March 24, 2010

COLUMBIA, Mo. - The Big 12 Conference has announced the 2010 All-Big 12 Gymnastics Team and two Missouri gymnasts have landed all-conference honors. Senior All-American Sarah Shire (Columbia, Mo.) and sophomore Mary Burke (Inverness, Ill.) earned themselves spots on the conference team as a credit to their success in the regular season. Shire and Burke, who rank first and second in the conference, respectively, were the only two gymnasts to earn all-conference honors in the all-around, making it a Missouri sweep in the category.

Shire highlighted the annual team, taking all-conference honors in all four events and in the all-around. It is the third time in as many years Shire has been named to the vault team, the second for bars and beam and the first time for floor. This is the first time since 2007 Big 12 has named an all-around team.

This is Burke's first time to appear on the regular-season list. She was named to the All-Big 12 Championship Team on vault after the 2009 championship meet. The Illinois native just missed out on earning all-conference honors on bars as she currently ranks fifth in the conference on the event.

The 2010 All-Big 12 Gymnastics team includes the top four conference gymnasts with the highest regional qualifying score (RQS) in each event and the two all-around competitors. RQS figures are based off the final regular-season GymInfo rankings.

The 2010 Big 12 Gymnastics Championship is set for Saturday, March 27 in Lincoln, Neb. Competition is scheduled to begin at 2 p.m.

Click here to see the full list of the 2010 All-Big 12 Gymnastics Team on the Big 12 Conference Web site.