Columbia, Mo. - For his efforts against Southern Illinois and Kentucky, junior Michael Lopresti was named the Big 12 Men's Swimmer of the Week Wednesday afternoon.

This is Lopresti's first time to win the award, and is also the first weekly conference award of the 2010-11 season.

Lopresti won two events at the Oct. 16 tri-meet against Southern Illinois and Kentucky. He recorded a first place finish in the 100 breast with a time of 58.06, as well as finishing first in the 200 breast in 2:07.34. Lopresti, a Westerville, Ohio native, was also a part of the Mizzou 200 medley relay team that claimed first with a time of 1:32.54. He finished his split in 25:35.

Lopresti and the rest of the Missouri men's swimming and diving team will participate in the Southwest Plunge in Dallas, Texas this Friday and Saturday.

Members of the Student-Athlete Advisory Committee played a Halloween -themed game to get the fifth meeting of the year off to a good start. Team Forrest Shock and Leslie Farmer took first place.

The Big 12 Conference has named 147 student-athletes to the 2010 Academic All-Big 12 Cross Country Team. The University of Missouri had eight members of the Cross Country team earn a 3.2 GPA or higher.

To qualify student-athletes must maintain a 3.00 GPA or higher either cumulative or the two previous semesters and must have participated in 60 percent of their team’s scheduled contests. Freshmen and transfers are not eligible in their first year of academic residence.

Mizzou's Honorees Include:

Kevin McKee - Missouri Jr. - Mechanical Engineering - Kansas City, Mo.
Max Storms - Missouri Jr. - Civil engineering - Kansas City, Mo.
Ricky West - Missouri So. - Business - Ontario, Canada
Jessica Armstrong - Missouri Sr. - English - Dorr, Mich.
Bailey Belvis - Missouri So. - Computer Science - Prosper, Texas
Aimee Bonte - Missouri Jr. - Accountancy - Fenton, Mo.
Kinsey Farren - Missouri Sr. - Nutritional Sciences - Dallas, Texas
Laura Roxberg - Missouri Jr. - Secondary Education - Overland Park, Kan.

The Big 12 Conference, in conjunction with Chick-fil-A has announced the Fall Community of Champions. Mizzou senior soccer player Alysha Bonnick has earned the fall honor.

During the fall, winter and spring terms, one student-athlete from each institution will be honored based on the following criteria:

Academics: An academic standard of a 3.00 grade point average or higher must be maintained.

Community Service: The designated student-athlete should be involved with at least one community service program. The program(s) could be a student organization on campus or within the athletic department.

Leadership/Sportsmanship: The student-athlete should demonstrate leadership and sportsmanship on and off the field.

The institution of the student-athletes on this list will be awarded $3,000 each year from Chick-fil-A for their efforts.

Check out photos from the University of Missouri Volleyball match against Kansas. As part of the Tiger Cup, student-athletes are encouraged to support their fellow student-athletes at home competitions. The volleyball team beat KU 3-0 in their Tiger Night.

Click on the title to check out a video from Mizzou's big win over Oklahoma!

In 2003, Ian Kinsler joined the Mizzou Baseball team, transferring to Missouri from Arizona State in hopes of joining a program where he could make an impact. On Wednesday, he will be on the biggest stage in all of baseball, as Kinsler and the Texas Rangers open the 2010 World Series against the San Francisco Giants.

Kinsler becomes the first Mizzou alumnus to reach the World Series since Tim Laudner played with the Minnesota Twins in the 1987 World Series.

Missouri's second-leading hitter in 2003, Kinsler finished that season with a .335 batting average, six home runs, four triples, 13 doubles and 45 RBI. He also stole 16 bases on the year. He was named to the All-Big 12 Conference second team following that season and later that summer became the 17th round draft pick of the Rangers.

The 496th player taken in the 2003 MLB Draft, it would have been hard to imagine what would take place for Kinsler over the next seven years. Two All-Star Game appearances and now a trip to the World Series have highlighted his rise to baseball's grandest stage.

His first year in the majors came in 2006, when he was named the Rangers Rookie of the Year after he hit 14 home runs in 120 games played.

After a .263 average with 20 homers in 2007, he hit .319 and had 18 home runs and 71 RBI in 2008. He finished fourth in the American League with the .319 average, making his first All-Star Game appearance that season. In 2009, he set a career-high in home runs (31) and RBI (86).

His numbers this season are down slightly due to spending time on the disabled list. He enters the Fall Classic with a .286 average, with nine home runs, 20 doubles and 45 RBI. He was selected to the All-Star Game in July, his second-career trip.

Kinsler has had a strong postseason thus far, hitting .342 (8-for-18) with three home runs, a double, a triple and nine RBI. All three of his homers came during the Divisional Series against Tampa Bay. He had three hits, including a home run, in the 5-1 series-clinching victory over the Rays.

