Celebrating women's athletics at Missouri

COLUMBIA, Mis - On the 45th anniversary of the signing of Title IX into law on June 23, 1972 back in 2017, Missouri athletics counted down 45 accomplishments in women's athletics at Mizzou.

Day 45: Sarah Reesman, administrator

A champion of women's sports her entire career, Reesman has served as Mizzou's Senior Woman Administrator and as a member of its executive staff since 1993. She was elevated to Senior Deputy Athletics Director this Spring.

In her capacity in 2017, Reesman served as the administrative liaison for the sports of women's basketball, cross country and track & field, and has oversight for the department's student services, human resource, as well as its gender equity and diversity and inclusion efforts. Since 1998, Reesman has spearheaded the athletics department's strategic planning process through six iterations including most recently in 2010-11, resulting in new goals and objectives to guide the department in the coming years.

For her leadership efforts, Reesman was recognized in the Columbia Business Times as one of the Top 40 business leaders in Columbia under the age of 40 and in 2009 was honored as part of the annual MU Tribute to Women for her contributions to the advancement of women at MU. She is a founding member and two-time past president of the Women's Intersport Network for Columbia.

Day 44: Morgan Eye, basketball

Eye connected on a school-record 367 shots from beyond the arc, which is 141 more than any other player in program history. As a senior in 2014-15, Eye led the SEC with 84 made 3-pointers. She finished her career just 38 triples shy of the NCAA career record. Following the season, she was invited to participate in the State Farm College Women's 3-Point Championship.

She finished second nationally with an average of 3.48 treys per game and sixth in the NCAA with 106 triples as a junior. During her sophomore season, she set a program record with 112 shots from long range and led the country with an average of 3.5 per game. The Montrose, Mo., native set a single-game program record with 11 triples for a career-best 33 points vs. Auburn on Jan. 6, 2013.

Day 43: Julie Dorn, gymnastics

The most honored gymnast of the first 30 years of Mizzou Gymnastics, Dorn was the Big Eight Conference Female Athlete-of-the-Year in 1991. She was a three-time all-conference performer, and won league championships in the vault and floor exercise in 1991. A crowd favorite, she won three events in the inaugural Shakespeare's Festival in 1991, won individual titles at the Cat Classic in 1988 and '89, and propelled Missouri to its first Cat Classic championship in 1990. She was Mizzou's first two-time all-American, placing at the NCAA Championships in the vault and floor exercise in 1990. She also competed at the NCAA's in 1989.

Day 42: Mary Babb, softball

Babb joined the softball program as a walk-on and ended her career as one of the most prolific players ever to don a Tiger jersey. She earned All-America honors as a senior, a year in which she helped lead MU to Big 12 Conference regular season and post-season tournament titles -- the only ones in Mizzou's time as a member of the Big 12. Babb hit the game-winning home runs in both the tournament semifinal vs. Oklahoma and the championship game vs. Oklahoma State).

She was named All-Big Eight in 1994 and 1995 and earned All-Big 12 honors in 1997 ... Earned Big Eight Freshman-of-the-Year honors in 1994 after leading the team in batting average at a .330 clip.\

She owned seven Missouri records at the conclusion of her playing career, and 20 years later remains among the Mizzou career top-10 in hits (262; 3rd), at bats (762; 2nd), doubles (51; 3rd), home runs (26; 10th), runs scored (164; 5th), runs batted in (199; 1st) and slugging percentage (.571; 9th).

Day 41: Clara Young, golf

Young was named to the Women's Golf Coaches Association All-All-American Scholar Team for the second straight year as a sophomore in 2017, making her just the fourth Tiger ever to achieve that feat.

The criteria for selection to the All-American Scholar Team are some of the most stringent in all of college athletics, as the minimum cumulative GPA for nomination is 3.50.

Day 40: Lisa Henning, volleyball

Henning was the first Tiger in program history to earn All-America honors in three consecutive seasons, garnering an AVCA First Team nod in 2013 after back-to-back Third Team honors her sophomore and junior seasons.

A key component of Mizzou's 2013 SEC Champion squad, she finished her career as Mizzou's all-time kill leader (1,794), a mark that still stands. She also remains among the Tiger career top-10 in at least seven categories.

