1.Women's Track and Cross Country
2. Gymnastics
3.Wrestling
4. Baseball
5.Tennis
6.Men's Track and Cross Country and Soccer
8.Women's Swimming and Diving
9.Women's Basketball
10.Women's Golf
11.Softball
12.Men's Basketball
13.Football
14.Men's Golf and Volleyball
16.Men's Swimming and Diving

CONGRATULATIONS to the following teams for their academic performances:

Highest OVERALL GPA (the average from the previous 2 semesters):
Women's Teams -
1.Women's Track and Cross Country (3.34)
2.Gymnastics (3.31)
3.Softball (3.3)

Men's Teams -
1.Men's Track and Cross Country (3.2)
2.Men's Golf (3.12)
3.Baseball (2.93)

Most IMPROVED GPA (the average improvement between the previous three semesters):
1. Wrestling
2.Tennis
3.Women's Golf

Missouri quarterback Blaine Gabbert, defensive end Aldon Smith and cornerback Kevin Rutland all received invitations to showcase their talent in the 2011 NFL Combine. The Combine with be held February 23-March 1 in Indianapolis, Indiana. 32 NFL teams will be there to view players competing in various strength and conditioning tests including the 40 yard dash, 20 yard dash, 10 yard dash, vertical jump, broad jump, 20 yard shuttle, 3-cone drill, and 225 lb bench repetitions.

From The Columbia Missourian


BY Joan Niesen

COLUMBIA — It's taken months, but many of Gary Pinkel's questions are beginning to have answers.

First it was the draft. Who would stay? Who would go? And then it was Sheldon Richardson. He's coming. He's not coming. He's maybe coming. Why isn't he here? And as Missouri's coach and his staff went to bed Tuesday night, several questions remained.

By early afternoon Wednesday, many of those questions had been answered in the form of 17 signed commitments from members of the team's 2011 recruiting class. Although uncertainty remains (the team's quarterback job is up for grabs, and junior college transfer Richardson still has not arrived on campus) things are beginning to look more clear.

Missouri Tigers 2011 recruiting class

* CORBIN BERKSTRESSER, QB, 6-3, 220, Lee's Summit, Mo. (Lee's Summit HS)
* MICHAEL BODDIE, OL, 6-6, 280, Gilmer, Texas (Gilmer HS)
* KENTRELL BROTHERS, LB, 6-1, 220, Guthrie, Okla. (Guthrie HS)
* CORTLAND BROWNING, DB, 6-2, 195, Tyler, Texas (Lee HS)
* TAYLOR CHAPPELL, OL, 6-6, 280, Canadian, Texas (Canadian HS)
* BRANDON DURANT, LB, 6-0, 205, Copperas Cove, Texas (Copperas Cove HS)
* CLARENCE GREEN, LB, 6-0, 210, Clute, Texas (Brazoswood HS)
* BRANDON HANNAH, TE, 6-3, 235, St. Louis, Mo. (Chaminade HS)
* DAVID JOHNSON, DB, 6-0, 190, Spring, Texas (Spring HS)
* GERRAND JOHNSON, DL, 6-2, 285, Rayville, La. (Rayville HS)
* WESLEY LEFTWICH, WR, 6-2, 200, Columbia, Mo. (Hickman HS)
* CONNOR McGOVERN, OL, 6-4, 280, Fargo, N.D. (Shanley HS)
* BRAD McNULTY, OL, 6-3, 305, Allen, Texas (Allen HS)
* ERNEST PAYTON, DB, 6-3, 195, College Station, Texas (A&M Consolidated HS)
* SHANE RAY, DL, 6-3, 230, Shawnee Mission, Kan. (Bishop Miege HS)
* SHELDON RICHARDSON, DL, 6-4, 290, St. Louis, Mo. (Gateway Tech HS/College of the Sequoias)
* IAN SIMON, DB, 5-11, 180, Mansfield, Texas (Legacy HS)


“This is always an exciting day for our program and for these newest members of our family at Mizzou,” Pinkel said in a release. “We feel very good that this group addresses our biggest needs on the football field, but just as importantly, they are high-quality young men who will represent our program and this university the right way.”

By the numbers, the 2011 recruiting class is far from Missouri’s typical group. The class, the smallest Pinkel has recruited at Missouri, comprises nine players from Texas, four from Missouri and one each from Kansas, Louisiana, Oklahoma and North Dakota.

Having more recruits from Texas than any other state is not unprecedented in Missouri recruiting. Last year, Pinkel and his staff signed the same number of Texas athletes but had six from Missouri. However, Pinkel is aware of the shift toward heavy recruiting in Texas, and he thinks it's a positive development for his team.

“Missouri obviously is the most important state, but that’s (Texas) a place where there’s a lot of athletes,” Pinkel said.

Pinkel cited the team’s history of success with players from the state. Successful Texas natives like Danario Alexander, Sean Weatherspoon, Ziggy Hood and Chase Daniel are all currently playing in the NFL, and some of the team's most prominent players this season (Michael Egnew, Henry Josey, Jacquies Smith and Jerrell Jackson, to name a few) are from Texas.

