Hello! It’s been a while, hasn’t it? It’s been a crazy year, and now that we are in a good spot where almost all of the 2025-26 season sports are wrapped up, it’s time for a check in.
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 non-revenue 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, and any writing our talented crew has done..
Enjoy!
Baseball
KJ Returns
Perhaps the most newsworthy is that head coach Kerrick Jackson is expected to return next season. Though his tenure has been rough, there was a clear improvement in 2026, and I, for one, am happy to see KJ coming back, and if the school provides him with increased resources — per reports, they are — we’ll perhaps see even more improvement if they can hold onto the young core. Sammy covered the news here— Mizzou Baseball Head Coach Kerrick Jackson Expected to Return.
An SEC Tourney Win… Finally
With all SEC teams earning spots in the SEC tournament, the Tigers also picked up their first SEC tourney win since 2017 when they beat no. x Ole Miss. Henry covered that game here— Tigers top Ole Miss.
Unfortunately, they were unsuccessful against the rest of the state, losing game 2 to no. 16 MS State via run rule. Sophie covered that one here— Mizzou bats spark early, but No. 16 Mississippi State ends Tigers’ season.
Basketball- Women’s
Roster Updates
Following the offseason departures of Saniah Tyler (graduation), Jordana Reisma (graduation), Jayla Smith (graduation), Shannon Dowell (Cal), Lisa Thompson (Utah State), Hannah Linthacum (MO State), Chloe Sotell (Maryland) and Ma’Riya Vincent (Wichita State), Kellie & Co. had some slots to fill.
The Tigers brought in a number of transfers — Arizona’s Tanyuel Welch (May 1), Indiana’s Neveah Caffey (April 12) and Michigan’s McKenzie Mathurin (April 8). You can read Dylan’s reports on each at the links above.
Five Freshies Join The Zou
This, of course, goes along with their large incoming freshman class in Cecilie Brandimore, Ellie Muller, Natalya Hodge, Jada Maples and Khloe Ford.
Golf- Women’s
History in the Making
What a season for Caroline Westrup’s group, who earned their second-ever NCAA Championship – and first in 21 years – berth after finishing sixth in the NCAA Regional Second Round. After being in 7th through the first 18 holes with a -1, they now sit in 13th place after 36 holes with a +7 score, but just two strokes out of the top 10.
After Sunday’s third round, the tournament will be cut to 15 schools, so there’s still hope that the Tigers’ magical season continues with a strong third round. Freshman Ebba Liljeberg leads the Tigers with a +1, carding a 73 on Saturday, and sits in 38th place individually. You can read about the Tigers’ performance on Day 2 at MU Tigers.
On the academics side, the team earned its highest spring GPA in program history with an astonishing 3.79.
Golf- Men’s
Viskari Shines Individually
Veikka Viskari had a strong finish at the NCAA Regional on May 20, recording per MU Tigers, the fourth-best round in the 75-golfer field in the last 18 holes of play. He collected six birdies on the day with just one bogey. His score of 67 tied for the sixth best 18-hole score in Mizzou’s regional history and was the best by a Tiger since 2023. He was the first Tiger to compete as an individual in the regional rounds of the NCAA Championships since 2021.
NGI-Bound
The Tigers have continued their postseason as a team at the National Golf Invitational in Maricopa, Arizona where they will play 18 holes on Friday, Saturday and Sunday. After Day 1, Mizzou was in the lead with a x. After Saturday, they moved to second with a -29 score after 36 holes, behind Grand Canyon (-37). Sophomore Trent Mierl leads the Tigers in seventh place, matching his season-best round score with a 5-under 67 on Saturday. Freshman Esteban Cruz Bonilla is also tied for seventh at -8.
Check out MU Tigers to read more about Day 1 and Day 2.
Gymnastics
Later, Lacey
There have been a couple changes amongst my favorite team, but there is still much to figure out. On May 3, beam coach Lacey Rubin’s departure from the program was announced, and I wrote about it on May 10 in a piece called Later, Lacey 😞 after Nate Salsman and I had lunch with her.