Day 39: Renee Kelly, basketball

A two-time Big Eight Conference player of the year, Kelly dominated the league from her center position from 1984-87. Kelly ranks second in MU history with 2,119 points and holds the school career rebounding record at 1,098. In all, she still holds six career, three season and three single-game records. While at MU, the Tigers made three trips to the NCAA tournament.

Kelly was the Big Eight Conference Female Athlete of the Year in 1987, then played five years of professional basketball in Italy and Brazil. She earned all-America honors in 1987, when she was a finalist for the Naismith Award. A native of Augusta, Ga., Kelly also was an Academic All-Big Eight selection, and is one of only two women's basketball players at MU to have her jersey retired.

Day 38: Loren Figueroa, diving

Figueroa had a breakout freshman year in 2011, winning the Big 12 Conference title on the 1-meter springboard and finishing as the national runner-up at the NCAA Championships.

The second-place NCAA finish was the best in Mizzou diving history, and capped an impressive debut season that saw Figueroa named Big 12 Diver of the Year.

Figueroa finished her career with a pair of First Team All-America honors on the 1-meter board, as she finished fifth as a sophomore.

Day 37: 2009 Big 12 Soccer Champions

Mizzou Soccer opened the 2009 season with high expectations -- the Tigers were the pick, along with Texas A&M -- to win the Big 12 title that year. Although Mizzou started 5-4-1 in the non-conference portion of the schedule, the Tigers beat Oklahoma State by a 3-2 score to open Big 12 play. A pair of ties on a Lone-Star State swing -- including against the co-favorite Aggies in College Station -- kept Mizzou unbeaten in league play.

Six straight wins in the month of October put the Tigers comfortably in front, and a 5-0 shellacking of Nebraska on Oct. 25 at Walton Stadium secured Mizzou's first-ever league title in soccer. It was also Mizzou's first Big 12 title in any sport since softball won the league in 1997.

Day 36: Sabrina Dornhoefer, cross country/track

Dornhoefer established herself as Mizzou's greatest female distance runner of the first 40 years of Mizzou women's track. She won all-America honors eight times, and won the NCAA outdoor championship in the 5000-meter run in 1985. During her career, she also won Big Eight individual titles in cross country (1982 and '83), indoor track (two-mile in 1984 and mile in 1985) and outdoor track (5000-meter run in 1984 and '85).

A native of Fort Leonard Wood, Dornhoefer won an NCAA post-graduate scholarship in 1985, and was inducted into the Mizzou Athletics Hall of Fame in 1991. She competed in the 1984 and '88 U.S. Olympic trials, and was an alternate on the '88 U.S. Olympic team at 3000 meters. She competed six times in the World Cross Country Championships, four times at the Olympic Festival, twice in the World University Games, and once at the Goodwill Games and Pan American Games.

Day 35: Alisha Robinson, gymnastics

One of the most decorated athletes in Mizzou Gymnastics history, Robinson etched her name all over the program's record books during her Tiger tenure. A two-time All-American (2002 and 2005), Robinson won the Regional All-Around title in 2002 as a freshman, claimed the Regional Vault crown in 2003, and qualified individually for NCAA National Championships three times (2002, 2003, 2005).

She owns or shares the top mark in Mizzou history in three events - vault (9.975, twice), bars (9.950, twice) and floor (9.975), and currently stands fourth on the all-around school chart (39.650, twice). Robinson won 69 event titles in all at Mizzou, including the Big 12 Conference vault title in 2004... Other honors won included being named Big 12 Freshman of the Year in 2002, and First-Team All-Big 12 in 2003 and 2004.

Day 34: Katharine Ross, swimming

Ross was Mizzou's first-ever freshman to earn individual All-America honors in swimming, as she captured a pair of honorable-mention selections at the 2014 NCAA Championships. As a junior, she became Mizzou's first-ever SEC swimming champion after claiming the 100 breaststroke title by over a full second. She capped her Mizzou career this past March with her fourth All-America honor after finishing fourth in the 100 breast.

Day 33: Barb Wright, softball

The first-ever first-team softball All-American in Mizzou history, Wright is arguably the Tigers' best-ever all-around player. She was a standout as both a pitcher and hitter for MU, earning Big 12 Conference Player of the Year and First Team All-America honors as a senior in 1997 after leading MU to a 47-16 record and Big 12 Conference regular season and tournament titles. Wright had a record of 31-9 in the circle in 1997 with an earned run average of 1.04 and added 203 strikeouts. She also hit .333 on the year with 14 doubles, 10 home runs and 38 runs batted in. Wright was also named the Big 12 Tournament Most Valuable Player in 1997, and is the only Tiger softball player to win league player of the year and conference tournament MVP honors.

