclude. Kylee Simmons led the SEC with 11 goals on the season and voted to the All-SEC First Team.

This plethora of scoring was led by a stretch of six goals in five games. Simmons scored in five-straight games, which included two goals in an SEC-opener win against Florida on the road. During this stretch she was voted: Collegiate Player of the Week by United Soccer Coaches, SEC Offensive Player of the Week and Women’s Team of the Week by Top Drawer Soccer Release. For those few weeks, Kylee Simmons was untouchable. —Dylan Heinrich

Mara Titarsolej Makes History, Gymnastics

At the Zou to the Lou meet in late February, Mara Titarsolej did something few (or any?) can say they’ve done in their careers. Reach perfection. AT TWO DIFFERENT SCHOOLS. Because, you see, that 10 she scored on uneven bars, which made her the first Mizzou gymnast on bars to get a 10 in school history, was not her first 10 on bars. And not her first time making history. On March 6, 2022, while still at LIU, Mara became the school’s first gymnast to notch a perfect 10.... ever. Not just on bars, but like... on any event.

With this 10, Mara became just the third Mizzou gymnast** in program history to notch a perfect score, and the first since Jocelyn Moore’s 10 on vault the season prior. —Karen Steger

**Sienna would become the fourth the following month and Joci would add another 10 to her perfection collection in mid-March

Cody Schrader’s 321 all-purpose yards vs. Tennessee, Football

There have been single game yardage totals better than Cody Schrader’s 321 against Tennessee. Most of them by quarterbacks. Drew Lock technically has the record at 515 but that was in a surprise dog fight against Missouri State. Brad Smith’s 480 against Nebraska in ‘05 is a fun one, as is Chase Daniel’s 473 against the same Blackshirt Defense. But none of those performances were done by an undersized, walk-on running back against a Top 15 team.

On a day where Missouri ran 74 plays (27 passes, 47 rushes) Cody Schrader was the focal point on 40 of those plays, or roughly 54%. It’s not just that he had over 100 yards through the air, or a 100% catch rate, or an 80% success rate on his five passes. And it’s not just that he eclipsed 200 yards on the ground while averaging 6 yards per carry with a 51% success rate on the ground. It’s that he was doing this against a defense that came into the game ranked 20th in the nation and was chock full of blue-chip recruits and knew he was getting the ball. And the walk-on wonder still had his best day of his career. —Nate Edwards

Laurin Krings Shuts Down Omaha, Softball

I’ve been a baseball fan for as long as I can remember. I’ve seen some of the greatest pitchers to ever take the mound in their heyday. And I never — repeat, never — have seen anyone as dominant on a mound as Laurin Krings was in the circle in the Regional Final win over Omaha on May 19.

Sure, Krings could’ve been more statistically dominant; she scattered 4 hits and a walk over 9 innings of work. But if you were tuned into that game, every half inning of Krings taking the circle felt like an inevitability rather than chore, even more so as she stretched into extra innings. Every pitch of Krings’ arsenal was working on the day and Omaha hitters, just two days removed from upsetting Mizzou in the Regional opener, looked more and more flummoxed with every pitch. Mizzou ended up winning 1-0 on an infield single — classic 2024 Mizzou! — but Krings made it seem like it was never a contest. —Josh Matejka

Jack Lundin’s Spectacular Senior Season, Men’s Golf

Mizzou senior golfer Jack Lundin had a season to remember in his final year in Columbia. The Sioux Falls, South Dakota, native made second-team All-American and first-team All-SEC while taking home SEC Golfer of the Week five times. Lundin won twice, including Mizzou’s home tournament at Old Hawthorne, and registered five other top-five finishes.

He finished the season ranked No. 22 individually among all Division I golfers and posted a 69.69 scoring average. His stellar season was recognized with a selection to represent Team USA in the Arnold Palmer Cup where he helped the Americans top Team International in Lahinch, Ireland. Lundin finished his amateur career ranked No. 25 in the World Amateur Golf Rankings and will now turn professional and try to qualify into the Korn Ferry Tour’s Price Cutter Championship on Monday in Springfield. —Kortay Vincent

Brady Cook Silences the Doubters v. K-State, Football

Heading into the Unholy War against Kansas State, questions around who should be the starting quarterback were palpable. After a couple of uninspiring offensive performances against South Dakota and Middle Tennessee State, fans seemed to want a change at QB from Brady Cook to Sam Horn. In fact, they desired for something different so much that, when Cook’s name was announced in the starting lineup, the Mizzou student section booed. Times were so dire that Cook had lost the support of the people that, on paper, should always be on his side.

