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MU Gymnast Named Big 12 Female Sportsperson of the Year
Former Missouri gymnast
Jodie
Heinicka was named the 2006 Big 12 Conference Female Sportsperson
of the Year. Heinicka, who completed her athletic eligibility
in 2006, is the first Missouri student-athlete to earn in the
honor in the award’s six-year history. She was selected
alongside Male Sportsperson of the Year Parker Dalton, a member
of the Texas A&M baseball team.
The Big 12 annually recognizes its top male
and female sportsperson. The Sportspersons of the Year Awards
were started before the 2000-01 academic year to honor student-athletes
who displayed an extraordinary degree of sportsmanship and/or
community service during the academic year. Heinicka and Dalton
were selected by a media panel.
Heinicka, a native of Seminole, Fla., spent her time in Columbia as an active participant in university and city activities. She was involved in the Can Food Drive for the Central Missouri Food Bank, participated in the Dance-a-thon for children’s diseases and visited the children’s Cancer Patient Ward at the University Hospital. Heinicka organized a Habitat for Humanity project to help a local family in Columbia get their first home. At Christmas she helped organize an Adopt-A-Family project and wrapped Christmas presents for a number of local families. She also worked at the water station for the Domestic Violence Half Marathon Race, volunteered at the local Boone Hospital and visited Columbia grade schools to read and mentor children.
Every morning at 6 a.m. Heinicka helps a
quadriplegic male with his morning routine of exercises, getting
dressed and helping him into his wheelchair. He can be seen at
Tiger gymnastics meets cheering from the stands.
In addition to these activities, Heinicka
represented Missouri on the Big 12 Student Athlete Advisory Committee
and was elected to be the student athlete representative for the
Intercollegiate Athletic Committee. She also served as vice president
for SAAC and was chosen to complete a public service announcement
television commercial.
In the athletic arena, Heinicka is tied for Mizzou’s bar
record with a 9.950, which she set at the Missouri Cat Classic
as a sophomore in 2004. As a senior in 2006, she finished the
season ranked as the fourth finest bars worker in the nation and
held the South Central Region’s top bars ranking 10-of-11
weeks during the season. Heinicka, who was a three-time Academic
All-Big 12 first team selection, concluded her career with a second-place
finish on bars at the NCAA Southeast Regional.
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Last Update:
November 15, 2007
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