Wright was a two-time All-Midwest Regional Team selection (1996 & 1997), she played on MU teams that went to NCAA regionals three times (1994, 1996 & 1997). The 1994 squad reached the College World Series, finishing in 7th place. At the time of her induction into the Mizzou Athletics Hall of Fame in 2002, she still ranked in virtually every MU career pitching and offensive top-10 category, including: home runs (2nd - 24); RBI (2nd - 139); slugging percentage (2nd - .559); wins (3rd - 78); games pitched (3rd - 143); complete games (4th - 80); innings pitched (4th -747); strikeouts (5th - 476); hits (5th - 184); doubles (5th - 34) win-loss percentage (6th - .690); triples (6th - 13); shutouts (7th - 17); and batting average (8th - .329).

Day 32: Joni Davis, basketball

A native of Highland, Kan., Davis ended her four-year career as the most prolific scorer in Missouri women's basketball history, scoring 2,126 points from 1982-85, on four MU teams that advanced to the NCAA Tournament. She was the Big Eight Conference "Player of the Year" in 1984 and '85, and was the MVP of the Big Eight Tournament three times. Davis holds four MU career and five MU season records. As a senior, when Davis averaged 25 points per game, she was an honorable mention all-American, second-team Academic all-American, the Big Eight Female Athlete of the Year, and won NCAA and Big Eight postgraduate scholarships.

Day 31: Ashley Patten, track

A highly successful competitor who established herself among the top middle-distance competitors in program history, Patten was a three-time All-American at 800 meters. She placed sixth as a senior in the indoor 800 race at the 2006 NCAA Championships, while taking eighth as a junior in the same race in 2005 and eighth as a sophomore.

Patten was a 13-time All-Big 12 performer over her track and cross-country career, including winning four Big 12 titles: indoor 800 meters (2004), outdoor 800 meters (2005), indoor 1,000 meters (2005, 2006).

Day 30: The 2013 Volleyball team

Mizzou had also never won a conference title in the sport of volleyball, nor won a Southeastern Conference title in any sport since the department's realigment in 2012; all that changed with the 2013 squad.

A great start to the season is one thing, but the contenders separate themselves from the pretenders in conference play. After a 3-1 win over a scrappy Georgia team, the biggest match to be played at the Hearnes Center in eight years awaited the Tigers. No. 2-ranked and defending SEC champion Florida came into the match as the hands-down favorite, but Mizzou won the first two sets and after losing a lead late in the third, blitzed the Gators for a 3-1 win behind 14 kills from junior Emily Wilson, including the match-clincher in the fourth set. The Florida match was the program's first ever win over a top-five opponent and it snapped a 13-match SEC winning streak for the defending champion Gators. Molly Kreklow earned National Player of the Week following the win. Mizzou improved to 23-0 and 7-0 in league play.

Lots of teams win at home; the great teams win on the road as well. For the better part of three decades, those great teams have resided in Gainesville, Fla. In a building where the Gators had lost just five SEC matches in the tenure of head coach Mary Wise (23 years at Florida), Mizzou faced perhaps one of its toughest tasks in program history. All the No. 7 Tigers did was sweep the No. 5 Gators for their first 30-win season since 1978 while taking control of the SEC Title race. It was the first time that Florida had ever been swept at home in SEC play.

With an SEC title within their grasp, the Tigers dispatched South Carolina on the road two days after sweeping Florida and returned home with a chance to clinch the SEC Championship the following Friday against Mississippi State. The week was a frenzy - media attention was at an all-time high as the Tigers fielded questions about winning Missouri's first-ever SEC Championship all week. Still undefeated, the Tigers were the biggest story in college volleyball. They had ascended to No. 4 in the polls, the best rank in program history, and were on the brink of accomplishing their goal. In front of a school-record 7,879 fans at the Hearnes Center, the Tigers shook off all of the distractions and defeated Mississippi State, 3-0, winning the title.

Day 29: Britney Ward, gymnastics

Ward, who just completed her sophomore season for coach Shannon Welker, earned Second Team All-America honors on both the vault and beam from the national gymnastics coaches association. That follows up a second-team beam nod as a freshman in 2016.