In response, Cook casually threw for over 350 yards with two touchdowns and no turnovers in one of the best big-game performances by a Mizzou QB in recent memory. The jeers quickly turned to cheers as Cook established himself as the unquestioned starting signal-caller in everyone’s eyes, not just the team’s. Things would only go up from there —Quentin Corpuel

Iliff Shines with Career-High Kills vs. UGA, Volleyball

Jordan Iliff led the Tigers to a comeback victory in five sets after falling down 3-1, recording 22 kills to go with two service aces, five blocks and seven digs in a dominant all-around performance. This match had a whopping 13 lead changes and 39 ties, 9 of those ties coming in the winner-take-all fifth set alone.

Iliff didn’t just lead the team in kills, she set a personal career high on the final kill of the match to win it for Mizzou. Her hit was initially ruled out of bounds with the Tigers up 14-13 in set five before the call was overturned, giving Dawn Sullivan’s squad a thrilling win that helped show how special this team was. —Matthew Gustafson

Tamar Bates Goes Off vs. Florida, Men’s Hoops

Mizzou Basketball, sitting at 0-5 when they welcomed a struggling Florida team (1-3) to Norm Stewart court on January 20, and Tamar Bates did everything he could to change the Tigers’ fortune that day. If only the rest of the team had been able to get things going. In the first half alone, Bates had 17 points, which was roughly half of the Tigers’ points. And in the second half, he continued his onslaught.

Per Quentin’s recap, the first offensive possession of the half for MU saw Bates attack the basket, hang in the air, double clutch and finish with his right hand. Two possessions later, Bates sized up his defender and knocked down a midrange jumper. After a Nick Honor corner three, Bates drove down the left side and put in a floater. He was on fire for most of Saturday night — he tied his career-high of 25 points with 16:55 left in regulation and ended the night with 36, the first 30-point game from a Tiger this season.

After the game, Dennis Gates said, “Tamar takes what’s given to him. He’s an excellent scorer...individual performance-wise, that was probably one of the best I’ve seen in a long time.” It’s a shame that such a hero’s performance resulted in what became a very long string of Mizzou losses during the 2023-24 season, but that doesn’t diminish Tamar’s incredible effort. —Karen Steger

Emelie Schwarte’s Walk-off Win vs. James Madison, Tennis

If this is the first you’re hearing of Mizzou Tennis, welcome! The highlight of the year came back on the road in February. The Tigers were seeking their first dual win of the young season, trying to take down James Madison.

After a back-and-forth battle, it all came down to the final match between Mizzou’s Emelie Schwarte and JMU’s Hope Moulin. The two split the first two sets, forcing the all-important third and final set to decide a winner. Ultimately with all eyes on her, Schwarte pulled out the 7-5 set victory and secured the first dual win of the year. —Dylan Heinrich

Elder Elam Gets the Pin for the Win vs. South Dakota State, Wrestling

Here’s the situation: the Tigers are down 19-15 with one match remaining. Mizzou led 15-7 after a classic Keegan O’Toole performance at 165lbs before dropping three consecutive matches to South Dakota State. Tanner Sloan secured a massive pin of Rocky Elam in their match at 197lbs to give the Jackrabbits their first lead of the dual meet, and the home crowd in Brookings is going bonkers.

Zach Elam, known for slugging out low-scoring victories, must win via bonus points for the Tigers to avoid an upset. What does he do? Elam immediately comes out on the offensive and pins his opponent in 33 seconds for a stunning victory to crush the SDSU crowd. I don’t think I’ve ever seen a crowd go from elation to deflation so quickly. Just an unbelievable moment for the since-graduated senior who will go down as one of the greatest to ever wear the black and gold singlet. —Matthew Gustafson

Luther’s Cotton Bowl LeBron-like Touchdown Celebration, Football

Was there anything more ‘HIM’ than Luther’s LeBron touchdown celebration against his (LeBron’s) Ohio State Buckeyes? That basically put the game away — on primetime national television in a New Year’s Six Bowl game that delivered huge ratings. Touchdown Luther and Mizzou Football shined on the spotlight with what ended up being a 14-3 victory. —Sammy Stava

Time to Vote!