SOUTHEAST MISSOURI REDHAWKS TENNIS
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rady Barke is in his fifth year as Southeast Missouri’s Director of Athletics. Barke served as the Interim Director of Athletics since July, 2015, before being named to the permanent position of Director of Athletics on June 7, 2016. During the 2019-20 season, the Redhawks were on pace to have one of their best campaigns in the school’s athletics history. SEMO won four Ohio Valley Conference titles with women’s soccer and football claiming regularseason crowns and women’s volleyball and basketball securing OVC Tournament championships. The Redhawks also recorded a school record 44 conference victories between the fall and winter sports. At the time the 2019-20 season ended due to the COVID-19 pandemic, SEMO was
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first in the OVC Commissioner’s Cup race with 80.75 points. Academically, SEMO’s athletic teams were again strong in the classroom. Student-athletes overcame an enormous amount of adversity and disruption to close out the 2019-20 academic year with a Department of Athletics record 3.53 spring grade point average. That mark was the highest GPA of any semester for the Redhawks who had a total of 12 teams achieve a 3.21 or higher GPA in the spring term alone. Also, five different programs, including gymnastics (3.82), women’s soccer (3.78), women’s basketball (3.42), men’s basketball (3.26) and football (2.94) registered their highest semester GPAs ever. The upcoming 2020-21 campaign marks SEMO’s third year with Under Armour. Barke reached a multi-year agreement with the Baltimore-
based global leader in performance footwear, apparel and equipment that made Under Armour the official outfitter of SEMO Athletics on July 1, 2018. As part of the multi-year agreement, Under Armour provides on-field and training gear for 15 sports. Additionally, Under Armour outfits members of the athletic department including coaches and staff. Barke also secured bids to host SEMO’s first home football playoff games. Additionally, he helped the University reach a collaborative partnership with SoutheastHEALTH. Under the agreement, SoutheastHEALTH orthopedic and sports medicine physicians provide orthopedic, primary medical care, athletic training and physical therapy services, and invest in the University by providing diagnostic equipment and athletic training supplies, as well as scholarships
2021 SOUTHEAST MISSOURI TENNIS
for students. Most recently, new state-ofthe-art Formetco digital video scoreboards were installed at both Houck Field and the Southeast Softball Complex under Barke’s leadership. A brand new 4,000-square foot baseball training facility was completed prior to the 2020 season. The $400,000 indoor facility can fit up to four batting cages. There are portable pitching mounds as well as HitTrax and Rapsodo technology that helps improve overall player performance. Barke hired Brad Korn as the Redhawks head men’s basketball coach on Mar. 24, 2020, while navigating through the unprecedented times during the COVID-19 pandemic. Korn was the third head coach Barke hired during his tenure as Director of Athletics. During his first year in 201617, Barke introduced Andy Sawyers as the Redhawks