Ward narrowly missed first-team honors on both events, as she finished the regular season ranked tied for ninth on vault (9.915 RQS) and tied for 10th on beam (9.925 RQS). Ward won a team-high 12 events titles in 2017, with six apiece on vault and beam.

Day 28: Women's Golf takes its NCAA turn

Mizzou has made 11 NCAA Regional appearances in its the history of the women's golf program, with the first coming in 1998 under then-coach Mary Scott. Stephanie Priesmeyer has helmed the Tigers to their last seven trips to regionals, including its most-recent one in 2016.

Day 27: Katka Sevcikova, tennis

Kevcikova played earned three First-Team All-Big 12 honors in singles, and finished her career as both the Tigers' career singles and doubles wins record-holder. She also paired with Urska Juric in 2003 for a berth in the NCAA Doubles Tournament.

Day 26: Prowess in the pool: Women's Swimming & Diving

The swimming & diving team has made consistent progress in the pool under head coach Greg Rhodenbaugh, finishing among the top 15 programs in the country at five of the last six NCAA Championships. In 2016, the women finished 11th nationally, which was the best in program history.

Day 25: Sophie Cunningham

Cunningham earned both All-America Honorable Mention and First Team All-SEC honors this past season, making her the first Tiger to ever earn either honor as a sophomore.

Cunningham burst on the scene in Columbia long before she even arrived on campus, earning McDonald's All-America honors and four state titles as a prepster at Rock Bridge. As a freshman at Mizzou, Cunningham earned 2015 SEC Freshman of the Year honors, making her the first Tiger to earn conference freshman-of-the-year plaudits since Julie Helm did so in the Big 12 in 1997.

Day 24: Ann Marie Brooks, track

One of the most decorated student-athletes in school history, who was an NCAA national champion and five-time All-American performer on the track, while being the recipient of numerous prestigious academic honors. Brooks was part of the MU women's distance medley relay team which won the NCAA Indoor championship in 2001, while setting the indoor record at the time. That title was one of only three times a Tiger woman individual or relay team had won an NCAA title at the time.

A 2008 inductee into the Mizzou Athletics Hall of Fame, Brooks won individual All-America honors four times, including a 2nd-place finish in the indoor 3,000-meter run (2001), a 5th-place finish in the outdoor 1,500-meter run (2001) a 6th-place finish in the outdoor 5,000-meter run (2002) and also in cross country, where she placed 29th overall in 2001. She was a four-time Big 12 champion, and left as the Big 12 record-holder in both the 3,000-meter run as well as the distance medley relay.

Brooks was also a five-time academic All-American, and was honored in 2002 as a recipient of the prestigious NCAA Top VIII Award, and was one of just eight athletes nationally to earn that distinction, which honors a combination of athletic and academic achievement that year. She was also a finalist for the NCAA Woman of the Year award in 2002, and was awarded an NCAA postgraduate scholarship, while graduating from MU with a 4.01 grade point average in plant science.

Day 23: Ashley Wysong, track

Wysong was the prototype for a high-achieving student-athlete, who was a national-level competitor on the track and also in the classroom. During her time at Mizzou, Wysong was a six-time All-American and NCAA National Champion, specializing in the middle distance races. She was also a four-time USA Track & Field Academic All-American.

On the track, Wysong, a native of Nevada, Mo., dominated at the national level with five individual All-American honors in the indoor and outdoor 800-meter races. She also earned All-America honors as a member of the record-breaking and NCAA National Champion Distance Medley Relay team in 2001. At the conference level, she raced to All-Big 12 honors 16 times, winning the Big 12 title and setting the conference record in the outdoor 800 meters as a junior. That season, she went on to place 3rd in the 2000 NCAA Championships in the outdoor 800 meters running an MU-record time of 2:02.94. She qualified for the 2000 U.S. Olympic Trials in the 800m and represented the United States in the NACAC/Pan-American Games, winning the silver medal for Mizzou. Wysong was the track and field team captain from 1999-2001 and Present and Vice-Chair of the MU and Big 12 SAAC committees, respectively. She received the Director of Athletics Leadership Award in 2000. Upon graduatingmagna cum laude with honors distinction from Missouri in 2001, A 2013 inductee into the Mizzou Athletics Hall of Fame, Wysong held Mizzou records in both the indoor and outdoor 800 meters as well as relay records in the indoor distance medley, outdoor 4x400m, and outdoor 4x800m.

