Click picture below to read a great article by Ryan Gavin written in the Mizzou Wire about Sarah Shire of the Mizzou Gymnastics team.

Hello Again Tigers and Tiger Fans!!

Practice was fun because we got to train indoors, instead of running in the snow which we sometimes do. I really like playing with the German girls because they are so skilled with their feet. I think that I bring a bit of Missouri Flair to the team as well. We played a game to work on winning balls in the air, and whenever the ball dropped I would yell "don't let the ball DROP!" This is a favorite quote of Bryan Blitz, my coach at Mizzou, and it is also a mentality. I am not sure if my team mates understood exactly what I meant and first, but soon they got the jist of it and were fighting for air balls like true tigers...it was really awesome. After practice, we dropped Ro and Flo off and decided to head downtown Berlin and check out the city. We were really cold from practice, so we decided to drive instead of waiting for the S Bahn, which is the public transportation train station. On our way to downtown, we kind of got lost. We saw signs that said “Ausfahrt" on the autobahn but were like, "we don't want to go to Ausfahrt, we want Berlin!" We continued driving and driving and all signs were pointing to this GIANT town Ausfahrt. Somehow every road off of the autobahn was Ausfahrt and we thought that it must be bigger than Berlin. Lost and frustrated we called our new German teacher Fabian and asked for directions. We told him "we keep seeing signs to Ausfahrt but not to Berlin. Fabian laughed and laughed and laughed and laughed on the phone, but Amanda and I were so confused what was funny. Fabian proceeded to tell us that Ausfahrt is NOT a city, but in fact the German word for EXIT. Amanda and I laughed so hard and figured we would make many more mistakes like this one in the future. Downtown Berlin was AMAZING..and we even met some Australian guys who play for a men's soccer team about an hour outside of Berlin. When we got home, Amanda and I crashed. We were full from the currywurst and pommes that we ate, and we were tired from the little bit of jet leg that remained in our bodies. Oh ya curry wurst is a type of sausage and pommes are French fries. What is funny is that they eat their French fries with GLOBS of mayonnaise. The love Mayo here..I could seriously barely see a single French fry underneath the pounds of white mayo. Well I am off to bed and can't wait for a new adventure tomorrow. My advice I leave with you tonight..all roads lead to Ausfahrt!

Till Next Time,

MIZ...

Kat Tarr

Click on the picture below to check out a neat article on the Giving to Mizzou website about Mizzou Softball Junior leader Marla Schweisberger.

Mizzou fans, get ready for the second-annual ROARS Ceremony Monday, May 3 at Mizzou Arena. Watch your favorite Mizzou student-athletes walk the red carpet at 6 p.m. and receive awards at 7:30 p.m. Tickets are only $5 and are available at currently at the Mizzou Arena Ticket Office. Children under 12 and MU students with a student ID are free.

With the Voice of the Tigers, host Mike Kelly, and the look and feel of a star-studded event, the ROARS is the premier event for Mizzou student-athletes and fans. The ROARS highlights academic, athletic and community involvement accomplishments of Mizzou's student-athletes for the 2009-10 season. Just a few of the awards scheduled to be handed out at the ROARS include Coach of the Year, Male and Female Athlete of the Year, Male and Female Rookie of the Year, Male and Female Academic Achievement Award, Male and Female Unsung Hero Award, Male and Female Courage Award and Professor of the year, among many others.

The Student-Athlete Advisory Committee nominated and voted for the awards that showcase all facets of the student-athlete experience, including recognition for often overlooked but vital contributions to Mizzou teams. But perhaps the most anticipated award of the night will be the Tiger Cup, the year-long competition among all Mizzou's sport teams in athletics, academics performance and community service. The winning team will receive the Tiger Cup trophy, and most of all, the pride of being Tiger Cup champions.

Will your favorite Tiger win athlete of the year? What about the unforgettable play from this season? Come to the ROARS to find out.

This week we highlight Kathryn Poet of the Mizzou Softball team. Currently the Mizzou Softball team ranks 11th in the nation and has an overall record of 34-8. Poet is a Junior outfielder who assisted the tigers in making a run to the College World Series last year. In the community, Poet has volunteered over 20 hours in the Women's Shelter Art room this month.

The Women's Shelter is always in need of volunteers along with toiletries and cleaning supplies.

Congratulations to Kathyrn Poet!!!

Click below to find an article on how Max Askren became an NCAA national wrestling champion written by the Shane Epping.

HELLO TIGERS AND TIGER FANS!!

