April 16, 2008
Columbia, Mo. - As the University of Missouri Department of Intercollegiate Athletics honored its outstanding student-athletes for their numerous achievements in the classroom and in the community this morning as part of its annual Spring Academic Awards Breakfast, two Tiger gymnasts earned some very prestigious awards.
The banquet, hosted by the Total Person Program handed out several awards, with two of the most important ones going to Tiger gymnasts. Junior Alicia Hatcher (Blue Springs, Mo.) earned the Varsity M Association's Student-Athlete of the Year award. The award, given out each season, is awarded to one male and one female student-athlete with outstanding academic and athletic accomplishments, along with considerable involvement in community service activities.
With the award, Hatcher becomes the second gymnast in as many years to take home the award. Hatcher finished the 2008 season as one of the best Tigers in the gym this season. She was one of two Tigers to not fall on beam all season, despite being in the rotation during every meet this season. Hatcher was also rewarded for academic progress as well as she earned Academic All-Big 12 first-team honors for the second consecutive season. She has also been an active member in the community as well. Hatcher helped create a partnership with the Greek Community and start a canned food drive at this years Beauty and the Beast.
"Athletes and Greeks don't maintain a lot of interaction," Hatcher said. "This is a step in the right direction. Hopefully this event will allow us to work with them on some other projects as well."
Hatcher has also attended the NCAA Leadership conference and has brought many of those ideas to both the MU community and the Tiger gymnastics team.
Senior Julie Abaray (Cincinnati, Ohio) also received an award. Last years Varsity M Student Athlete of the Year, Abaray received the Scholar Athlete Medal, given to an athlete in their final year of eligibility who has achieved the most outstanding accomplishments in both athletics and academic scholarship. Abaray, along with being an Academic All-Big 12 first team selection in each of her three years of eligibility, has been active in the Student Athletic Advisory Council, has earned the Mizzou '39 Award given by the MU Alumni Association and has earned an NCAA Ethnic Minority and Women's Enhancement Scholarship for Careers in Athletics, as she looks to continue her career in NCAA athletics.
Along with individual accolades, the Mizzou Gymnastics squad earned one 4.0 athlete, freshman
Lauren Stephenson (Kansas City, Mo.). The team as a whole was recognized as one of five Academic Teams to have outstanding dedication to academics. In fact nine of the 11 athletes eligible for Academic All-Big 12 honors were placed on the first team. The nine selections was the most overall ever in the Big 12. Tiger gymnasts made up 48-percent of the first team as well.
The awards and acknowledgements are just more in a long line of accolades for the Tiger gymnastics program. Proving their dedication as student-athletes is one thing that the Tiger gymnasts seem to recognize and has helped lead them to success in the gym as well.
For all the latest on Mizzou Gymnastics, check back with www.mutigers.com.