Missouri junior Priscilla Armendariz smiles at an autograph section after the Tigers victory over Baylor on Saturday at Hearnes Center. Her parents have only missed one home game this season because it was her younger sister’s high school homecoming. ¦ LINDSAY MOSER/MISSOURIAN

(From the Columbia Missourian)

BY AMY BACKES
COLUMBIA — As the national anthem began to play before the start of the Missouri volleyball game last month at Kansas State, Priscilla Armendariz had her mind on something other than the game.

Her family had not yet arrived.

Her, father, mother, aunt, uncle and younger sister were stuck in traffic on the drive from their home in Blue Springs to Manhattan, Kan., and 30 minutes before the game, when they usually show up, they were still not there.

Then, sure enough, when Armendariz was lining up with her team, she saw her family walk in and flashed them a smile and gave them a small wave.

Armendariz, a junior defensive specialist for Missouri, has always known she can count on her family's immense support, whether they’re attending her pageants or volleyball games.

“They’re always there for everything,” Armendariz said.

When Armendariz was younger, she reluctantly participated in beauty pageants.

"I hated them,” Armendariz said. “I was such a tomboy.”

But the pageants were truly a family affair. Her aunt and uncle, Sue and Jerry Juarez, took it upon themselves to keep her in a good mood while she was getting her hair and makeup done. They wanted her to be smiling when she went in front of the judges.

“My job when she was in pageants was to keep her happy,” Sue Juarez said in a phone interview. “My husband and I would be in there cracking jokes trying to make her smile.”

When she was in elementary school, Armendariz won the title of Miss Missouri American Sweetheart and took her family with her to the national pageant in Florida. After that, she decided she was done with pageants, and her volleyball career began when her mother signed her up for a summer volleyball camp.

“I was like, ‘No! I don’t want to play volleyball! This is awful!’” Armendariz said. “They literally drug me there by my ponytail.”

Armendariz ended up winning MVP of the camp and changed her feelings about playing volleyball. She joined a club team, and her uncle Jerry Juarez coached her for two years. He also helped out by driving Armendariz to practices and now likes to tell people Armendariz is his daughter.

“He likes to take credit for me,” Armendariz said. “People will be like, ‘Oh, is your daughter number 10?’ And he’ll say yes.”

Jerry and Sue Juarez don’t have children, so they consider Armendariz and her younger sister their children, too.

“We’re pretty much their kids. They have enough problems with just us,” Armendariz said jokingly.

Armendariz’s family drives an hour and a half to attend every Missouri home volleyball game. Her parents have only missed one home game this season because it was her younger sister’s high school homecoming. The family also attends away games at Kansas and Kansas State, and they will travel to Nebraska, Iowa State and Oklahoma if the games are on weekends.

And Armendariz knows when they arrive.

“My uncle whistles a lot. I can tell his whistle from a mile away,” she said. “To get my attention when they first walk in, I can always hear him whistling.”

She said her family is usually calm throughout her games, and they don’t get rowdy or do anything to embarrass her. They just enjoy watching her play.

“I love to see when she goes to the ground,” Priscilla Armendariz’s mother Angie Armendariz said in a phone interview. “It’s just awesome to see her sacrifice her body for the ball.”

Sue Juarez said seeing Priscilla Armendariz out on the court smiling and having a good time is what she likes the most about watching her niece play.

After the game is over, it’s not unusual for Priscilla Armendariz to hop in the car and return to Blue Springs to spend time with her family.

“I just love spending time with them,” Priscilla Armendariz said. “Even being in the car ride home with them, they’re just crazy and lots of fun.”

Priscilla Armendariz’s backyard is connected to her grandmother’s backyard, and her aunt and uncle live just down the street. Priscilla Armendariz smiled while explaining how the family will all gather at her grandmother’s house for home cooked meals.

“It’s family time,” Angie Armendariz said. “It’s not all about friends and partying. When she tells us she wants to come home, we are so happy.”

Check out SAAC's team building video from Venture Out!

Enjoy!

Tiger libero Caitlyn Vann (Muncie, Ind.) has been named Big 12 Defensive Player of the Week as announced by the Big 12 office on Monday (Oct. 18). The honor for Vann is the fifth in her career and the second this season. She is the only player in the Big 12 to have been named Big 12 Defensive Player of the Week twice this season.

Vann paced the Big 12 with 6.33 digs per set last week and reset her season-highs in each of the matches. She began her week by pulling in 26 digs in the Tigers' five-set win at Texas A&M, helping the Tigers to their first win in College Station since 2005. Her 26 digs in the match at the time were a career-best.

She followed that performance with her best match of the season as she pulled in 31 digs, spread six assists and was perfect on 18 service receptions as she guided Mizzou to a four-set win over Baylor. The 31 digs are the third-best four-set total in Mizzou history and just three off of her career-best 34, which was set in 2008 against St. John's. Her 31 digs were also a season-best while her six assists were a career-best. She added two service aces in the match moving her into third in the Big 12 in aces per set.



