stories by me, Colin Simmons, Dylan Heinrich, True Deck and Sophie Silvers
Hello! It's been a while, hasn't it? I've had a really busy start to the school year, trying to juggle grading for my very large online class along with editing for the site and putting together my gymnastics previews. Anyway... no more excuses. When I don't have gym content, I'm going to try and get these out more often. And, as you'll see, there's a helluva lot of good going on in CoMo.
If you're new here, WELCOME to "Olympic Sports Catch Up!" As the Olympic sports manager at this beautiful little website, I lead a team of talented and passionate writers who have a special interest in Olympic sports at Missouri (I despise the phrase "non-revenue").
I've broken down each of the sports below and will be sharing fun/relevant info, social posts, any writing our talented crew has done, and links to other stories from outside of Rock M if I find 'em.
Enjoy!
Having never run at this course before, Levermore said, "The big thing for us is just to see the team running, to see if we can manage to work through the bigger field size, and give some of our younger athletes [room] to develop."
"It was another solid week for us," said Mizzou head coach Glen Millican said in the MUTigers recap. "There are some areas from today that we need to clean up but overall, good playing from the guys. It is a good start for us on this two-tournament trip and we're ready to start our prep for Blessings. MIZ"
The only five-star recruit in this class known to have visited Missouri, the Tigers certainly got a star with Echols. In 2024, she took the floor title in all but one of her meets with the exception being nationals, where she was runner-up. The pattern continued into 2025 where she finished in the top three on the event at all meets and was state and regional champion. With skills such as her powerful full-twisting double tuck, this is no surprise.
The Tigers commence SEC play on the road for the second consecutive season, this time against the Florida Gators in Gainesville, Florida March 6-8. Last season, Mizzou was swept in its opening series against Kentucky, so let's not shoot for a repeat. The Gators, who finished sixth in the SEC, ended up making the Women's College World Series after a Super Regional win over Georgia at home. These two teams did not face one another in 2025, and last faced off in the SEC title game in 2024. (Karen/Editor's note: that seems like a lifetime ago.)
Mannon, a West Jefferson, Ohio native, plays both pitcher and shortstop. She recently received a Top 10 ranking from Line Drive Media for the 'Pitcher - plus' position (pitchers who play other positions, too).
Dotts, a Springdale, Arkansas product, most recently competed on the 18U Fast Pitch Aces, who won the Alliance Fastpitch Championship Series this summer. On July 24th, Dotts pitched 12 innings, allowing seven hits and striking out 20 batters. If that's not a sign of domination, I don't know what is. The Arkansas native has a serious shot at being an ace of the future for the Tigers.
With neither of Tennessee's leading goal scorers participating in this match due to injuries, the stat sheet was not stuffed by either side to finish the match. The Lady Vols limited Mizzou to only five shot attempts (three on goal) and one corner kick opportunity on the night while Tennessee recorded 12 shots, nine on goal.
"I'm really proud of Valentina," head coach Brett Halter said in the MUTigers release. "She bounced back after a slow start, managed her emotions and delivered the second-longest throw of her career to advance to the World Championship final. To reach this stage as a collegiate athlete is a massive accomplishment, and today she proved she can compete with the best on any given day."
"I think it's more we're a little too high error in situations," Sullivan said. "We handle it, but after a while, we have to still continue to put that ball in bounds....when you make over five errors a set, you're going to lose, is what I'll say...yes, it was our opponent, but for me it's more us."