May 27, 2004
Columbia, Mo. - For the second straight year, the softball team at the University of Missouri participated in the NCAA tournament. Unfortunately, the Tigers were beaten in their first two games, losing a pair of one-run heartbreakers - first, 1-0 to Louisville, then 4-3 to Mississippi Valley State in an elimination game.
In just two seasons at the helm, Coach Ty Singleton has taken his team to the NCAA field each year, and has twice finished in the top three of the Big 12 conference standings. In 2003, Coach Singleton was the Big 12 Conference Coach-of-the-Year. Without question, he has done a remarkable job with his program. These types of success stories are becoming commonplace at Mizzou.
During the 2002-2003 collegiate sports year, 17 of the 20 sports that we sponsor at Missouri participated in, or were represented by individuals in post-season competition. That represents an all-time high at Mizzou. This year has also been very successful, with 15 sports having represented the Tigers in post season events thus far.
Football and men's basketball receive the most attention from the sporting public that follows college athletics. What are some of the stories you might have missed? Missouri's volleyball team advanced to NCAA play for the fourth consecutive year. Mizzou's soccer team returned to NCAA play, as did our women's basketball and gymnastics teams. The Missouri wrestling team finished 13th in the country.
Success at this level begins with coaching. Did you realize that since the Big 12 Conference was formed 11 Missouri coaches have been selected as "Coach-of-the-Year" in their respective sports? This year, gymnastics coach Rob Drass, and women's golf coach Stephanie Cooper earned that distinction. Volleyball coach Susan Kreklow, track and field coach Rick McGuire, women's cross country coach Rebecca Wilmes and diving coach Greg Triefenbach have also been honored. I'm quite confident that football coach Gary Pinkel will soon accomplish things that earn him this type of recognition as well. I'm obviously very pleased to have the great pleasure of working with some tremendously talented individuals.
Our commitment to facility improvement has helped lay the foundation for success in our individual programs. Renovations to Memorial Stadium and the new Mizzou Arena have been well documented. In recent years we've seen the development of the Audrey Walton Track & Field and Soccer Stadium. University Field is home to our softball program. Taylor Stadium houses Missouri baseball. A new natatorium is set to come on line this fall to benefit Brian Hoffer and our men's and women's swimming and diving teams. For years he has tried to compete against the Big 12's best with a facility that may be the nation's worst! An exciting new era is around the corner for Coach Hoffer, indeed.
I get asked by a lot of people about what has been the toughest aspect of dealing with the well-publicized NCAA investigation into our men's basketball program. Frankly, I feel that one of the bigger frustrations from my standpoint is that it has prevented us from telling the many other great stories that are taking place at Missouri. When I arrived in 1998, Missouri was not among the top 100 in the annual Sears Directors' Cup standings, which measures a programs' overall success. Last year, we finished 37th - by far our best showing ever. This year, we project another solid finish of around 45th.
I've said from day one that we want to build a comprehensive program that all Missourians can be proud of, and while we certainly have had our share of challenges, I am very proud of the steps we've taken, and feel we are in position to move further up the ladder. But we still have a long way to go, in order to reach where I believe a program like Missouri has the potential to reach! We will always need the support of our wonderful fans and donors out there who help make everything possible.
As always, I would like to thank you for taking the time to read this column. If you have any questions about this topic, or anything to do with Mizzou Athletics or college sports in general, please feel free to contact me via e-mail at aldenm@missouri.edu.