Day 22: Chelsea Thomas, softball Chelsea Thomas

Thomas racked up a historic career in the Black and Gold from 2009-13. The Pleasantville, Iowa, native left the Tigers' program as the career leader in wins (111) and strikeouts (1,174), on her way to three-time NFCA First Team All-America honors. The 2013 SEC Pitcher of the Year, Thomas also won the top pitcher award in Mizzou's final two years of the Big 12 Conference. She was named to the WCWS All-Tournament team following Mizzou's 2011 postseason run.

Day 21: Dr. Joann Rutherford, women's basketball

A pioneer of the women's basketball game at Mizzou, Rutherford is the winningest coach at the school, with 422 career wins (422-263 overall, .617 winning percentage) in 23 seasons. She took over just one year after the program was established at the varsity level, and Mizzou enjoyed winning seasons under her direction in 19 of her 23 years at the helm, claiming Big Eight Conference championships in 1984, 1985, 1987 and 1990. Her teams also claimed five conference tournament titles (1978, 1983, 1985, 1986 and 1994.

Rutherford was named Big Eight Coach of the Year in 1984, 1985 and 1990 for her efforts, and was also tabbed as the Big Eight Coach of the Decade for the 1980s, when her teams went a combined 213-98 (.685 winning percentage). Her teams won 20 or more games 11 times, including an impressive stretch from 1977-87 where they did so 10 times in 11 seasons. Mizzou reached six NCAA Tournaments under Rutherford's direction (reaching the Elite Eight in 1982) and four times finished a season ranked among the AP top 20, including 11th in 1984, 13th in 1978, 15th in 1983, and 20th in 1982. The Tigers had an amazing stretch from 1983-84 to 1986-87, where the Tigers won Big Eight titles in three of the four years, going 25-6 overall (12-2 in Big Eight play) in 1983-84, 22-9 overall (12-2) in 1984-85, 20-12 overall (8-5) in 1985-86, and 20-9 overall (9-5) in 1986-87.

Day 20: Kreklows give Volleyball program dancing shoes

When Wayne & Susan Kreklow arrived on campus from across town in 2000, Mizzou had never made an NCAA Tournament appearance. They proceeded to coach the Tigers to 13 over the next 17 years.

The 2016 squad advanced to the NCAA Sweet Sixteen for the third time in program history, matching the both the 2010 and the 2005 Tigers, the latter of which advanced to the Elite Eight.

Day 19: Sarah Luebbert, soccer

Sarah was named 2016 SEC Freshman of the Year in a vote by the league coaches, joining her with Alysha Bonnick in 2007 as the only Tigers to claim conference freshman or newcomer of the year honors. Her Second-Team SEC accolades also make her just the second Mizzou freshman to earn a spot on a conference first or second team, joining Nikki Thole in 1997.

The Jefferson City, Mo., native, who earned SEC Freshman of the Week honors a league-high three times in 2016, led Missouri with 24 points on 10 goals and four assists. Her point and goal totals are the most for a Tiger since Kristin Andrighetto had 27 and 10 in 2009 and rank second on both Mizzou's all-time freshman points and goals lists.

Day 18: A title for the Tiger harriers

This past November, the Cross Country team captured its first regional championship since 2004 by taking the Midwest Regional title in Iowa City, Iowa. Junior Karissa Schweizer won the individual 6,000-meter championship, becoming the first Tiger to win a regional meet since Amanda Bales took first in 2003.

Schweizer, the SEC Women's Runner of the Year, earned a spot on the All-Midwest Regional Team for the third straight year with the first-place finish, and was joined by three other Tigers who posted top-25 finishes. Junior Jamie Kempfer, senior Nicole Mello and senior Teylar Adelsberger all earned the honor for the first time in their careers, finishing fifth, 20th and 21st, respectively.

Day 17: Sarah Shire, gymnastics

One of the all-time greats to ever don a Mizzou leotard, Shire was a dynamic and powerful tumbler for the Tigers over a three-year period after transferring to Mizzou following her freshman season at Utah.