“Getting to spend the last two years with Lacey has been nothing but the best!” Kaia Tanskanen told me. “She has really helped me grow as a person and as a beam worker. I am so grateful I got to be able to compete beam this year with her by my side, and I’m so grateful to have been coached by her in general, as well.”
This leaves an open assistant spot that is expected to be filled — the HR website has the position open til mid-June — so it’ll be interesting to see who Shannon, Whitney & Jackie bring in to help out.
Freshmen Phenoms
The Tigers are bringing in a strong freshman class, led by Developmental Program three-time national champion Imani White (bars, beam, all-around), floor national champion Kendall Morgan, and silver medalist Raegan McCarty (floor). Also joining the trio of medalists will be DP nationals qualifier Dakota (CoCo) Haynes, Ashtyn Conley, and Addie Anderson. I’ll have more on them at a later date.
Here’s Imani talking with KOMU 8’s Grace Ainger before nationals.
Portal News
In the portal, the Tigers have signed just one— 5th year Oregon State bars & beam specialist Jennifer McMillan, a career-9.925 beam worker from Oregon State who spent the 2026 out with injury. I wrote about it on May 3.
There’s still one slot open for another transfer — I’ve got my eye on Arkansas transfer Ja’Leigh Lang, who just announced her late entrance into the portal due (coaching change) — as they’ve seemingly missed out on all the others I was eyeing (I had a list, you guys). Note to others: WHY NOT MIZZOU?!? THEY’RE AWESOME.
Soccer
Coaching News
Not a whole lot of news on the soccer front, but MU Tigers did announce this past week that they have hired a new assistant coach in Callie McKinney, who spent the 2025 season at SMU and five season at Bellarmine prior to that.
“We are thrilled to welcome Callie to Mizzou Soccer,” head coach Stefanie Golan said. “I have known Callie for several years, and she has consistently been someone I hoped to bring onto our staff when the right opportunity presented itself. With Kelsey Wys adding the goalkeepers back to her responsibilities as associate head coach, this became the perfect time to add someone with Callie’s character, experience and passion for developing student-athletes. She brings tremendous energy, strong soccer knowledge, a relentless work ethic and an ability to build meaningful relationships with our players. Most importantly, Callie aligns with the vision and standards we are continuing to build at Mizzou.”
Depth Chart
Looking at Mizzou’s projected depth chart for the new season, Colin took a stab at it in mid-March. You can read that here.
Softball
Transfer-palooza
There’s been a good amount of news since the Tigers’ season ended in the first round of the SEC tournament. True covered that news in a season-ending piece — Mizzou Softball Updates: What Happened, What’s Next — and I’ve continued to update it as the transfer news has come out. Missouri has seen four Tigers enter the portal thus far — sophomore Neveah Watkins and freshmen Avery Adcock, Avery Porter and Jaley James. The portal isn’t even technically open yet, you guys!
While it hasn’t been announced yet, there is a rumor going around that new defensive coach Jason Gwyn, has been let go. It’s a very curious decision on the part of HCLA, given he is also an adept recruiter and is responsible for much of the 2027 commitments, as well as because the defense was perhaps the best part of this year’s Missouri team.
Carr Honors
In better news, freshman Abby Carr was awarded Freshman All-American honors by Softball America. The two-way players led the Tigers in ERA (2.92), saves (5), home runs (12) and RBI (44) in the 2026 season. This was her second postseason honor, as she was previously named to the NFCA All-Region Midwest Second Team.
Swimming & Diving
NCAA Updates
This happened in late March, but Mizzou crowned its first NCAA diving champion when senior Collier Dyer won the men’s 3m springboard at the National Championships. Dyer, along with platform diver Tanner Braunton (Honorable Mention) and 200 flyer Jan Zubik (Honorable Mention) earned All-American honors for their performance at NCAAs.
Bogner Steps Down
In coaching news, on May 1, head diving coach Kyle Bogner announced he was stepping down after eight years with the program. I haven’t heard if they will hire a new head diving coach or if the current assistant, Mohab Ishak, will take the reins.