I guess any good blog starts off with the bloggers name and a little bit about them. My name is Katarina Tarr (Kat) and I am a University of Missouri Grad and a Mizzou Soccer Alum (2005-2008)! After I graduated and was done playing soccer, I decided to sign with a professional soccer team in Berlin, Germany named Tennis Borussia! So here I am, a tiger in Berlin, and let me say I am LOVING IT. The first couple of days were harsh, I had to get used to a nine hour time difference, but after a couple of looooong night sleeps and some AMAZING German tea, I was feeling new again. First practice with the team was so much fun. Some of the girls spoke a little, bit of English, but for the most part it was all German. I get to start my German classes soon, so I am very excited to learn a new language. I think the classes will be very important too, I need to at least learn soccer terms, the girl who plays next to me in defense knows "hello" in English and that’s about it!

After practice, my American roomie (Amanda) and I decided to go on a little adventure and walk the streets outside of out hotel room. We saw so many amazing buildings and even did a little bit of shopping in the "Das Schloss" which is a really big shopping center. Amanda and I are really excited to move into our new apartment next week (Germans call it a flat) and we even get a little German car and an S Bahn pass! (The S bahn is the above ground train that takes people all over Germany. The public transportation is absolutely amazing in Germany and the train is also nice to people watch!) After we went shopping Amanda and I decided to try a German restaurant. I ordered lamb with Kartoffels. Kartoffels are potatoes and they are almost as popular as the Wiener Schnnitzel and Brawtwurst and Currywurst (which I promised myself I will try very soon! After dinner we went to our room and passed out. I am so excited for the four months that await me in this beautiful country..and I am glad I get to share with my fellow tigers.

Till next time..MIZ-

Kat Tarr

Click on the picture below to check out a great article written by Alan Scher Zagier about the Mizzou student-athlete Career Fair which was held on April 6, 2010 at Mizzou Arena.

Soccer is hosting a 5K fundraiser this month. The application form is available to download from their website www.ThisIsMizzouSoccer.com. A portion of the money raised will be donated to The Shelter in Columbia to help women who are victims of domestic abuse and/or sexual assault.

Please come out and support the 5k fundraiser!

On Friday, March 19th Grant Elementary held a Read-a-thon designed to promote reading and literacy amongst their students. Mizzou student-athletes came out to support and encourage Grant Elementary student during the event.

On Tuesday, March 23rd Mizzou Athletics held its first Fashion Show in the Sells Dinning Hall. This workshop featured student-athletes modeling what and what not to wear in different business settings. The workshop was design to create a professional forum on how to make a great impression at a career fair.

Diverse: Issues In Higher Education established the Sports Scholars Awards to honor undergraduate students of color who have made achieving both academically and athletically a winning combination.

Inspired by tennis legend Arthur Ashe Jr.'s commitment to education as well as his love for the game of tennis, we invite every college and university in the country to participate in this annual awards program by nominating their outstanding sports scholars. In addition to their athletic ability, Arthur Ashe Jr. Sports Scholars must exhibit academic excellence and community activism.

Diverse: Issues in Higher Education each year recognizes Arthur Ashe Sports Scholars. These scholars come from over 650 students who have been nominated nationally.

Breanna Thornton has made the top 10 finalists and will be profiled in the April 29, 2010 issue of the magazine.

Congratulations to University of Missouri and of course to Breanna.

On April 16, 2010 Andreas Plackis and Terry Dennis will be awarded with the MU Unsung Hero Award. The nominees are judged on their contributions to Mizzou and the greater Columbia community. More specifically the award identifies individuals who do the behind the scenes work that make differences in the life or lives of somebody else. The Unsung Hero award is looking for the humble and ‘unsung’ because nobody else does.

Andreas and Terry have shown selfless dedication and excellence of character throughout their time at Mizzou. They are very deserving student-athletes and you can look for them to continue to do great works for others and in the community as they progress in life.

Click on the picture below to check out a video that shows Julia Potter's dominance during the season.

Last Friday, Tim Opfer of the Mizzou Track and Field team participated in the Men as Allies Health Fair. The fair was designed to take a stance against Sexual Assault & Domestic Violence by speaking to young kids one-on-one about social responsibility at Hickman High School.

