March 18, 2009

Columbia, Mo. - After a record-setting season, the No. 14 Missouri Tigers have been recognized for their accomplishments with six spots on the academic all-conference team and two gymnasts named to the All-Big 12 squad.

Junior Sarah Shire (Columbia, Mo.) picked up three spots on the All-Big 12 team on vault, bars and beam - the most of any Big 12 gymnast--while senior Adrianne Perry (Columbia, Mo.) landed on both the academic first team and the All-Big 12 floor team. Shire was named to the vault team as a sophomore, while this is the third selection for Perry. She was named to the vault team for the past two years.

The top four Big 12 gymnasts with the highest regional qualifying score (RQS) in each event, excluding all-around, determine All-Conference honors. The RQS can be obtained from GymInfo.com. Shire leads the conference on vault with an RQS of 9.9; she is second on bars and beam, with an RQS of 9.86 and 9.9, respectively. Perry is second in the Big 12 on floor with an RQS of 9.89.

The RQS is obtained by taking the gymnast's top six scores, dropping the highest, then averaging the remaining five. Three of the scores must be from a road meet.

Five Tigers were named to the academic first team: seniors Perry and Alicia Hatcher (Blue Springs, Mo.), juniors Brooke Boehmer (Overland Park, Kan.), Becky Scholle (Chesterfield, Mo.), and sophomore Lauren Stephenson (Kansas City, Mo.). In addition, sophomore Alex Gold (Plano, Texas) was named to the second team.

This is the third selection for Hatcher; she has been a first team pick in every year she has been eligible. This is also the second year for Perry, Boehmer and Scholle.

Nominated by each institution's director of student-athlete support services and media relations offices, the gymnastics academic all-league squad consisted of 22 first team members combined with four on the second team. First team members have recorded a 3.20 or better GPA, while the second team are those with a 3.00 to 3.19 GPA.

To qualify student-athletes must maintain a 3.00 GPA or higher either cumulative or in the two previous semesters and have participated in 60 percent of her team's scheduled contests. Freshmen and transfers are not eligible in their first year of academic residence. Senior student-athletes who have participated for a minimum of two years and meet all the criteria except percent of participation are also eligible.

The No. 14 Tigers travel to Ames, Iowa seeking their first-ever Big 12 title this week. The meet starts at 2 p.m. on Saturday. A highlight video will be available at Big12Sports.com, and live scoring will be linked to mutigers.com during the meet. Stay with mutigers.com throughout the week for news and updates going into Big 12 competition.