She won four All-American honors in her time at Mizzou, including a runner-up finish on the floor exercise at the 2010 NCAA Championships. Her dominant senior season culminated in her nomination as one of four finalists for the national gymnast of the year award (Honda Award).

Shire won 11 different all-around meet titles and 36 event titles during the year (a program season record), and was a two-time Big 12 Gymnast of the Year (2009-10), both years during which she won the Big 12 all-around championship. She led Mizzou to its first NCAA Championship finals team appearance in the 12-team era.

Shire was inducted into Mizzou's Athletics Hall of Fame in 2015, and was just named the head coach at Penn State earlier this month.

Day 16: Six WCWS appearances for Softball ASA Hall of Fame Stadium

Mizzou had made six trips to Oklahoma City for the NCAA Women's College World Series by 2017.

Mizzou made its inaugural appearance at Hall of Fame Stadium in 1983, then earned its first WCWS win in its next trip in 1991. The 1994 Tigers fought through the loser's bracket in the Lawrence, Kan., regional to earn a third trip to OKC, and the Chelsea Thomas-led squads from 2009-11 earned back-to-back-to-back appearances.

Day 15: Surviving and Advancing

For the first time in school history, the women's basketball program secured NCAA Tournament wins in back-to-back seasons.

The 2015-16 team made history by returning to the NCAA Tournament for the first time in 10 years, and celebrated with its first win in the dance since 2001 with a first-round win over BYU in Austin, Texas. This past March, the Tigers repeated the feat with a first-round win over South Florida in Tallahassee, Fla.

Day 14: New seasons, new Volleyball All-Americans

Beginning with Christi Myers in 2002, and continuing with the trio of Carly Kan, Alyssa Munlyn and Melanie Crow this past season, the Mizzou Volleyball program has had a history of All-America honors.

A total of 12 Tigers have earned 19 All-America awards to date, including after each of the last seven seasons. Kan (2013-14, 2016) and Lisa Henning (2011-13) were each three-time All-Americans, while Munlyn joins Jessica Vander Kooi (2005-06) as two-time honorees.

Day 13: Natasha Kaiser, track

The first big star of Mizzou women's track & field, Kaiser was a six-time all-American and five-time Big Eight Conference champion in the 400 meters. She was the Big Eight Conference Female Athlete of the Year in 1989, and the most valuable athlete of the Big Eight championships in 1985 and '86. She still owns the school record indoors and out and 400 meters.

Following her collegiate career, Kaiser excelled internationally, earning an Olympic silver medal in the 400 at the 1992 Summer Olympics in Barcelona, and a gold as a member of the 4x400 relay at the 1993 World Championships in Stuttgart.

Day 12: Lauren Reedy, diving

Reedy was named Southeastern Conference Female Diver of the Year in a vote by the conference's head coaches in 2017.

Reedy claimed her award after two All-America honorable mention honors and an SEC title at the Championships. She took home the 1-meter springboard crown at SECs with a meet-record score of 364.30 in finals, and placed fifth on 3-meter at the meet. Reedy earned All-America honorable mention honors on both 1-meter and 3-meter at the 2017 NCAA Championships after winning both consolation finals.

In addition to her Female Diver of the Year honor, Reedy also took home the SEC Female Diver of the Meet at the SEC Championships. That award was voted on by the diving coaches and presented following the last night of competition.

Day 11: Vaulting to new heights

The gymnastics team has among the deepest records of success of Mizzou's women's sports programs, boasting a total of 27 NCAA Regional Championships selections.

From the Tigers' first appearance in 1980 under the legendary Jake Jacobson, through the 2010 squad's appearance at the NCAA National Championships, to this April's latest Regional bid under Shannon Welker, Mizzou has been a consistent postseason visitor.

Day 10: Bea Machado-Santos & Amina Ismail, tennis Santos / Ismail

Junior Amina Ismail and senior Bea Machado Santos have earned a berth to next week's NCAA Doubles Tennis Tournament.

Santos and Ismail are just the second Tiger twosome to clinch a spot in the NCAA Doubles Tournament in program history, and the first since Urska Juric and Katka Sevcikova in 2003.

Santos and Ismail are looking to become the first Mizzou pairing to reach the NCAA Doubles Tournament quarterfinals in program history. Juric and Sevcikova advanced to the second round of the 2003 tournament with a 6-2, 6-1 win over Marshall's duo before being eliminated the following day.