Please Help! See note below -

I'm writing about your #1 MIZZOU fan, our 7 year old Columbia, MO first grade grandson, Shayden that is going through chemo for ALL leukemia. He is doing well and responding to his treatments. He is being so brave and not fussing about everything that they are doing to him. He has had a Nascar race car designed in his honor and for leukemia awareness. It is done in orange and green (leukemia colors), has the orange ribbon on it, says Race for the Cure, and has his picture on the roof. The final winner will get to go to the Atlanta race and see their design actually race and ride in it. It will be painted as designed for the race. Each car has only 15 days to be voted on. His car has 5 days left counting today. We need 9,000 votes in 5 DAYS! You can only vote 1 time per computer per day. It will take a lot of help to even get to the top 10 cars for the second round of voting. Then the voting starts over on the top 10 vote getters. It is a long shot, but we are trying to get this done for our 7 year old Nascar fan. It brightens his day and brings smiles to his face watching the votes come in for his #11 Hamlin Leukemia Awareness Car. We have attached the link below that will take you to his car to vote. If it doesn't work you can go to toyotaracing.com, click on the sponsafier car box, on the next page click on gallery-then click search and type in SHAYDEN'S RACE CAR, when his car comes up click on it to get the voting page, click to vote. If you can do this we thank you for our Shayden.

Please send this to anyone that you think would help with voting, your facebook friends, e-mail, twitter, etc. Thank you and please keep Shayden in your prayers. Please help us raise awareness for leukemia and help a 7 year old's dream come true!

THANKS AGAIN!

http://www.sponsafier.com/share/195572

Missouri senior All-American Sarah Shire (Columbia, Mo.) moved into the top-spot in the all-around in the latest GymInfo rankings released Sunday evening. After winning the 21st all-around title of her collegiate career with a 39.550 at No. 13 Illinois on March 13, Shire moved up from second to first in the national rankings. This is the first time in program history that a Missouri gymnast has held the No. 1 ranking.

Shire also ranks in the top-20 on all four events. She is tied for 16th on vault, fifth on bars, fourth on beam and 10th on floor. The all-around score of 39.725 that Shire posted in the Feb. 26 meet against Illinois State still stands as the highest all-around mark posted this season. Shire has won eight all-around titles this season along with 29 event titles.

Shire will look to win her ninth all-around title of the season as she and the rest of the 14th ranked Missouri Tigers take on Centenary College of Louisiana on Sunday, March 21 at 2 p.m. in the Hearnes Center. The meet will mark Senior Day for Shire and three other seniors that have made a monumental impact on the Missouri gymnastics program.

University Missouri women's basketball players RaeShara Brown, Kendra Frazier and Jasmyn Otote were among 47 student-athletes named to the 2010 Academic All-Big 12 Women's Basketball Team, the league office announced Thursday.

Brown and Frazier earned spots on the first team, while Otote was a second team honoree. A junior, Brown is now a two-time Academic All-Big 12 first team honoree. Otote, a junior, and Frazier, a sophomore, were honored for the first time in their careers.

In the 12 years under Head Coach Cindy Stein, 42 student-athletes have earned recognition on the Academic All-Big 12 teams.

To be completely honest the reason I began involving myself in community service and volunteering was because of the Tiger Cup. I am a competitive person and I want my team to win, by playing my part and volunteering when I can helps my team out. I began by volunteering an hour or two every other week when opportunities arose as well as volunteering with my team. After a couple of times I volunteered I began taking the initiative and would ask Chrissy if there were any volunteering opportunities available. I would go to the Children’s Hospital, Food, and Humane Society. This spring I began volunteering a lot more and encouraged my teammates to volunteer. The motive behind it was the Phase 1 of our preseason training. During this time were divided into 3 teams each team competing in 4 different sections: Fitness, Soccer, Strength Training, and Community Service. I chose to be in charge of keeping track of community service my team. I would encourage my teammates to volunteer as much as possible to earn points for our team and give back to the community one way or another. I would call the volunteering coordinators of organizations and set up times for them to be able to volunteer. I would ask them where they would like to volunteer because in order for one to not look at it as an obligation it is best to help somewhere of your interest. To volunteer somewhere and give and get the best from it you have to care about what you’re doing and who you’re helping out whether you’re visiting sick children and brightening their day to packaging wieners at the Food Bank. If you’re doing something you think is important you’ll find it worthwhile.

I also volunteer with the minority athlete group C.A.R.E. We’ve helped raise money for Haiti by walking around with bins and collecting loose change anyone here at the facility had. We also had the opportunity to volunteer with the Hip Hop Caucus Clean Energy Tour by handing our weatherization kits and organizing a Salvation Army here in Columbia.

Edith Lopez

MU Athletes teamed up with Missouri teachers every Wednesday to motivate kids to read. Through MU's Starlight Reading Program, athletes can broadcast directly into elementary classrooms through video conferencing.

Click on the picture below to check the article on KOMU.com about the Starlight Reading Program.