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 Junior Alicia Hatcher led the Tigers with three individual awards at the banquet. |
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Tiger Gymnastics Closes Season with Annual Banquet
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May 4, 2008
Columbia, Mo. - The No. 20 Missouri Gymnastics team officially ended its season today as it hosted the annual year-end banquet. At the banquet, head coach Rob Drass and the rest of the coaching staff recognized several Tigers for all of their achievements throughout the season. The most prestigious award, the teams MVP, was awarded to junior Adrianne Perry (Columbia, Mo.). Perry became the first Tiger to qualify for the NCAA National Championships in each of her first three seasons at Mizzou and became the schools first ever conference champion in the all-around as she took home the Big 12 title. It is the second straight season that Perry has earned the award. Perry was not the only Tiger recognized at the event, as teammate Alicia Hatcher (Blue Springs, Mo.) made several trips to the podium to claim awards. Hatcher received the Most Consistent Beam Award and also received an award for being tapped into the Mystical Seven secret society. Along with her other two awards, Hatcher also took home the Community Service Award for her dedication to the community. Hatcher was the only multiple award winner at the banquet. The Field Award, given by strength and conditioning coach Jana Heitmeyer to the gymnast that displays the most commitment in the weight room, went to senior Lisa Puccio (Kirkwood, Mo.). It was the first time in her career with the Tigers that she has won a post season award. Puccio was a key member of the bar lineup all season long for the Tigers, and her dedication in the weight room came while rehabbing a torn ACL suffered last season. An injury that would have forced many to quit, fueled Puccio to make it all the way back into the lineup this season.
The Newcomer of the Year was an award that had very little suspense as it went to transfer Sarah Shire (Columbia, Mo.), who has already been honored as the Big 12's Newcomer of the Year. Shire claimed 19 event titles and three all-around crowns during 2008. Her 19 event titles led the Tigers. Freshman Lauren Stephenson (Kansas City, Mo.) was honored for her dedication in the gym as she took home the Most Improved Gymnast Award, given to the gymnast that is typically one of the hardest working gymnasts throughout the season. Stephenson, a walk-on all the way back last June, earned a spot on the team and made an immediate impact on both vault and floor. Stephenson embodied the fundamental values of hard work and dedication that Drass and the rest of the coaches have looked for all season long. Along with Stephenson's performance in the gym, she showed a lot of dedication in the classroom as well as she earned a 4.0 grade-point-average in her first semester at Mizzou. Sticking with academics, sophomore Brooke Boehmer (Overland Park, Kan.) took home the Academic Excellence Award, given to the gymnast that has the highest GPA during the winter semester of 2007 and the fall of 2007. Boehmer, a chemistry major, earned a 3.77 GPA and was a first team Academic All-Big 12 selection. The banquet ended with a senior send-off from Booster Club president Gerald "Jerry" Summers and his wife Jan. Both reminisced about their favorite memories with all four of the seniors and presented them each with Mizzou Gymnastics memorabilia. The four seniors, Puccio along with Julie Abaray (Cincinnati, Ohio), Nikki Bowman (Virginia Beach, Va.) and Ashley Khederian (Carlisle, Mass) concluded the banquet with gifts for the support staff and said their goodbyes to their teammates. The Tigers ended the season ranked 20th in the nation, giving them a top-25 finish in six of the last seven season. Only the Mizzou wrestling program has a longer streak, showing the high commitment to excellence both in the gym and in the classroom for the Missouri Gymnastics program. |