Portal Updates
In transfer news, on May 5th, transfer Nell Cagle, a breaststroker and IM’er from Charleston, SC, signed with the Tigers. Getting another breaststroker will be key for the Tigers, as they graduated NCAA qualifier Carolina Bank. Cagle spent her freshman season at Ohio State, before transferring to Alabama for her sophomore season.
Smarty Pants
On the academics side, the women’s team earned its highest spring GPA in program history with an unreal 3.87.
Tennis
Head Coach News
Welcome, Robin Goodman! The Brit was officially announced on May 21 at Memorial Stadium as the next head coach of women’s tennis. Goodman was formerly the associate head coach at Tennessee where the Lady Vols reached the second round of the NCAA tournament, as well as at Pacific where he won conference coach of the year honors. Per the MU Tigers release:
“I think it’s really interesting to learn about his network in this profession, but he’s also extremely intentional and strategic about what he wants to do here and how he’ll build a program. His level of thoughtfulness and detailed strategy in this process has been super impressive, and I think you’ll just find it extremely engaging. Very committed to not only developing student athletes, but also our tennis community. I think he recognizes that and has absolutely the skill set to build on that opportunity.”
Track & Field / Cross Country
SEC Championships Updates
The track & field Tigers are coming off some strong individual performances at the SEC Championships in Auburn, which Sophie recapped here (May 17), here (May 15), and here (May 14).
Valentina Barrios earned her second consecutive All-SEC honors and her first SEC title in the javelin when she threw a 58.31m (191-3), a season best and third best mark nationally.
Sam Innes earned All-SEC Second Team honors after taking a silver at SECs with a personal best 71.65m (235-1) in the hammer throw, improving his second best all-time mark in history.
Rogers Feature
Sophie also wrote a feature on Drew Rogers, who has become a cornerstone for Mizzou’s distance squad that you should check out.
NCAAs Await
Next up, 15 Tigers will compete in the NCAA West First Round May 28-30 in Fayetteville. This includes: defending national champion Barrios (no. 2 javelin), Skylar Ciccolini (no. 3 javelin), Morgan Cannon (no. 44 javelin), Val Galligan (no. 48 javelin), Monica Wanijku (no. 48 5,000m), Marlena Tresnjo (no. 18 high jump), Ames Burton (no. 22 discus), and Petra Gombas (no. 26 hammer) on the women’s side. On the men’s side, this includes Innes (no. 7 hammer), Garik Pozecki (no. 37 hammer), Elijah Limo (no. 13 3,000m steeplechase), Joshua Allison (no. 18 3,000m steeplechase), Dillon Leacock (no. 27 400m hurdles), Drew Rogers no. 43 10,000m) and Lasse Funck (no. 46 1,500m).
Portal Update
On Saturday morning, the Tigers announced its newest signee in Evyn Humphrey, a St. Louis native and transfer from Tulas who runs distance.
Volleyball
Roster News
May was a pretty busy month for the Tigers, who announced this week that Maizy Agnello, who originally was set to join Mizzou in 2027, would be reclassifying to the Class of 2026. Per Dylan, the 6-foot outside hitter will now be joining the Tigers in the fall.
“Maizy is a fighter in every sense of the word,” Sullivan said in the MU press release. “Graduating early is just another example of the discipline, toughness, and heart she brings to everything she does.”
They also added junior transfer Lauren Larkin from Utah State (May 10) and freshman Ceylin Kuyan (May 6) to the roster, who stands 6-foot-3 and played on Turkey’s U19 National team.
Smarty Setters & Spikers
On the academics side, the team earned its highest spring GPA in program history with an incredible 3.68.
Wrestling
April News Cycle
Colin wrapped up a productive April for Mizzou Wrestling in this piece— Everything That Happened in April for Mizzou Wrestling, as well as sharing the Big 12 realignment shakeup.
Tiger Style saw two wrestlers leave, and two enter through the transfer portal, while also picking up a seventh 2026 high school recruit, leaving the roster at the 30-wrestler max heading into next season. The highlight pickup was bringing Zan Fugitt back home. He was an All-American at Wisconsin and is expected to fill the starting role at 141lbs.