Day 9: Nikki Thole, soccer

The pioneering star of Mizzou's now 21-year-old soccer program, Nikki was the first Tiger to earn All-America honors. A 2006 inductee into Mizzou's Athletics Hall of Fame, Thole scored 23 goals and helped lead MU to a 14-8-1 record and an NCAA Tournament berth for the first time in program history in 1999. She also helped lead the Tigers to appearances in three consecutive Big 12 Tournament championship games.

Thole was a three-time First-Team All-Big 12 Conference honoree, and to this day remains the career record-holder in goals (61) and points (151).

Day 8: Karissa Schweizer, cross country

With one year of eligibility remaining, Karissa is already the most decorated female athlete in Mizzou history.

Schweizer was already an accomplished runner after her first two years of college, earning SEC Cross Country Freshman of the Year and outdoor All-America honors at 5,000 meters, but has far surpassed those accomplishments with a junior season for the record books.

She began the year by winning the cross country title at both the SEC and NCAA Championships, then moved indoors where she earned SEC Indoor Runner of the Year honors following her Mile and 3,000-meter titles in Nashville, then won the 5,000 NCAA National Championship indoors in College Station, Texas.

Just last weekend at the SEC Outdoor Championships, Schweizer followed up with the 5,000-meter title, and will compete next month at the NCAA National Championships in Austin, Texas.

Day 7: Rebecca Davis, cross country / track & field

Davis helped establish MU as one of the premier distance programs in the nation in the 1990's. A two-time All-American in track, she also won the 1996 NCAA Midwest Regional Cross Country individual title and twice led the Tiger harriers to team appearances in the NCAA Championships. She was inducted into the Mizzou Athletics Hall of Fame in 2004.

Day 6: A trio of golf All-Americans: Moses, Knaebel, Ohlsson

Mizzou Women's Golf has had the honor of three of its players earning All-America honors. Amelia Moses (left) was the first in 2001, earning honorable mention plaudits after earning medalist honors at both the 2001 and 2001 Big 12 Conference Championships.

Denise Knaebel (middle) and Maria Ohlsson (right) both earned honorable mention All-America plaudits in 2005. Ohlsson led Mizzou that season with a 74.72 stroke average, just ahead of Knaebel's 74.91. Ohlsson earned top-four finishes at the Big 12 Championships her junior and senior seasons.

Day 5: Dominique Bouchard, swimming

Bouchard earned eight All-America honors from 2010-13 at Mizzou, including top-three finishes in the 200 backstroke in each of her last three years on campus. After graduation from Mizzou, she represented her native Canada in the 2016 Rio Olympics, advancing to the semifinals of the 200-meter backstroke.

Day 4: Four #MizzouMade Tigers in pro softball

Four Tiger softball standouts -- Chelsea Thomas, Taylor Gadbois, Sami Fagan and Emily Crane -- all were drafted to play professionally following their Mizzou careers.

Thomas finished her career as one of the most decorated players in Mizzou Athletics history, earning First Team All-America recognition and conference player-of-the-year nods each of her last three years. She pitched to a 111-31 career record and totaled a school-record 1,174 strikeouts as a Tiger. Thomas was drafted by the USSSA Pride in 2012.

Fagan (4th), Crane (7th), and Gadbois (15th) were all selected in the 2016 NPF Draft, and Fagan capped a stellar first professional season by earning NPF Rookie of the Year honors.

Day 3: Robin Pingeton, women's basketball

Pingeton earned SEC Coach of the Year honors in 2017 after leading the Tigers to their second consecutive NCAA Tournament appearance. What's perhaps most impressive is that, over her first seven seasons in Columbia, every player who has completed her eligibility earned her degree.

Day 2: Volleyball: 2013 & 2016 SEC Champions

When Wayne & Susan Kreklow arrived on campus from across town in 2000, Mizzou had never made an NCAA Tournament appearance. They've now coached the Tigers to 13 in that span.

Mizzou had also never won a conference title in the sport of volleyball, nor won a Southeastern Conference title in any sport since the department's realigment in 2012; that's now happened twice in the last four years.

Day 1: Kearsten Peoples, track & field

Kearsten holds the Mizzou record in the indoor weight throw, both the indoor and outdoor shot put, and the outdoor discus. She was a seven-time All-American, and won the 2015 NCAA Indoor National title in the weight throw.