Not only did her 31 digs help the Tigers defeat Baylor in four sets, but the Tigers out-dug the Bears, 81-66. The Bears came into the match averaging a nation-best 18.92 digs per set and she was a key reason for the Tigers' success in the back row. Mizzou pulled in 81 digs as a team in both matches on the week as well, which is a season-best for the Tigers.

University of Missouri junior forward Ricardo Ratliffe (Hampton, Va.) was named the Big 12 Conference's Preseason Newcomer of the Year on Thursday morning by the league coaches. It's the second time in Head Coach Mike Anderson's tenure that a player has earned the top newcomer billing in the preseason. DeMarre Carroll earned the same honor before the 2007-08 campaign and went on to claim the postseason award as well.

A 6-foot-8, 240-pound post player, Ratliffe will add tremendous size and strength to a strong returning nucleus at Missouri. The Hampton, Va., native enjoyed a historic two-year career at the junior college level, earning back-to-back first team all-NJCAA All-America honors while setting school records for scoring (1,653 points) and rebounding (580) at Central Florida Community College.

One of just 13 players in junior college history to be named first team All-America twice, Ratliffe averaged 27.4 points and 11.3 rebounds as a sophomore en route to national junior college player of the year recognition. As a freshman, Ratliffe logged norms of 26.8 points and 11.0 rebounds to earn all-conference and league player of the year recognition.

Junior guard Kim English also received some preseason pub from the Big 12 coaches. The 6-foot-6 standout was named an honorable mention all-league pick after a stellar 2009-10 campaign. English averaged 14.0 points in 29 starts and tied for the team lead with 68 three-point field goals. English was named to the John Wooden Award preseason list last week as one of college basketball's Top 50 returning stars.

Ratliffe, English and their Tiger teammates open the doors on the 2010-11 campaign on Friday afternoon with the official start of practice. Missouri will give fans its first look at this year's squad on Oct. 28 at the annual Black & Gold Game at Mizzou Arena. Doors open at 6 p.m. and the game is slated to start at 7:30 p.m. Ratliffe and his teammates will be on the concourse of Mizzou Arena signing autographs before tip-off.

University of Missouri junior TE Michael Egnew (Plainview, Texas) has been named the John Mackey Tight End of the Week by the Nassau County Sports Commission, for his play in last Saturday's 26-0 win over Colorado. Egnew, who leads all tight ends in the nation with his 39 receptions, was honored for his two-touchdown game against the Buffaloes that saw him grab six passes for 52 yards in all.

The multi-TD game was the first of Egnew's career, and was the first for a Tiger tight end since All-American Chase Coffman had a pair of scores against Kansas in 2008. Egnew is fast on his way to following in the footsteps of Coffman, who was the 2008 recipient of the John Mackey Award, which goes annually to the nation's top tight end. Coffman won the award for his play as a senior in 2008, when he caught 90 passes for 987 yards and 10 touchdowns.

Egnew enters this weekend's game at Texas A&M with 39 receptions for 350 yards and three touchdowns. Saturday's game at College Station, Texas is set for an 11:10 a.m. kickoff, and the game will be televised live on FOX Sports Net.

The John Mackey Tight End of the Week is an honor distinct and different from the annual John Mackey Award. This weekly honor was started in 2004 to draw attention to individual play by Tight Ends during the active season. The Tight End of the Week acknowledgment does not have a direct bearing on the final John Mackey Award selection process. The Nassau County Sports Commission, a non-profit, 501(c)(3) organization created to enhance quality of life of Nassau County residents through sports, is responsible for the administration of the John Mackey Award and the John Mackey Award Selection Committee.

The 2010 recipient of "The Mackey" will be announced at the Home Depot ESPNU College Football Awards Show December 9, 2010 on ESPN. Please visit www.johnmackeyaward.org for all Mackey Award related information including the John Mackey Selection Committee, the selection process and award criteria, information on all past award recipients and a high resolution image of the award trophy available for download.

Click on the title to find out who this tiger is!

Members of the Mizzou Gymnastics Team, Soccer Team and Track and Field Team helped with Shepard Elementary's fall carnival. Check out the photo gallery!

Check out the story on the Walking School Bus program that many Mizzou student-athletes participate in. Here's a clip from the story:

For some kids, however, the most exciting part was getting to meet MU athletes, including swimmers Melissa Jamerson and Lexi Spivak.

“You’re swimmers?” fourth-grader Jilliam Shoultz asked. “Can I have your autograph?”

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Mizzou student-athletes continue to give back to the Columbia community that supports them so much.

The Mizzou Volleyball team takes on #3 Nebraska at 6:30 tonight at the Hearnes Center!

Check out photos from the Men's Basketball youth clinic at Douglass Park.

The Mizzou Men's Basketball team has been voted the September Community Service Team of the month for its service to the Columbia community. Members of the team volunteered with the Columbia Catholic Read-A-Thon, participated in the John O'Leary Ice Cream Social with the Boys and Girls Club, and hosted a basketball clinic at Douglass Park for youngsters in the community.