Southeast Missouri's women's cross country, women's tennis and volleyball programs earned NCAA Public Recognition Awards based on their most recent multiyear Academic Progress Rates Tuesday. These teams have earned NCAA Public Recognition Awards for posting scores in the top 10 percent of their sport. The APR is an annual scorecard of academic achievement calculated for all Division I sports teams. SEMO's women's cross country and volleyball teams claimed the recognition for the fifth year in a

Redhawk student-athletes Justin Dirden, baseball, and Rachel Rook, softball, were ranked among the best in the country at their positions. DI Baseball named Dirden as the Ohio Valley Conference's Most Impressive Hitter. The right fielder from O’Fallon, Mo., was boasting a .900 slugging percentage and had gone 9-of-9 in stolen bases at the time the season ended. Dirden had a .414 batting average with nine home runs, 26 RBI and 20 runs scored. He ranked second in the nation in home runs. Dirden

Even though they didn’t get to hear their names called during the Draft last weekend, Redhawk football alumni Kristian Wilkerson and Josh Avery are headed to the National Football League. Avery, a defensive tackle from Nashville, Tennessee, signed a free agent contract with the Seattle Seahawks following the draft. Avery recorded 41 tackles, seven tackles for loss and 2.5 sacks in three years with the Redhawks. He played in the NFLPA Collegiate Bowl on Jan. 18, 2020 at Rose Bowl Stadium. During

The idea for the Walk for Women event was initially developed by Cindy Gannon as a way to recognize the accomplishments of SEMO’s female student-athletes, while helping to raise money to support athletic scholarships. Since its inception, Cindy helped guide this event, which has raised more than $500,000 for athletic scholarships. And now, although Cindy has retired after 30 years as a member of the SEMO Athletics Department, her legacy will continue to live on. Each spring, the Cindy Gannon

The Southeast Missouri Department of Athletics and Mid-America Transplant have partnered once during the month of April to raise awareness about organ, eye and tissue donation. April is National Donate Life Month, and the partnership is usually highlighted by a pair of “Green Up” games hosted by the softball and baseball teams. During the Green Up Games, the baseball and softball teams wear Donate Life-themed green and blue uniforms. The Donate Life shades of green and blue represent ongoing

D1 Baseball ranked SEMO's Dylan Dodd, Tyler Wilber, and Justin Dirden among the top hitters and pitchers of their respective classes. The rankings were based on the four weeks of statistics from the 2020 season before it was cut short due to COVID-19. A left-handed starting pitcher, Dodd was rated ninth among senior arms, highest of any Ohio Valley Conference pitcher. D1 Baseball also tabbed him as the 203rd (projected rounds 9th-10th) college prospect for this year's Major League Baseball Draft

Southeast Missouri women's gymnastics head coach Ashley Lawson was named the 2020 Ken Anderson National Coach of the Year by USA Gymnastics. Lawson, who was previously named 2020 Midwest Independent Conference Head Coach of the Year, engineered an epic turnaround in her second season at the helm of Southeast. After going winless in competition in 2019, Southeast registered 10 wins and went on a five-competition win streak from Jan. 31 to March 1. The 2020 Redhawks compiled a Team NQS score of

Director of Athletics Brady Barke named Brad Korn the new head men's basketball coach at Southeast Missouri earlier this week. Korn was formally introduced on Tuesday during a virtual press conference streamed live on Facebook. The seventh head coach in SEMO's NCAA Division I men's basketball era, Korn agreed to a five-year contract. Barke described Korn as a winner with an incredible knack for building relationships with student-athletes, while developing them both on and off the court. Korn

Three Redhawk student-athletes earned Ohio Valley Conference Athlete of the Year awards last week at the OVC Indoor Track & Field Championships. Nick Bryant was named the OVC Male Freshman of the Year while Kaitlyn Shea was awarded OVC Female Track Athlete of the Year. Anya Tonga was tabbed the OVC Female Field Athlete of the Year for the second-straight season at the conclusion of the meet. Bryant is the first Redhawk to earn the award since Chris Martin in 2014. Southeast last swept the

Spring sports are in full swing, and Redhawk student-athletes are already collecting accolades. Softball junior Rachel Rook and baseball senior Justin Dirden each earned Ohio Valley Conference Athlete of the Week honors for their performances on the diamond last weekend. Rook was named OVC Pitcher of the Week for the second time in her career. A native of Republic, Missouri, she went 2-0 with a 0.00 ERA in three appearances and two starts at the Alabama State Stinger Classic. Rook tossed a