Headshot taken by Emmalee Reed in Sept. 2024 in Central Park, New York City.

Hi! I'm Emily (she/her), one of the Minnesota Star Tribune’s Vikings reporters.

Previously, I was the lead Syracuse football reporter for Syracuse.com/The Post-Standard (May 2022-Nov. 2024). I

I am a graduate of 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 (2022).

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).

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.

In 2022, 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 of college, I served as president for both AWSM Missouri and APSE @ Mizzou.

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.

Besides all of the sports journalism stuff, I love creative writing, listening to and singing all sorts of music, watching movies, and reading good books. I’ve written one feature film script that I’m in the process of self-editing and am in the progress of writing a novel centered around a movie press tour where the two leads have been asked to fake a relationship.

Contact: emily.leiker15@gmail.com

Socials: @emleiker.bsky.social on Bluesky, @eleikerwrites on Instagram and @emleiker on X/Twitter

 
 
Some throwbacks from over the years for National Women and Girls in Sports Day! I’m lucky to call so many women in sports media — pictured and not pictured — good friends and mentors. Here’s to meeting even more amazing women
Extra-long 2024 football season that included a mid-season jump to the pros came to an end for me Monday night. It’s one I’ll never forget. On to the offseason (or irregular season, as Syracuse Sports Podcast listeners might recall me c
(As seen on Twitter last night): Really bittersweet news: Saturday’s game was my last covering the Orange for Syracuse.com/The Post-Standard. Longer goodbye specifically for all you Orange fans coming in my newsletter Monday morning (I’
First road trip of the season is in the books. Couldn’t have asked for a more fun one on or off the field to kick off a month of weekends away from home.