Pinkel said that he has “five and a half” members of his staff (five exclusively and one who spends some of his time there) recruit in Texas, and that recent conference realignment has only strengthened the Tigers’ position in the state. Now that Missouri will play each team in the Big 12 every year, the Tigers will be traveling more to the state and might even see a future recruiting boost.

Although the 2011 class did not boast as many talented athletes from Missouri, Pinkel said that the team is biding its time until next year, when there will be a large number of highly ranked recruits out of the state. Even so, two of the most talked about members of this year’s Tiger recruiting class are Missouri natives: Richardson and Corbin Berkstresser.

Richardson, who was originally part of the Tigers’ 2009 recruiting class, will join the team after spending two years at the College of the Sequoias in California. Although the team hoped that he would be able to be in Columbia for spring practices, Pinkel said that it is most likely that Richardson will arrive this summer. However, he said he has no doubt that the defensive lineman will eventually join the team.

Berkstresser, a quarterback from Lee’s Summit, was the first member of this year’s recruiting class to sign with Missouri in June 2009. At 6 feet, 3 inches, 218 pounds, he has been compared to former Missouri quarterback Blaine Gabbert, and Pinkel said that Berkstresser could definitely play a role on next year’s team. Although current freshman James Franklin will go into spring practices as the team’s starting quarterback, Pinkel said that nothing is certain.

“The best player plays,” Pinkel said. “That’s just how we do it. Our players respect it. We have a lot of examples where we show that there’s no pecking order here.”

Other Missouri football notes

Gabbert, Aldon Smith and Kevin Rutland have been invited to participate in the 2011 NFL combine, which will take place in Indianapolis beginning Feb. 23. Center Tim Barnes, who some analysts believe could be one of the top centers in the draft, was not invited.

Welcome back Mizzou student-athletes! We hope you all had a great break and are ready for a great semester! As always, WeAreMizzou.blogspot.com is your source for behind-the-scenes information on Mizzou's 502 student-athletes with photos, videos and highlights on and off the field.

Here are some of those highlights from the Fall 2010 semester:

• 2.94 overall student-athlete GPA (Second highest fall performance)

• 12 sports above a 3.00 team GPA (Women’s Basketball, Women’s Golf, Gymnastics, Soccer, Softball, Women’s Swimming, Tennis, Women’s Track, Women’s Cross Country, Men’s Golf, Men’s Track, Men’s Cross Country)

• A fall record 180 students were recognized on their respective Dean’s List

• 248 (50%) student athletes received a 3.00 or higher GPA

• 30 students received Academic All-Conference recognition. (Football, Volleyball, Cross Country)

• 248 student athletes were recognized on the Fall 2010 Commissioner’s Honor Roll

• MU has an 80% Graduation Success Rate, a record performance for Mizzou and second in the conference, only one percentage point behind Kansas State’s 81

• MU led the Big 12 conference by having 6 teams with the highest Graduation Success Rate in their respective sport (Football, Men’s Swimming, Women’s Basketball, Women’s Golf, Soccer, Woman’s Swimming)

• MU had four teams with a perfect 100% Graduation Success Rate (Women’s Basketball, Women’s Golf, Soccer, Women’s Swimming)

• Soccer’s 100% Graduation Success Rate was the only Big 12 school and one of 10 public, BCS institutions to accomplish the feat and Women’s Basketball’s 100% Graduation Success Rate was one of 14 public, BCS institutions to accomplish the feat

• Seven of MU’s sport programs led the Big 12 conference in Academic Progress Rate, a measure of academic progress and performance of athletic programs, ranking second in the conference behind Texas’ nine (Women’s golf, Women’s basketball, Women’s Swimming and Diving, Gymnastics, Women’s Indoor Track and Field, Women’s Outdoor Track and Field, and Men’s Swimming and Diving)

• Alysha Bonnick and Laurence Bowers received the Chick-Fil-A Community of Champions Award

Missouri shortstop Jenna Marston has been named USA Baseball’s Sportswoman of the Year for her outstanding performance on the USA Baseball Women’s National Team this past summer.

Marston helped Team USA to a bronze medal win over Venezuela, as they defeated the host country by a 15-5 score in the third place game. The Tiger sophomore started all nine games at the 2010 IBAF Women’s World Cup, rotating between right field, pitcher and shortstop.

Her .593 batting average (16-for-27) was the highest on Team USA and second highest amongst hitters for the entire tournament. She also was the tournament leader with 16 hits and eight doubles. She finished with 12 runs scored, seven runs batted in, was a perfect 3-for-3 on stolen bases, posted a team-best .636 on-base percentage and a slugging percentage of .889, second-highest on the team.

On the hill, Marston posted a 1-1 record with a miniscule 1.91 earned run average in three starts. In 11.0 innings pitched, she struck out six batters while holding opponents to a .211 batting average.

For her impressive showing, Marston was just one of two Team USA players to be selected to the All-Tournament Team, earning the honors as the squad’s shortstop. Last year as a freshman, Marston helped guide the Tigers to their second straight Women’s College World Series appearance by hitting .366 with five home runs and 52 runs batted in, the most on the team.

Marston will be honored by USA Baseball with a jersey presentation at a date that is to be determined. For more information, stay tuned to mutigers.com.