Hi! I'm Emily (she/her), the lead Syracuse football reporter for Syracuse.com/The Post-Standard. I started my job in May 2022 immediately following my graduation from the world’s first and finest School of Journalism – the University of Missouri – where I earned my Bachelor of Journalism with an emphasis on Print & Digital content.
When people ask me where I’m from I say Seattle, though the truth is I grew up about 30 minutes north of the city in Lynnwood, Washington. I’ve known I wanted to be a sports journalist since I was 13 and spent my four years at Archbishop Murphy High School forging a path for myself in journalism through blogging and videos despite not having a school newspaper.
While at MU, my portfolio expanded rapidly and I had the chance to learn at some great publications including the The Maneater, MU’s student newspaper (Fall 2018-Winter 2019), Columbia Daily Tribune (Freelancer, Fall 2019-Spring 2020), News & Observer (Intern, Summer 2020) and USA Today (Intern, Summer 2021).
Before starting my full-time job, I worked for the Columbia Missourian as part of the J-school curriculum covering Missouri football. In fall 2020 I was also on staff and responsible for coverage of a local high school football team, all of local high school soccer and MU cross country.
This past spring, I placed seventh in the annual Associated Press Sports Editors Student Contest. In 2021, I was one of the Association of Women in Sports Media’s eight AWSM Scholars and also received a scholarship from APSE. During my senior year, I served as president for both AWSM Missouri and APSE @ Mizzou.
Besides all of the sports journalism stuff, I love creative writing, listening to and singing all sorts of music, watching Star Wars and Marvel movies, and reading good books.
Contact: emily.leiker15@gmail.com
Socials: @emleiker on Twitter, @eleikerwrites on Instagram
