Year in Review

By John Antonik for MSNsportsNET.com
July 3, 2006


	West Virginia just missed reaching the NCAA tournament "Elite Eight" for the second straight year in 2006. All-Pro Photography/Dale Sparks photo

MORGANTOWN, W.Va. – A triumph over Georgia in the Nokia Sugar Bowl, a second straight NCAA tournament “Sweet 16” appearance for men’s basketball, a 28th trip to NCAA regionals in the last 29 years for gymnastics, and the first points accumulated at nationals in more than two decades for men’s swimming highlighted a very successful 2005-06 sports season for West Virginia University.

The Mountaineers placed 52nd in the final Sports Academy Directors’ Cup standings, which recognizes the best all-around athletic programs in the country. Points are awarded based on each institution’s finish in up to 20 sports – 10 women’s and 10 men’s. National tournament participation is factored in all sports except football, which is based on the final national polls.

West Virginia had the second-best finish among Big East schools behind only sixth-place Notre Dame. Other conference schools in the top 100 were Louisville (54th), Connecticut (58th), Georgetown (68th), Rutgers (76th), Providence (78th), South Florida (85th), Villanova (87th) and Pitt (91st).

A total of 326 schools participated this year.

“With my involvement, I have a special sense of pride that we’re among the top schools in the country and we’re improving,” says Terri Howes, WVU associate athletic director. “As a total athletic program we’re right there with most of the schools in our region.”

It is WVU’s second-highest finish ever in the Director’s Cup Standings, which first began in 1994. In 1998 the Mountaineers, on the strength of a rifle national championship, placed 41st.

Last year WVU was 59th.

“I discuss this with the coaches at the year-end evaluations and I ask them, ‘Do you know where we finished in the Directors’ Cup?’ About four years ago none of them knew,” said Howes. “Our coaches are aware of it now.”


	Rich Rodriguez

Coach Rich Rodriguez’s Mountaineer football team (11-1) paved the way with a memorable 38-35 win over Georgia in the 2006 Nokia Sugar Bowl played in Atlanta’s Georgia Dome. It was the first major bowl victory in school history, culminating an undefeated season in Big East play.

Men’s basketball (22-11) returned to NCAA tournament play in 2006, making it the first time since 1986 and 1987 Mountaineer teams have made consecutive trips to the Big Dance. West Virginia defeated Southern Illinois and Northwestern State to reach the “Sweet 16” for a second-straight year. WVU dropped a tight contest to Texas on a last-second shot to keep from reaching the “Elite Eight” for a second straight year.

Center Kevin Pittsnogle also became the first men’s basketball All-American since 1972.

No. 22-rated gymnastics (22-8) turned in another 20-win season and qualified for NCAA regionals for the 28th time in 29 years. Coach Linda Burdette’s Mountaineers placed fifth at the Southeast Regionals in Athens, Ga., and secured at least 20 victories in a season for a 12th time in school history.


	Brandon Rader

Freshman Brandon Rader is the next budding wrestling star, placing sixth at nationals to earn All-America honors and help the Mountaineers to a 27th-place finish. WVU, which sent six wrestlers to this year’s national tournament, has had at least one All-American in each season since 2002. Wrestling finished the season with a 6-6 dual match record.

Sergio Lopez’s men’s swimming program (6-3) took a big step toward national prominence with an unexpected 30th-place finish at nationals. WVU had five honorable mention All-Americans and scored at nationals for the first time since 1986. Senior Chris Hagedorn was named Big East swimmer of the year in helping the Mountaineers to a third-place finish at the conference championships.

Men’s soccer (13-8-2) joined regular NCAA tournament participant women’s soccer in this year’s national tournament. Coach Mike Seabolt’s Mountaineers had 13 wins against a tough schedule that saw them face nine teams that made this year’s field of 48. WVU advanced to the second round for only the second time in school history and equaled the school record for wins in a season (1966 and 1999). CollegeSoccerNews.com recently labeled West Virginia one of the nation’s up-and-coming programs for 2006.


	Nikki Izzo-Brown

Meanwhile, Nikki Izzo-Brown’s women’s soccer program (11-5-3) keeps chugging along, making its sixth-straight NCAA appearance in 2006 and finishing the season ranked 19th in the NSCAA Poll. WVU’s season was highlighted by an undefeated home record and five all-conference performers. Like the men, West Virginia also played a difficult slate that included national champion Portland.

Other noteworthy achievements in 2005-06:

Women’s basketball (15-16) nearly upset its way into the NCAA tournament after its remarkable Big East tournament run fell short against Connecticut in the championship game. WVU knocked off Louisville, St. John’s and Rutgers – all NCAA teams – to reach the tournament finals for the first time in school history. Making the run even more impressive was the fact that West Virginia did so without its best player Meg Bulger who was sidelined with a knee injury.

Women’s tennis (11-12) upset Syracuse in the second round of the Big East tournament and placed sixth –its best ever finish. The Mountaineers rallied to win eight of their last 10 matches to complete the season.

Baseball (36-22) qualified for the Big East tournament for the first time since 2002 and defeated St. John’s in a first-round game. Three players earned all-East honors and two – David Carpenter and Stan Posluszny – were selected in the June major league draft.


	Susan Davis

Cross country’s Susan Davis qualified for nationals after finishing eighth at the Mid-Atlantic Regionals, and finished 74th out of 253 competitors in the 6K race. Davis was the fifth runner from the Big East Conference to cross the tape.

Rifle (4-7) placed sixth at the Great American Rifle Conference championships in Oxford, Miss., in what was to be Coach Marsha Beasley’s final match for WVU. Beasley coached eight NCAA championship teams at West Virginia in her 16 seasons and had 28 shooters secure All-America recognition before stepping down March 29. Jon Hammond was named her replacement on June 1.

Rowing finished strong at the Murphy Cup, placing fourth in the Varsity 4 and fifth in the Varsity 8 race on the Schuylkill River in Philadelphia. Senior Meg Ayers was named to the all-region second team.

Women’s swimming made progress with a winning 5-4-1 record and an eighth-place finish at the Big East championships.

Injuries and the decision to redshirt several key performers led to an uncharacteristic ninth-place finish for women’s track at Big East outdoors. Abbie Stechschulte competed at indoor nationals in the pentathlon; Jessica Czaikowski, a two-time outdoor qualifier in the 100 hurdles, failed to make it this year placing 13th at NCAA regionals.


	Stephanie Zolna

Volleyball fell short of its bid to qualify for the Big East tournament with a 16-13 overall record. Stephanie Zolna became the school’s all-time leader in kills with 1,404 and she became just the ninth player in school history to record both 1,000 kills and 1,000 digs for her career. Coach Veronica Hammersmith now shows 541 career victories at WVU.

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