Burke signs her letter of intent to attend Mizzou.Burke signs her letter of intent to attend Mizzou.
Gymnastics

Incoming Tiger Named WGN-Chicago Tribune Prep Athlete of the Month

March 3, 2008

Columbia, Mo. - The No. 15 Missouri Gymnastics team got a bit of good news about an incoming recruit today. WGN and the Chicago Tribune named incoming Tiger Mary Burke (Palatine, Ill.) as its Prep Athlete of Month for February, a lofty honor for a high school gymnast. The honor comes after her domination at the Illinois High School Association Gymnastics Championships where she won all five events, vault, bars, beam, floor and the all around, becoming only the second gymnast in State History to do so.

Burke, one of three incoming Tiger freshmen, is one of the best gymnasts from the state of Illinois in recent memory. Burke set a state record by recording a 9.900 on the beam at the IHSA State Championships and helped lead Fremd High School to its third state championship in her four years at the school. Earlier in the month, Burke also set a state record by recording a perfect 10.000 on the vault. She also won every event that she competed in during the month of February.

Burke brings with her a proven pedigree and a knack for winning. Coming from gymnastics powerhouse Fremd High, Burke is a proven winner. Fremd, led by Burke, placed first at every meet this season and finished the season undefeated. Burke holds the school record on vault (10.00), bars (9.850) and beam (9.900). Burke shares two of those records with Mary Anne Kelly, who went on to be a three-time All-American at the University of Minnesota. Her older sister, Katie Burke, is also a standout at Iowa, where she qualified for the NCAA National Championships as an all-arounder last season.

Being the best gymnasts to come out of Fremd since Kelly, Burke gives Tiger fans plenty of reasons to anticipate her arrival at Mizzou. To watch the video on Burke, visit http://wgntv.trb.com/sports/ and the video will appear in a list of videos on the main page.

The Tiger Gymnastics squad returns to action this Saturday when they head to Burke's home state of Illinois to take on the No. 28 Illini at 2:00 p.m. For all the latest on Tiger Gymnastics, check back with www.mutigers.com.